Your work environment: How to use feng shui to promote productivity and healthy relationships

Happy employees = more productivity = more business

All the content in this post is also applicable to your home office space, as most of us are working from home at the moment due to the pandemic.

Have you ever thought: Why are there so many unhappy people within the corporate world?

Well, a possible answer: cubicles. These little, impersonal spaces that separate employees from one another might be a major influencer in a stressful and unhealthy work environment. There is no interaction, there is no view. You feel trapped. This is not what you should be aiming for when trying to establish a healthy working environment.

“This is my company’s current situation. How do I change it?”

Well, I am here to give you a few tips, with the help of my trusty friend, Feng Shui. It is important to make effort to create a positive environment for your employees to work in. It promotes productivity and healthy relationships between employees and will aid in better teamwork too.

We need to make sure that our employees feel inspired by their surroundings. Since employees spend most of their time at the office, the office space should inspire employees and be designed in a way to promote productivity.

According to healthline.com, “Feng shui is an ancient Chinese art that involves creating a space that’s harmonious with the environment. It literally means “wind” (feng) and “water” (shui).

With feng shui, objects in a room are arranged according to the flow of natural energy. The concept also involves using colors, materials, and the layout of a space to create a favorable ambiance.

According to healthline.com, there are five elements in feng shui that attract energy and need to be balanced. These include:

• Wood. This element channels creativity and growth. Trees, plants, or green objects can represent wood.
• Fire. This is the most powerful element. It creates passion, energy, expansion, boldness, and transformation. Candles or the color red can bring the fire element into a space.
• Water. This element is linked to emotion and inspiration. Water features or blue items can represent this element.
• Earth. The earth element signifies stability and strength. Incorporate the earth element with rocks, carpets, old books, or things that are brown or tan in color.
• Metal. Metal unites all the elements, while offering focus and order. Use objects that are metal or white, silver, or grey in color.

Below is a diagram providing advice on how to arrange your office space.

Some tips of what to avoid:

Clutter — Try to cut out clutter from your desk and office space. Clutter impacts employee productivity, so it should be cleaned up and taken care of.

Don’t sit back to back or face to face — In a shared office space avoid sitting back to back or face to face with other employees as these positions can create conflict. A suggestion to avoid this is to stagger desks or create a barrier, for example through plants, to break up the space.

No sharp angles — Try to avoid furniture or objects with sharp angles, but if you do happen to have some make sure they don’t face you.

Vivid colours — Try to avoid very bright colours as this could leave employees feeling overwhelmed. Some popular colours that can be used instead of vivid colours include, but are not limited to:

• sandstone
• soft yellow
• pale gold
• pale orange
• pale green
• blue green
• white

Hopefully, this little blog post helps you arrange your office in the ways necessary to have happy employees and a healthy work environment.