How Poor Office Design Hinders Employee Performance and Wellbeing

Relentless fluorescent lighting. Swivel chairs. Fingers tapping furiously away at keyboards.

Not all workplaces are the same but if you work in an office, some of the common features could be making it harder for you to get your best work done.

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"Work environments pay a big role in the way that we feel," says Patrick Aouad, a neurologist and CEO of an online health and wellbeing platform for businesses.

Working in a space that doesn't allow us to feel creative, calm or connected could mean we are performing "under our capacity and under our abilities", he says.

That fluorescent overhead glare

Harsh fluorescent overhead lighting without the option of natural light throughout the day is "fundamentally a design flaw", Dr Aouad says.

"If you're in artificial light all day, you don't have that natural circadian rhythm clocking over as it should."

Libby Sander, an associate professor of Organisational Behaviour at Bond University on the Gold Coast, says anecdotally people report eye strain, headaches and even feeling dizzy because of fluorescent and blue lights.

Some research suggests that artificial lighting and a lack of natural lighting can elevate stress markers, she says.

Michael Spinoglio is the design director of a national workplace strategy, design and construction company, and says, "Fluorescent lighting is a common complaint we hear when people talk about older offices, but it made sense for the way workplaces were designed at the time."

"Offices tended to have large floor plans, fixed desks and people generally doing similar tasks, so designers needed a practical, cost-effective way to get a consistent level of light across the whole space. A grid of fluorescent lights did that well," Mr Spinoglio says.

However, he says those office design choices didn't always consider what natural light was available, where people were sitting, their line of sight, how different teams worked and individual sensitivity to uniform artificial light, glare and flicker.

Open-plan offices and having quiet (and loud) spaces

Dr Aouad says fluorescent lighting is just one aspect of poorly designed offices that can push us into a "survival state" and making some of us unable to reach our potential.

"Open plan can be great, but not if you want some private time or time to digest things without the company of others," he says.

Dr Sander says noise and being able to work privately are common complaints.

"My own research has found that open-plan office noise and distraction has … a causal relationship, so the noise actually resulted in a 34 per cent increase in objectively measured physiological stress and a 25 per cent increase in negative mood."

The importance of office options

People do "creative things" to work around these issues individually, but there are things employers can do, Dr Sander says.

She has seen employees turn off overhead fluorescent lighting and rely on desk lamps and floor lamps instead.

But she notes this is not always an option.

Mr Spinoglio says different types of work come with recommended lighting levels.

And WorkSafe Victoria says good lighting increases safety and should allow employees to easily work without straining their eyes.

Dr Sander is an advocate for "circadian lighting" that mimics the sun throughout the day, but says anything that moves away from fluorescent lighting "is probably a good start".

She says giving people options of where and how they work can also help.

"Offering flexible and hybrid work is really important … because it allows people to control a lot of those distractions and the interruptions and the noise when they're working at home."

If that's not an option at your workplace, Dr Sander suggests approaching a manager.

"Ask if you can modify your arrangements or try and find those quiet spots in your office or somewhere near where you work."

Dr Aouad says the office his organisation works in has been designed to create options and give people some autonomy.

"There's a cafe area where other organisations, leaders, owners, managers can catch up with each other and share thoughts [and] there's private space for you to go to if you want private space."

"The less clarity and control you have around your environment, the more we default to survival mode," he says.

What could an ideal office look like?

Natalie Phillips-Mason, the founder of a neuroinclusive workplace consultancy firm in Naarm/Melbourne, says a sensory-friendly workplace "doesn't assume we all have the same sensory processing input"

"They're environments that provide lots of choice for people," she explains.

"It could be offering spaces where the lights are dimmable, it could be offering spaces where you've given consideration to not just people working in loud environments, but whether people are distracted by smells."

Dr Sander says those making the decisions should consider how their organisation functions.

"Think[ing] about the type of work that gets done in your organisation and the type of people who work there."

Dr Aouad adds that spaces should be designed using an evidence-based perspective, rather than an employer's own preferences or biases.

Fundamentally, he says, the right design is about making employees feel comfortable to do their best work.