This is the first in a 3 part series on colour and your business. In this first article, we will be exploring how colour affects your office, especially the attitude and productivity levels of employees. Something as simple as the choice in the colour of the paint on your walls and the colour of the décor in your office space can greatly influence productivity, efficiency, and attitudes. Here are details on each colour:
Blue: Blue is universally known as an excellent colour for productivity. It helps bring on a sense of calm, so it is a perfect way to balance out a busy office. It also instils trust and loyalty. Shades of blue are stable and calming colours that helps keep people focused. However, too much blue can be too calming and relaxing. Experts in this area suggest adding orange or red designs for just a splash of colour that adds excitement or creativity into the colour effect mix. Navy or dark blue brings on a slightly different meaning of seriousness, responsibility, confidence, and being in control.
Green: Green is the most prevalent colour in our natural environment; therefore it is a great colour to paint the office because it represents nature and all things natural. If your employees work long hours, green is a great colour for the walls or desk tops because it does not cause eye fatigue. Like blue, it is also very calming but it is also reassuring. The idea of a “green room” back stage on sets where people are getting ready to perform is because of green’s ability to bring on a sense of calm while still remaining instilling confidence. Green is great if you need a strong sense of balance in your office space.
Yellow: Yellow is a bright and vibrant colour. It helps to improve productivity if your job requires creativity. Just be careful with overuse of yellow as it can cause eye fatigue and has been shown to cause people to lose temper more often if exposed to too much yellow for too long. An important feature of yellow is that is helps people retain information. Important information should be posted with a yellow background and if you have a training room or lecture hall, a yellow wall will help people retain what you are teaching.
Red: If your job or task involves physical activity, then red is your productivity colour. Red is a colour that invokes emotion and passion. Red does not help with productivity for all types of jobs, only ones that involve physical activity. If there is something in the office that you want to attract attention to, you should paint it red.
Black and White: This classic colour combination helps bring out a sense of luxury or fashion. If you entertain clients or customers in your office space and what to come across as luxurious, prestigious, or high fashion, then black and white is the colour scheme for you.
Turquoise: Turquoise might not be one of the first colours that come to mind when you think of your office design. However, this is a great colour for improving communication in creative ways. Since turquoise is a combination of blues and greens, you also get the calming benefits of those colours and some of the other influences from nature, trust, and loyalty. A soft blue-green colour helps assist with decision making, if that is an issue for your staff, adding elements of light turquoise can help in that area.
Pink: Pink also might not be a colour that you would paint the whole office. However, consider pink for a very specific target. If you have retail space, pink will help convey a sense of indulgence or pampering. Of course, this is ideal for salons, spas, or high end stores geared towards women.
Peach: Peach is another colour that has a very specific purpose. If you have a reception office, peach is the colour you want to make visitors and guests feel welcome.
Conclusion
As you can see, the colours you choose for your office space can have a great impact on the behaviours and attitudes of your employees, guests, customers, and clients. The effects might be subliminal and gradual or very sudden and obvious. If you are not happy with the productivity and efficiency in your office space, consider changing the colours of the walls, desks, or other decorations. Small changes might make a huge difference. It is OK to experiment with changing colours since luckily, the colour of paint does not have to be permanent. If different employees need different colours to be efficient and productive, try changing the colours in their immediate surroundings including their desk, cubical, or immediate surroundings.
