Impacts of interior design projects on productivity of employees

Abstract

Previous studies have concluded that interior design parameters have an influence on the productivity in office environment. However this fact does not attract sufficient and significant emphasis in Sri Lankan setting. Therefore, this research was focused on exploring the effect of interior design on the productivity of employees in Sri Lankan context and identification of the key interior design parameters responsible for the processes in office environments. Four major factors including furniture arrangement, colour of walls/partitions, visuals and service distribution were identified as significant factors for employees’ productivity, using t-test. Further these factors were studied in detail to identify their impact on employee productivity through five case studies. The five cases were selected from the commercial capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, so as to represent varying professional atmospheres. Three of them had recently updated interior according to new concepts whereas other two did not have so. Data collection was carried out through observation of office environments and officers’ behaviour, questionnaire survey, interviews and telephone conversations with those who experience the impact of worker productivity. Furthermore, discussions were carried out with the management of the companies chosen for case studies, in order to verify the obtained results and the test results were proven to be accurate according to their observations and experience. Results reveals proper furniture arrangement ensures efficiency of employees and significantly improves teamwork and speed of work while comfortable furniture encourages continuous working. On the other hand, use of colours improves employees’ mood and quality of work. Further, placing visually attractive artefacts, displaying motivational wordings and quotes and establishing windows increase moral, motivation and comfort of employees. According to this study, service distribution within an office space causes convenience in communication within the office and also with the outsiders and increases the service status, while saving time by minimizing movement inside the office and waiting time to use electrical equipment. This research would be a benchmark study for commercial organizations as a technique for improving their employees’ productivity.