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Go into any workplace, and you can see that everybody is continually trying to fine-tune their work. Whether it’s the leader of the business or the line managers following orders, it seems that there are so many alterations that can be made from the process or the person, to ensure that work is done better, as well as quicker, we get the best from both areas that also that’s it boils down to two environmental factors: comfort and stress. Get them right, and your employees will work very well can’t get them wrong, and you’ve got a poor culture, stressed employees that can’t do anything. As such, when we look at these two factors, how can we ensure that they work together in tandem? 

Providing Comfort

Comfort is such a general term, but it can be boiled down to a few simple components. First, focus on making it a better place to work. Everybody has their own unique issues to ensure that what they do is in a comfortable environment. Something like the temperature is completely subjective. One person overheats but the other one is freezing at the same temperature. You have to ensure that you’re able to provide something that pleases everyone. There are plenty of commercial air conditioning options for you to take advantage of especially if you work in a place that’s incredibly hot a lot of the time. Comfort is one of those things that needs to be just right; you can’t make people feel too comfortable because they’ll get sluggish. 

As well as this, you need to focus on the culture of the environment. If an employee feels comfortable enough to express their thoughts and feelings is an employee that will benefit your organization in many weights. Improving the culture of an organization isn’t just about forcing people to socialize now and again, it’s something that takes a long time to build up. You can work at the design of the office, so that people feel that they need to collaborate or socialize with others, as well as this, think about the overall atmosphere. If there’s an office that’s incredibly quiet, and someone is afraid to speak up, they will never do, and will sit in silence for 30 years. If you want to provide a comfortable environment to encourage people to open their mouth and socialize.

The Components Of Stress

Stress isn’t a bad thing, but it’s about providing the right amount. It’s been scientifically proven that a little stress is a good thing, especially for those people who want to improve their productivity and their career. Having the right amount of stress encourages what is called the flow state, where people focus on their work, and aren’t bound by distractions. Providing that little bit of extra stress helps to focus the mind. Implementing that flow state is all about giving colleagues challenge that’s just beyond their remit. Encouraging focus in this respect means that they have to find ways to consolidate all the information in their head and get down to the task. Put a strict deadline into the mix, and people have no choice. It’s been seen a thousand times that if an employee has no deadline, that they will amble on until the very last minute. Instead, find the right approach to implementing stress. 

A little bit is good, too much makes an employee overwhelmed. And at the same time, ensuring that your employees feel a little bit of stress will give that focus which can improve their productivity. But if you put too much stress in place common people can feel that pressure to complete a task without putting too much effort into it. Productivity can work in numerous ways especially with techniques like the Pomodoro method or Pareto’s principle. And when we put a little bit of stress into the mix, but also give our employees the tools, that is when we have a good mix.

Making Them Work Together

Providing that sense of comfort is all down to the individual because they have their own methods. And what you can do to ensure that your employees have an abundance of options to choose from is to provide numerous productivity techniques. With something like the Pomodoro method, it gives your employees the chance to structure breaks as well as get the work done. As well as this, what do you think about the atmosphere of the place, give consideration to the senses. Something like binaural beats can work for one person because it helps them to focus and to drown out the sound around them. As well as this, it’s not just about the individual employee, but it’s how you lead. Motivation is one of those things that has good and bad points, but it all depends on the leader. If you are a slave driver, and you find that you don’t get the results you want, so you push harder, you must think about encouraging a sense of autonomy. You can leave by example rather than telling people to “do as I say, not as I do.”  

Should We Make Our Workers Stressed Or Comfortable?

How long is a piece of string? Everybody has their own individual approaches to work, but we can see now in the modern approach to work that slave driving is not the right way. Deadlines work because it’s the only way to get people motivated, but when we look at running a business in a holistic sense, we have to find that fine balance between stress and comfort. Comfort can come from something like the perks as your employees will have a sense of trust in the role that they are doing and also, give your employees the ability to stretch themselves by adding that extra bit of stress will also work wonders for them and make a thriving business. Should we make them stressed or should we make them comfortable? It’s a very broad spectrum and will require a lot of tweaking to get right.

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