Customer service week: Creating a harmonious workplace improves customer service

How do you feel at work? Are you energized, confident, and creative? Or do you feel bogged down, stifled, perhaps even threatened? Whether you occupy a corner office or are a cubicle dweller, it’s time to take a look around your workspace and make some simple changes that will get your energy flowing improve your performances and help you deliver exceptional customer experiences!

Your environment has a lot to do with how you feel, and how you feel has a lot to do with how productive you are. Neuroscientists across the globe have studied images of the brain in action and placed emotion in the driver’s seat, asserting that thinking is emotion-based, and while emotions form the basis of thoughts, the five senses – sight, sound, smell, taste and touch – fuel those emotions, wielding the power to persuade, relax and heal.

“Emotions affect awareness, consideration, persuasion, recall and loyalty in the marketplace,” says Dan Hill, author of Emotionomics: Winning Hearts and Minds [Adams Business & Professional, 2007].

Emotions affect awareness, consideration, persuasion, recall and loyalty in the marketplace

Sensory design has earned its place in high-end spas and resorts; but today, hospitals, airports, retail environments and corporate offices alike have to embrace the senses to forge brand identity while creating inviting environments.

Our five senses are affected physiologically by everything in our path. We enhance the quality of the work experience by engaging all five senses.

Here are ten ideas to help you create better harmony in your new home working space:

1. Get rid of the clutter: Know what’s on your desk. Clutter represents places where energy is stuck and can’t move forward. Try to move old projects along. If your projects get stuck, your career gets stuck. Clutter also affects productivity, as it makes it difficult to find documents and information.
2. Organize Your Stuff : A clear and organized office desk will increase your efficiency and productivity, improve focus, reduce stress and create an opportunity for new ideas to flourish. When organizing your stuff, keep the things that you use daily within arm’s reach. Be creative and use cereal boxes as filling system, plastic cups to hold your pens, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get organised…
3. Keep it clean: The first step is to move the desk, which may expose a surprising amount of dirt, dust, even old food. Your home office needs to be thoroughly cleaned to get rid of old, negative energy. You should wipe down your desk weekly and remove trash daily. Keep only current files on your desk. The office must be bright and shiny.
4. Go green: Live plants and fresh flowers aren’t just pretty. According to feng shui principles, they also ‘bring in fresh, vital energy,’ and ‘are excellent in countering the negative electromagnetic fields of office equipment.’  It is recommended to choose plants with rounded leaves as opposed to pointed leaves, since the latter leads to spiky, sharp, aggressive relationships.
5. Use the power of the scents: Many people don’t realize what a powerful tool aromatherapy can be. Scents are tied directly to the part of the brain that is linked to memory and emotion, so scents can influence both. This can work very well in the business world, influencing employees to work harder, retain more information or stay alert. In fact, studies show that certain scents can affect memory, concentration, sustained attention and cognitive function.
6. Employ colour: Bringing feng shui colours to your office space can have a remarkable impact on your well-being. Colours are associated with certain elements in feng shui, such as water, earth, wood, fire and metal. Although all of these elements can be helpful when they’re in the right area of your home, you might not want them all at your office.
7. Lighting: Lighting has been discovered to have the ability to significantly alter the work rate and productivity of workers. Apart from its physical effect on workers, there are also psychological effects that can affect the productivity of a worker. In an environment where a computer is used so often, it is essential to have a quality amount of light so as to relieve the effect of the brightness of the computer screen on the eyes of the workers.
8. Support the yin/yang theory: Sspace incorporates a balance of yin and yang which also aligns with positive cognitive reactions when there is a balance and compatibility of design elements within a space. To create a better harmony, you have to use the essential five elements of feng shui which connect us to the natural world. The five-element theory, according to which the elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water symbolize the five basic processes of nature, and represent the five qualities of natural phenomena. Since we’re an integral part of nature, the five-element theory applies to us as well – to our health, personality, potential, and life challenges.
9. Create the feeling: One of the most potent ways to affect your workplace is to create the kind of environment you most want to work in. That means your space should be relaxing, comfortable and attractive. Avoid working from you bedroom – there is nothing worse than having a pile of papers everywhere on your bed or under your bed to keep you awake all night. Play some music: what is your business about? What is your brand story, create a playlist which will inspire you and represent who you are.
10. Get fruity: Apples are one of the most feng shui friendly fruits around. A bowl full of red and green apples in your home office or your kitchen is a great way to spread the feeling of care, health and nurturing.
11. Use appropriate decorations: Every object in your space has an influence on you. To create a harmonious office space, make sure to surround yourself with objects and images that will keep you inspired. Add flowers, photos, pictures and any other decorations to make your space more beautiful and to have the objects keep you inspired and productive. When choosing decorations for your environment, every object should symbolize your own goals, desires, and ambitions. You can hang motivating quotes, images that remind you of your accomplishment, or accessories that remind you of prosperity and success. Infusing your home office with your personality will doubtlessly foster success and personal growth. Although you are at work, you need to ‘decorate’ your space to keep you inspired. This means putting up paintings and wall hangings that help you to feel creative, motivated, happy, and at peace.

I am inviting you to look around you and think about your surroundings more often. You never know what a small change in your environment could do for your mental and emotional state, so why not take a chance and tweak your environment to better suit your new home working life!