First impressions: what people notice when they enter your workplace
Many people roll out their own version of the red carpet when guests visit their home, but it’s a little trickier to do so when it’s the workplace. This is why it’s important to get the design of a new office or workspace right from the start by choosing a design that communicates the business – and having a good awareness of what people will look for when they arrive.
People notice people
This is fundamental. As human beings, we’re naturally drawn to other people and notice immediately how they’re behaving, what their mood is and, crucially, how happy they are. This is essentially why customer service and customer care remain such essential facets of any business.
Therefore, whether it’s the secretary at reception or an entire team in an open plan office, people will be aware of other people and get a sense of how happy they are in your workplace. It’s naturally important, then, to make as much effort as possible to keep a happy workforce exactly that: a happy workforce.
Of course, a decent number of holidays and a healthy payslip will help – but, in terms of office design, there are numerous steps you can take to ensure that the layout is as likely to please the people who work there as anybody who visits.
Is there enough space?
This goes for the workplace just as much as it applies to the home. Also, you can immediately tell the difference between spacious, homely and cluttered. Space is actually one of the most important aspects of interior design and architecture, and goes a long way towards influencing the first impressions of any visitor to any building – despite being one of the most overlooked aspects of planning.
Therefore, whenever people enter, just like being naturally drawn to people, they will also naturally get a feel for whether the space is right. Is the room or building a little too cosy or even desolate to feel absolutely comfortable in? The use of light is important to create the feel of space, and too much or little can have an impact on first impressions from the moment someone steps inside.
Decor and design choices
In a home, the importance of interior design and decor only accounts for around 25% of someone’s first impression – but, in the workplace, it’s a little bit different. There are other questions being asked, such as whether or not the decor matches the sector or brand, or whether ‘this’ workplace looks like the sort of business worth working with or investing in.
This is one of the reasons why workplace and office design has become such a popular area for business and property owners, with Maris a popular choice for their approach to original office design.
With so much attention paid to the visual aesthetic of a brand elsewhere, such as online and through traditional marketing routes, it only makes sense to put similar effort into how a workplace appears – leaving first impressions that turn into long working relationships.
