Creative Ideas for Your Facility’s Break Room

Your employee break room is a vital part of your workplace. It can set the tone for the entire workday, and it’s one of the best ways to show your employees that you value them. It is also a meeting place, where workers can congregate and hold both social and business functions.

A break room is reflective of your company’s culture and can make a big difference when it comes to employee satisfaction in their job. The act of taking intentional breaks keeps employees fresh and ready to work, and creating an environment that fosters a quick refresh lets your employees know that they mean more to you than just the work they finish.

It’s the same reason that Google spends so much energy on fostering a positive, supportive company culture; employees feel valued, and therefore value the company more, and take more pride in their work. The upside for you as the employer? Breaks actually increase productivity and create the necessary mental space for employees to come up with better ideas, too.

Idea #1: Provide Snacks for Your Employees

One of the best ways to create a break room that will truly recharge your employees? Refuel your employees by stocking your break room with snacks and caffeine available at your workers’ disposal. Healthy snacks stocked in the fridge or pantry can provide employees with an extra boost during the day.

Providing a tea kettle, coffee maker, or cappuccino maker available can give employees a pick-me-up, especially during the dreaded post-lunch slump. Employees can recharge their bodies while taking a mental break if you provide something for them to snack on.

Idea #2: Offer Activities

Setting out a few brain teasers, board games, a ping pong table, or other multiplayer activities turns your break room into a common space where employees can take a break from their work day and also establish positive relationships with their coworkers, which creates a stronger sense of teamwork that will extend to the rest of the workday, outside the break room.

Pay Attention to Decor

 Plain, white walls and generic, uncomfortable office furniture in a long-forgotten break room won’t inspire employees or make them feel recharged and ready to get back to work. These companies have focused on making their whole workplace feel fresh, current, and inspiring, but even a bit of modernity, style, or whimsy added just in the breakroom makes for a vibrant, exciting workspace where employees can’t wait to come to work. A personalized space has character and creates a sense of belonging to something unique and exciting.

A well-decorated, modern break room also becomes a great meeting space, common space, or even a place to hold employee events. Choose comfortable furniture with versatility so that your break room becomes more than just a place where employees go to warm up their lunch; it’s a place where your team can gather and celebrate, recharge, and feel inspired.

Idea #3: Think about Biophilic Design

What’s biophilic design? It’s the inclusion of natural elements and the outside in design in order to improve mood. Natural light shining through an open window, a view of a well-tended garden or water feature, a varied cluster of indoor plants, or even the use of natural elements in the design of a break room reduces stress and can even improve employee health. Nature can make a huge difference in one’s mental and physical state, so bringing nature into the breakroom is a peaceful way to improve employee morale.

Houseplants are having their own renaissance right now, so in addition to improving the mood, indoor plants will also make your break space feel fresh and contemporary. Plants also act as great air purifiers, too.  Here are a few tips on arranging indoor plants, and a list of plants that are ideal for offices because of their visual appeal and low-maintenance needs. You don’t have to turn your break room into a jungle, but a few plants will certainly cheer things up!

Idea #4: Consider a Television

While a television in the break room may not be right in all work environments, having a television set to a steady stream of information— something like the national news set to a neutral station—such as the BBC– means that workers will feel more involved in the world around them. It also is a gentle reminder during break time that the world exists outside of the workplace, making occasional work challenges or difficulties seem more manageable.

If television isn’t an option for whatever reason due to the nature of your workplace, subscribing to a daily newspaper is another way for employees to get informed (or even just fill out a crossword puzzle) during break time.

Idea #5: Ask Your Employees What They Need

One of the best ways to ensure that your break room is exactly what your employees want and need? Find out what their requests are, and do your best to meet requests, within reason. Keeping your employees refreshed and happy will improve their productivity, and enhance your company’s overall culture, so why not take a few extra steps to help make their breaks meaningful and beneficial to them?

Idea #6: Keep Break Spaces Neat and Updated

Making an effort to not only keep break spaces updated but also clean, shows employees that you care about their mental space and their need to take breaks. It unconsciously demonstrates that you are thinking of them as people, not just taskers. Old spaces and out-of-date, beat-up furniture that hasn’t been changed in years doesn’t help employees feel supported or valued in their downtime, and no one wants to spend time in a dingy break room that never gets thoroughly cleaned.

One way to keep break spaces pleasant and enjoyable? Keeping them cleaned and tidied. ServiceMaster Clean janitorial services can extend into the employee break room, where a spotless, fresh room provides a space for fresh ideas to brew as well. No one feels valued or refreshed in a room with clutter, grime, or dust, but a break space that is given regular attention from our cleaning professionals is the perfect location to recharge in the middle of the workday, hold a meeting, or host social gatherings.

Let ServiceMaster give your employee break room the attention that it needs so that your employees have the break room they deserve. Get a quote today to see how we can keep your office, and your break room fresh, spotless, and clean. It’s an investment in your company and your employees you can’t afford not to make.