Beat the Winter Blues With Office Plants


by PaulZ - Date: 2008-10-03 - Word Count: 599 Share This!

With the arrival of autumn and winter just around the corner many of us are now grateful that we can stay indoors whether it's at home or at the office. The grey and dark days can seem very dull and we all need a little cheering up every now and again. With over half of the workforce in the UK spending more than a third of their waking hours at work, staying upbeat and motivated is not always easy.

 

When it comes to office morale it is fairly safe to say that we all have those days where the last thing we want to do is go to work and some might argue that the incentive to hide under the duvet when the alarm clock rings is even more apparent when its still dark and cold outside.

 

Once at work staying motivated and productive is not always about the way we feel personally, as many would suggest that the environment in which we work also plays a significant part in how we feel as employees. A grey and miserable office is hardly likely to inspire our creativity is it? With this in mind building and business managers have tried to come up with unique ways to help keep their staff happy and motivated during the working day.

 

From bright paintwork to office exercise classes and the installation of computer consoles for lunch time use, you name it, business owners have tried it. But would you believe that office plants and planted office displays can actually help brighten both the office and your spirits?

 

For many years now academics have been looking into the health benefits associated with working in an office with office plants and planted office displays but there has also been much debate as to how beneficial office plants and other foliage can have on human emotions and moods. Since man has long had a very close relationship with nature it seems obvious that being close to plants and greenery would make us feel more relaxed and less stressed but in reality is this really the case?

 

Well according to one study conducted in the late 1980's then yes office plants do have a positive effect on employees. In 1986, Joan Aitken and Rodger Palmer from the University of Missouri discovered that the introduction of office plants made people feel more positive and made the spaces in which planted office displays were present feel much warmer and more welcoming than those that did not have any foliage present.

 

This was confirmed again in 1999 when a study called "Green Plants for the Feel Good Factor" from the Oxford Brookes University found that people get a more positive perception of indoor spaces that have office plants and generally feel less stressed and more relaxed in the presence of planted office displays.

 

Even artificial plants can make a huge impact on a dull and dreary office, especially if the office has no windows or views of the outside world. Just a little bit if greenery can make all the difference whether it's a plastic plant on the top of your filing cabinet or a large planted office display in the reception area of your building.

 

In general then office plants it seems are a great way to help relax and inspire employees whilst at work even on those cloudy winter days. With positive effects on health and well being as well as creating a more positive and pleasant environment maintained office plants that are kept healthy can in turn help to keep your staff happy and healthy too!

 

 

 


Related Tags: office plants, office plant maintenance, maintained office plants, planted office displays

Fosters Breathing Space specialise in supplying indoor and office plants for plant displays to brighten up offices, showrooms, and special events. Visit Fosters Breathing Space for more information.

Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: