The corporate world often comes with strict rules and can feel very restrictive. But since Mark Zuckerberg started running Facebook in a hoodie, lots of industries are now relaxing the rules and it’s time that offices followed suit.

For all that the office playground can cause some problems with work/life balance, creating a space that your employees will feel comfortable in is essential for creativity and focus. Wellbeing is now a fundamental aspect of a good working life and millennials in particular are not willing to compromise.

Just like any home office, you should be focusing on how to create an environment that is productive and pleasant to be in.

Designate Different Zones

Creating different zones is a surprisingly good technique for giving your employees spaces for different types of activities. For example, most offices will have a meeting space for use together as well as an open plan area for individual desks. B

ut adding other areas such as private spaces or a more relaxed area could boost activity too.

Designating different areas often comes down to 3 basic things: flooring, lighting and furniture. For example, in a relaxed area, you might choose to use a contract carpet, add a couple of bean bags and use lamps to create softer lighting; in a creative area you might choose to use brighter lighting and hard floors with easily moveable furniture.

Bring in Plants

We should all know the benefits of plants by now: they clean the air and  provide plenty of oxygen. But did you know that plants in offices reduce stress and sickness as well as increase productivity?

Plants are a brilliant way to create sculptural features that handily block noise, they create a more natural environment but they also appeal to high performing candidates.

There are all kinds of plants that will survive and thrive in an office environment and having a mixture is a great way to create a diverse environment everyone can enjoy. Encouraging staff to look after plants on their desk is also a nice idea but it isn’t for everyone!

Personalized Spaces

Though hotdesking is a popular idea in offices where there isn’t quite enough room for everyone at once, on balance, having a personal space is much better for two reasons: firstly your staff are much less likely to lose things and secondly, they will have a space they feel comfortable in and can make their own.

Encouraging your staff to personalize their desks is a simple way to let them feel more at home while they are at work. While a tidy desk might look sleek and corporate, in the end, as long as everything is clean, your priority should be creating an environment where everyone can be as productive as possible.

A corporate office might have a reputation to uphold but this is no reason to create an austere and unworkable environment. With just a few small changes, any office can become a space employees enjoy being in and work well in.