A simple way to improve employee happiness is to offer a thought out and well-stocked break room. In this blog post, we listed 10 ways to create a break room that your employees will love.
1. Offer Free Caffeine
Need we say more? Love it or hate it, caffeine is the most popular way to start the morning at an office.
Keep your break room organized with this coffee pod carousel that holds up to 30 single-serve coffee pods. Make sure you have paper cups that can handle hot coffee, too.
2. Separate from the rest of the office
Don’t keep workspaces close to food smells so your employees can have a separate oasis when they’re on their lunch break.
Separate the office environment from the break room with different furniture, wall paint, and lighting.
3. Make room for conversation
Sometimes, we’re all more comfortable collaborating in the kitchen. If you have the room, longer tables can be an additional space for meetings and encourage coworker conversation.
Encourage conversation with long family style tables.
4. Extend breaks outside
It’s always harder to work when the weather is nice, so having outdoor seating areas is a great way to allow employees to recharge and get some fresh air on their breaks.
If you have an outdoor space, make sure to have weatherproof chairs, tables, and trash receptacles.
5. Provide Entertainment
Provided you have space in or adjacent to the break room, giving employees a way to relax through sports, reading, watching tv, or djing music will boost moods around the office.
Offering magazines, television, or a wireless speaker to play music is a nice way to show employees that your company cares.
6. Decorate
Use your break room to provide an entirely different setting for your employees on their lunch hour. Adding plants and artwork goes a long way in changing a space. Put a bulletin board up so people can share community and local events.
Low maintenance fake plants are a nice touch to a break room. An Instax picture of each employee would be a nice decoration for a refrigerator or community bulletin board.
7. Cook for the office
If you have some employees that love to cook, give them the opportunity to let their culinary skills shine once a week or month in your break room. Ask everyone in the office to pitch in a few dollars to fund a tasty lunch.
Offer a few simple cooking supplies for your employees.
8. Happy Hours
Many companies start internal happy hours on Friday afternoons as a “thank you” to their employees for all the hard work they do from Monday-Thursday. Cheers to that!
Solo cups, a drink refrigerator, and glassware are nice options for happy hours.
9. Keep it clean and updated
Employees will want to keep their eating space clean if there are high-quality cleaning supplies available. Don’t forget the hand soap, too!
Keep your break room sanitary with these cleaning supplies must-haves.
1o. Provide Healthy Snack Options
If your company values employee health, offering healthy snacks and drinks are great ways to encourage and motivate people to live an active lifestyle.
Nut mixes, water, and green tea are great options to consider to encourage a healthy break room.
What do you think? What makes your break room great for your employees? Leave a comment below.
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