Making any type of change in the way an office runs or a feature within it can be difficult. Firstly, how can you be sure that the change you’re going to make will actually be a success? What if you go to all that effort and it fails? What it if makes things worse?
The only way to be sure that any change to a modern office is a success and not a failure is to make the decision based on evidence, fact, and the wants and needs of your employees. Once you do that, you also need to measure the success or otherwise, and decide whether to make changes, revert back, give it a little longer, or stick with it because it’s working.
But, how can you measure whether a change in your office environment or setting is actually working? Can you do that by simply sitting at your executive desk and using your eyes? Or, is it something you need actually data and proof for? You can use both methods, but you also need to be prepared to dig a little deeper too.
For instance, perhaps you’ve changed your office lighting method and you’re not sure whether it was the right choice to go with. Some people might shrug their shoulders and wonder why lighting matters so much, but let’s be honest, would you want to work in a too bright or too dark office? Of course not! The best way to measure that type of change, and any change to the decor or design of your office, is via the level of morale your employees are exhibiting.
Assessing morale is the best way to understand whether most changes are positive or not, because morale starts from one end of the spectrum and goes all the way the other, right over to productivity and profit margins. If your employees aren’t happy with a change you’ve made in the contemporary office environment, be it large, medium, or small, it’s going to show in their performance. You can assess this on several levels. A few things to look out for when assessing morale are:
- The number of sick days you experience – When morale is high, you will notice less sick days
- Productivity levels – If sales are up, other measurable data is up, and profits are up, morale is lightly to be up too
- More ideas coming your way – Staff with high morale are more likely to contribute ideas and solutions
- A generally lighter atmosphere – This has nothing to do with the white office furniture you have in your space, and everything to do with mood!
Of course, not everything comes down to morale, and it might be that you need to assess the success or otherwise of a change in a different way. The best way to do this is to look at output, i.e. productivity numbers and profits. If these are decreasing, the chances are your change isn’t working as well as you would have hoped. If on the other hand there is some sign of improvement, give it a little longer and see if extra improvement occurs. In that case, you’ve made a good choice in whatever it is you’ve changed in your office space!
Every single thing you decide to change in the working environment of your office has a direct impact on not only how staff feel and how motivated they are, but also on profits. This can be as simple as changing from regular office storage units to digital storage, opting to go for BYOD (bring your own device) instead of regular computers, or changing the entire system in the office and moving to a hot desking arrangement.
Whatever change you go for, make sure you have the best office furniture for the job, that you talk to your staff about everything beforehand, involve them in the decision making process, and regularly review whether or not it is working. By doing this, you will calm any potentially choppy waters in the interim period and look forward to future success.