If you work in an office you’ll know how the mood in the room changes from day to day. Small things can affect the mood in an office, so it’s important to create the right type of environment in which your employees feel relaxed yet are still productive.

There are a few things you can do to make the office a happy place to work, some ideas include:

• Encourage employee interaction: Employees feel ill at ease if they are rarely allowed to communicate between themselves. People feel happier if they are encouraged to make friends with other staff members.
• Reward employee efforts: Many employees feel undervalued. But in this time of recession it’s impossible to give pay rises, so other things such as an ‘employee of the week’ award or a ‘time-off bonus’ for productive employees will be well received.
• Make the office more inviting: If the office is a welcoming place staff will feel at ease and will be more productive. You can do this by adding greenery such as trees and plants and by making sure the office is always clean and tidy.

These are just a few suggestions. If you think about it, there are loads of things you can do to lighten the mood in the office.