Here are some perks and small office redesign ideas we found easy to implement and that turned out to be effective. Feel free to use them in improving your office space.Have you ever wondered what makes a happy workplace?Here’s a clue:You should try to combine team-building with company spirit to make everyone both work-focused and happy. Therefore, the office’s interior design should reflect the mission and vision of your company, which align with our employer branding strategy.
Looking for proven office redesign ideas? We've got you covered!
At Apptension, we believe in new technology and creative ideas followed by young and energetic spirit.Lately, we’ve gone through a small redesign process in our office so it better shows us as a company, and we would love to share our ideas with you.Let’s start with the perks:
1. The one with the Fridge
During the Digital Marketing Professional training in Socjomania (Warsaw) our Marketing Operations Manager spotted a fridge with beverages at their office.She brought this brilliant idea with her and without any hesitation we bought ourselves one, which now is always filled with various drinks.It’s a true blessing to have a quick sugar fix when we’re working. We are also trying to address team members’ requests during our weekly shopping.The result? Everyone’s happy and well-hydrated!https://www.instagram.com/p/BGMFtfcq0NJ/
2. Gather around a big table
It’s not a secret that eating together at work is a perfect team-building experience.If you want to do it — do it right. Buy a big table where at least a few people can sit, eat and talk together. You can be sure that they will be really relaxed after a lunch-break.We have to admit that it’s also useful for afterwork activities — you can use it as a tabletop games center or even a soda bar.https://instagram.com/p/BLRXrreBH2p/
3. Pilates balls
Any yoga or pilates enthusiasts in your company? Give them a healthy office chair alternative — pilates balls.They are easy to move around so you can follow the free desks strategy, which says that if a person is able to change their work environment, they can work and spend time with different people and, in the end, it helps the team come together.Now for some ideas for interior design changes:
4. Liven up your terrace
If you have any outdoor area in your office — use it.At Apptension we have a terrace which, to be honest, felt pretty empty. We were lacking space where we could rest during warm summer days. What was the solution? We bought some synthetic grass and now have a home garden substitute.We also got some custom-made deck chairs with the Apptension logo on them which served their purpose well during our barbecue evenings.https://instagram.com/p/BGHQGTnK0On/
5. Brand it
Name your rooms — don’t you think it’s better to say ‘I’m going to the Sandbox’ instead of saying ‘I’m going upstairs to the room on the left’?Sure it is.It’s simple, short and, most importantly, customized to your needs. How can you choose the names? Here’s a short story of how we did it: we divided the process into 2 steps.The first was voting for the category; there were 3 options to choose from:
- TV series titles
- location names taken from books/movies
- IT-connected terms
As befits an IT company, we picked the last one.The second step was to think of each room’s name — which was certainly to be chosen by the members of that particular room. Eventually, we’ve ended up with the names Master, Hotfix, Sandbox, Ready for testing, DDoS, Commit and Branch.https://www.instagram.com/p/BLie7nehGsX/On a similar note, we wanted to fill the plain walls and put some stickers there. We decided to place some quotes from the IT world on them.We created an online survey with famous mottos for which the Apptension team members could vote. Finally we picked 6 mottos, each for every room in the office. Do you already have any ideas for quotes that would be popular with your team?You can’t think only about yourselves so remember to mark the staircase/corridors as well. There are people coming to the office every day (for meetings, interviews, and with deliveries) who may not be able to navigate through the rooms. Put a simple info on rooms located on a given floor with their names and/or purpose.If you have any empty space close to the front door, you can think about some ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ messages — they’ll surely be appreciated.https://instagram.com/p/BJAZJRMhr-n/
6. Be eco-friendly
Everyone knows what recycling means, but not everyone uses it in everyday life.If you want for your company to be eco-friendly, involve everyone working there in that process. Try to avoid putting everything in same trash by arranging a number of bins for glass, plastic, paper & organic.To make it as easy as possible, put some info above the bins! You should be able to tell by our logo that here at Apptension we're trying to stay green. That's why recycling was a no-brainer for us.Speaking of green — having plants in the office space brings a lot of value to it. They reduce the levels of CO2, dust and toxical substancies. What is more, plants have the ability to reduce stress. It’s a proven fact that they increase employees’ productivity and improve their focus.
Conclusions
If you really care about your employees to be happy with the office, it should meet their expectations of a good working environment and be a place where they can improve their skills and boost their creativity.You’ll be glad when you see that every change in the office interiors brings smiles to their faces.The biggest award you can ever get is to see how they use your solutions, which in turn makes you even more eager to foster the company spirit at the office!Sounds interesting? Try it out and see how it works for you :)
