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Office Wellness: Sights, Sounds and Smells Make a Difference

In the wake of the pandemic, employee engagement has become a front-burner topic for nearly every employer. As companies navigate the return to working in person to varying degrees, they’re devoting more and more attention to keeping team members safe, happy and engaged.

What role can the workspace environment play in office wellness? A big one, in ways both good and bad. In fact, employers need to factor in at least four of the five senses in office design considerations (probably not taste, unless you’re providing lunch). Let’s take a look:

Fireline Corp. Workstations

Sight:

Everyone considers colors when designing an office space, but perhaps not their potential effects on the people in it. There is science behind the psychology of colors and the emotions they can elicit. To greatly oversimplify, green is associated with creativity; blue with security, confidence and analytical thinking. Red promotes productivity in physical work (but may hinder analytical thinking), and too much white leads to boredom. Yellow? Well, people just don’t seem to like it. Use yellow sparingly. Check out the red pops of color at Fireline Corp. here.

3form Acoustic Edge

Sound:

Too often an afterthought in office design, the acoustical properties of a space are vital to productivity and keeping team members happy. We’ve seen many very attractive spaces that are difficult to work in, especially in the age of the open office plan. This might be because workers are too close together or because the space is designed with hard surfaces that cause every sound to reverberate. It’s often easy to fix the latter situation with strategically-applied acoustical panels to deaden the space. Ensure workers have private, quiet spaces available in an open office plan. Make sure to approach office design with not only your eyes but your ears. Check out 3form Edge ceiling features here.

Smell:

Our sense of smell is tied directly to our memories, and is another factor in work productivity. Employers walk a difficult line right now: Spaces need to be cleaned and sanitized regularly, but the aromas of bleach, ammonia or other harsh cleaners can have a negative effect on productivity. These strong smells may also cause headaches or even allergic reactions. Consider cleaning products carefully and look for agreeable scents. Beyond that, you might consider enhancing office wellness with smells: Lemon is known to be good for creativity, and lavender is calming, to name just two examples. But again, you need to be mindful of potential allergies.

Visit Baltimore Office Sit to Stand Desk

Feel:

No one’s going to be very productive, or very happy, if they spend their days working in an uncomfortable chair or at a desk that’s not an appropriate height. There’s such a wide selection of ergonomic office furnishings from so many manufacturers that there’s really no reason not to get this right. In general, consider adjustability: Desks that allow standing or sitting, chairs that adjust to multiple positions. Check out more office spaces at Visit Baltimore here.

Learning Hubs and Media Centers

One of the many concerns over the effects of the pandemic on learning over these past two years has been the loss of opportunities for students to collaborate in person, important for both learning and the development of social skills.

One of the ways these vital needs are being addressed is through the use of learning hubs and media centers, spaces that foster a combination of socialization and education. Let’s take a look at both.

Learning hubs, also called learning commons, are spaces for students to use either between classes or after school. In some cases these are off-site areas sponsored by local communities, but many are within school walls. Designed to be more inviting than simply hanging out in hallways or lobbies, learning hubs are flexible and adaptable to a variety of needs.

There are no hard and fast rules for learning hub design, but common items typically include soft and inviting furniture, with a layout that can be adapted to individual study or group collaboration. In some ways, learning hubs reflect trends we’ve seen in colleges, and in office design. Many have cafes with coffee or other drinks and light fare, tools like whiteboards to promote group work and private spaces for counseling, tutoring or quiet study. Some may even have outdoor areas.

While some schools have added learning hubs via new construction, many more are repurposing existing space, often unused or underused spaces like lobbies or cafeterias, which might normally be occupied for only a couple of hours per day.

The media center is an extension of the same concept, but with (as the name would suggest) a focus on the technology needed to produce graphic elements for projects and presentations. For that reason, media centers (also called library commons) are typically developed within existing libraries. The media center creates a hybrid space where new technology lives side by side with ready access to books and other more traditional sources of research.

As with learning hubs, look for lounge-style furniture designed for comfort, collaboration and flexibility, as well as the preservation of the private study spaces you’ll find in a traditional library.

Student Well-Being in the Classroom

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought more than its share of challenges, to be sure. Even with all the changes forced upon businesses and the economic impact, few would argue that the greatest disruption has come in education. Parents and teachers alike continue to grapple with exactly what’s best for students at any given time: in-person learning, remote learning or a combination of the two, and plans continue to change from week to week in many places.

There’s no single correct answer to what’s best for the well-being of our students, of course, and the physical presence of students will vary from place to place as guidelines are adjusted to the current situation. But there are some common threads that educators can turn to in order to help ensure student well-being to the greatest degree possible.

Ask. To get where you want to go, you need to know where you’re starting, and regularly checking in with students can help here. A few simple questions, ranging from “How are you feeling today?” to “How included did you feel in class today?” to “What made it harder to learn today?” can assist you in understanding your students’ emotional well-being and making sure you’re addressing the proper issues for them at any given time.

Be flexible. In the pre-COVID era we wrote repeatedly about the benefits of flexible education spaces. The challenges of the past two years have made flexibility even more desirable. Adaptable settings can help with physical distancing, accommodate hybrid situations where some students are joining remotely while others are in person, and – just as before the pandemic – encourage much greater engagement. Further, a flexible space can adapt to whatever the future might bring.

Move. Another thing that hasn’t changed is this: movement helps with learning, and with mental and physical development. To the greatest degree possible in an in-person setting, regular periods of movement should be scheduled. And for students learning from home, regular breaks (with encouragement to move around) will help with focus when they’re back in front of the webcam.

The irregular schedules brought about by the pandemic, and the need to sometimes re-teach forgotten material, leave our students at risk of falling behind. There’s no magic wand to fix the situation, but making sure students are emotionally ready to learn, and giving them appropriate spaces and time for movement, can go a long way.

The Evolution of the Workplace

As we approach two years of a radically changed work environment due to the pandemic, much uncertainty remains. Plans to return to the physical workspace have been derailed or delayed by the Omicron variant and organizations are grappling with how best to move forward. What has changed in the workplace, and what needs to continue changing?

Some businesses have decided that they can get along just fine with a remote workforce, at least in the shorter term. They’re in the minority, but many were already operating virtually pre-pandemic, so the transition has been easier. At the other end of the spectrum are those for whom remote work is not a viable option: service industries, manufacturers and so forth.

In the middle are the vast majority of businesses, trying to roll with the continued punches of COVID and figure out the best combination of in-person, remote and hybrid work for their own teams and circumstances. And if there’s one word to describe handling all this uncertainty, it’s this: adaptability.

That can mean a lot of things, but in terms of office design it’s really the continuation of a trend of several years: Many organizations had already seen the value of flexible workspaces in both the more efficient use of space and the ways in which they promote collaboration. That physical adaptability will now become even more important.

Remote and hybrid work means fewer opportunities for teams to collaborate in person, which is indisputably more effective. So when a team is in the same physical space, every effort needs to be made to maximize that opportunity with an environment that can adjust on the fly to changing needs.

Adaptability is required far beyond the physical workspace, of course. We still don’t fully understand how this prolonged stretch of diminished interaction will affect all of us as workers and as human beings, and business leaders will need to be even more flexible than their workspaces to accommodate the changing needs of their teams.

COVID-19

Douron is fully operational to provide service to our employees, clients, partners and community. We have received required status for distribution to essential companies per state and federal guidelines.

We are continually monitoring the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) for daily updates to provide our employees a safe and healthy working environment.

We have established a continuity plan that relies on email, virtual meetings and remote connectivity as our primary contact and response method. With our software phone application, our employees can be reached at their normal extensions. Messages left on team members’ work phones are monitored and answered as quickly as possible.

Our showrooms in Baltimore, Rockville and Delaware are open.  All of our facilities are being cleaned and disinfected regularly to ensure a safe work environment.

MANUFACTURING PARTNERS

Douron is monitoring the operational status of our manufacturing partners and we will provide updates, as we receive them, via email.

SALES

Account Executives will continue to be available by their standard email addresses, phone extensions and mobile phone numbers. All responses to projects from our Account Executives will be via email or phone.

CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

Douron headquartered team members are in office and fully operational. Our continuity plan has been tested to make an easy transition as not to delay our ability to serve you.

WAREHOUSE, DELIVERY AND INSTALLATION (WD&I)

Currently, Douron is accepting all shipments and making deliveries, while safely completing projects. There is restricted entry for delivery drivers to our warehouse and paperwork is being delivered to the door. Our warehouse team has been provided rubber gloves, masks and disinfecting spray to utilize upon receipt of product and to use as necessary. All WD&I employees have proper documentation of the nature of their delivery being essential to the operations of our clients.

After installation, all furniture surfaces and cabinet are sprayed and disinfected. We want to ensure a safe installation process. Our employees are aware and following (CDC) guidelines of daily cleaning of tools and building materials; washing hands as often as possible; covering coughs and sneezes with tissues and avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

WARRANTY AND CLAIMS

Our Corrective Actions Department is reviewing all claims made by clients and reporting information to the appropriate manufacturer.

If you are experiencing any warranty or service related issues, please fill out a warranty request form at https://douron.com/warranty-request/or email correctiveactions@douron.com.

We are working together with you to provide safe and healthy environments.

Celebrating Golf Month: BMW Golf Championship

August is National Golf Month, a time when golfers are encouraged to share their own experience and bring new participants to the game. Look for busy driving ranges and perhaps even some discounts at your local course.

This year, though, National Golf Month takes on an even more special meaning in the Baltimore/Washington area as one of the biggest events on the calendar comes to our backyard: The BMW Championship, happening at Caves Valley Golf Club on August 24 through 29.

Having any PGA TOUR event come to town is exciting, but the BMW Championship is no ordinary event. It’s the next-to-last stop in the FedExCup Playoffs, and that means the top 70 finalists will be here to take part. These are professional golf’s biggest names and most familiar faces, competing for $9.5 million in prize money. The results will determine the 30 golfers who will compete in the final in Atlanta.

This marks the first time in 60 years that a tournament stop of this magnitude has happened in Baltimore. Douron will be sharing hospitality access with selected guests, and we couldn’t be more excited.

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  • Classroom Design for STEM and STEAM Education
  • Helpful Tips to Getting Back to School for Educators & Teachers
  • Office Wellness: Sights, Sounds and Smells Make a Difference
  • Indoor Air Quality

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