Stress is the basic and most common mental and emotional issue. Four of every five persons above the age of 18 regularly experience the physical and psychological symptoms of stress which are mostly caused by unfavorable happenings, situations or circumstances that exert the mind and body, resulting in strain or tension duly affecting the health and general well being of individuals immensely.

In line with the above analysis and effects of stress, it’s expected and essential for every organization to help employees manage different forms of stress and as much as possible, create an environment that doesn’t promote it further.

One factor that could help reduce and manage stress and its effects in the work place is a comfortable, conducive and well designed office. The modern work environment has since evolved from the nominal cubicles of the 80’s and 90’s to luxurious, satisfying, pleasant and contemporary interior designs which have been proven to aid the productivity of workers. This consequently means a poor office layout and bad designs that would play a crucial role in stressing up employees and lead to negative results or less than the expected performance. Hence let us look up the 10 Ways a Bad Office Design Stresses Up Its Employees.

Low work morale
The environment goes a long way in stimulating our senses positively or negatively. A bad office set up sends negative feelings down the mind just as the employee works in, he/she loses interest in the entire thing, and forces himself to work out the day with no spur or passion from what is seen, heard or felt from the office room.

Leaves employee with more work to do
A disorganized office setting leaves the employee with more physical assignments to do which can be very tiring and demanding. Employees have to recurringly put materials, files, and other things in appropriate places every now and then that leaves them with a hassled mind and absorbs their energy.

Difficult to focus amidst many distractions
Concentration is the key to success, a bad office lay out brings along with it a lot of distractions which affect the employee’s concentration levels and hinders optimum discharge of abilities. This leaves them with a taste of discontentment in their own work output.

Aches and Pains
One of the most obvious physical factors that come with an uncomfortable office is aches and pains. This is caused by use of furniture that doesn’t fit with the worker’s body structure, too low computer monitors, poorly positioned keyboards etc which cause strain of the eye and aches in the wrist.

A messed up table
Necessary files and papers become very difficult to find on an office table that holds all that is in the room. When workers are urgently in need of certain materials, they begin to muddle all that is on the table in search of what is needed, resulting in additional efforts that are completely futile.

Increase in work errors
Balancing several things together at a time, from noise to unfavorable temperatures to aches and pains contributes so much to the input levels of the employee. With so many distractions, aches and more work to do, the chances of making mistakes become higher.

Frustration and psychological imbalance
Having to cope with all that accompanies a bad office design can be very frustrating and irritating. This happens mostly due to loss of passion and creativity, which results in unfulfilling work results and outcomes.

Disconnectedness amidst workers
Stress in the work place can be greatly managed by a friendly working environment. Workers are more tensed when communication amidst them is sour or unwelcoming. This goes a long way to create or breed lagged team work and development of dis-trust.

Exhaustion
Anxiety, depression and an uncomfortable work environment with no proper ventilation leads to headaches, muscle pains, raised body temperatures and more which are all symptoms of exhaustion and exclusion from productivity at work.

Disease attack and easy spread
Exposure to unfavorable conditions at work leads to illnesses and stress related health conditions. It could also become easy for communicable diseases to be transferred from one worker to another in an office setting that is not well structured or designed.

All these are different ways by which the bad office design affects the psychological, mental and physical state of the employee and thereby stresses them, of which if not looked into and properly taken care of, would lead to poor and low productivity levels  for the organization at large. Organization management should work hand in hand with the building facility service agency and ensure a well planned, beautifully curated best interior design for the functional and mental efficacy of employees at work.