If you’ve ever walked into a business meeting room and felt a rush of enthusiasm, fear, or intimidation, it might have been partially due to the way the meeting room was arranged.
The ancient Chinese discovery of Feng shui is now popular all over the world, and it’s not just for homes anymore. The way your office is arranged and the colours you choose can contribute to your feelings of success. Bringing clients into a meeting room specifically designed to foster confidence and harmony can give you that extra edge you need to land a deal.
Here are five ways to boost creativity at work and inject a natural energy flow into business meetings, using the revered principles of feng shui for your office.
- Clean off surfaces. Keep pens, electronics, notepads, and other items out of everyday sight. Use drawers or office organizers to keep small items out of sight. If you have too many items out in plain sight (even decorations), this will slow down the flow of energy.
- In a business meeting room, take the chair that’s in the commanding position. This is the spot that’s facing the entrance, and is usually furthest away from it. It is often diagonally placed from the entrance. When setting up your office, put your desk in this same position, facing the entrance if possible.
- Add plants to meeting rooms and workspaces. Plants purify the air and encourage a harmonizing flow of energy. Jade trees and bonsai trees are often known as “money plants” and are used in businesses, but they are not the only plant with positive qualities. Almost all plants (if lively and healthy) are energizing and beneficial for office environments, according to feng shui principles. The positioning of your plants in a business environment also matters. The best spots to place plants in meeting rooms and workspaces are in the South, Southeast, and East areas of a room.
- Clean air and good lighting are a must. If a room doesn’t have much natural light, or has windows that don’t open, these qualities are even more important. Blue is the color of water and, together with good lighting and clean air, balances out the lack of fresh air and sunshine. If you are working in a small office cubicle, blue is a good color to introduce.
- Select colours to balance the environment of your workspace or meeting room. You can energize a windowless office with vibrant feng shui colours, or ease tension in meeting rooms with soothing aqua (which introduces the element of water) or greens and earth tones (which introduce the element of wood). Blue is a good choice in a room with limited natural light. Red tones encourage courage. Yellow symbolises sunshine and is the happiest and most welcoming colour. Green tones are said to nourish health and vibrant energy. The colour orange is the most social and outgoing color; it is said to encourage conversations and symbolises the glow of a fire on a hearth. Use orange in reception areas, in hallways, or as an accent color in meeting rooms.
At CEO SUITE, you can rent serviced office space that’s designed according to the principles of feng shui. These modern offices are located in prestigious buildings throughout Asia. Your feng shui designed office will be all set up and ready to move into as soon as you need it. Don’t need an office space every day? You can also rent premium meeting rooms or conference facilities on-demand, and impress your clients. Contact us at CEO SUITE to learn more.