The Psychology of Colour In The Office

If you are looking to increase work productivity, reach certain goals, or even lighten the mood/tension amongst your employees, then the colour you choose to paint your office can have adverse effects. Research has shown that certain colours influence our emotions and behavior, consequently influencing our work productivity. 

So what can colours do, exactly? Painting a wall one colour can invoke an absolute plethora of responses in your employees. One thing it can do is change their perception of temperature. Colours such as orange, yellow, or red can make people feel as if the room is warmer than it actually is. On the other hand, light purple, blue and green make people feel as if the room is cooler. I feel this factor should be taken full advantage of as it's an economical solution for saving money. That is, it saves having to spend more on heating or air conditioning. 

Before changing the colour of your office, it may help to know a little about your employees. This is only due to the fact that certain colours can be associated with certain memories in an individual. This can be a good thing, but it can also be bad. 

What To Avoid

White

What colours do what? Let's start off with the colours that you should tend to avoid. I'll start of with the 'wonderful' white. Although white may be viewed as a modern, minimalist, and clean colour, it can be a little boring. It can distract people as it tends to cause people to reflect on their thoughts due to lack of stimulation. So, if your employees spend too much time on the loo, ensure it isn't painted white! 

Yellow

Another colour to avoid is yellow. This is because not many people are a fan of the colour. It also tends to cause a nuisance, simply because it attracts little bugs and such during the summer period. Yellow may appeal to some, but it usually doesn't win over many. Therefore you should avoid this colour if you want to appeal to the majority. Maybe paint your toilet yellow! ;) 

Red

Probably one of the worst colours you could have your office painted is red; the devil of colours. It's also why teachers shouldn't use red to mark students work. It makes it seem if you are shouting, or marking their work more harshly. This then makes us associate red as being bad. Red also reduces analytical thinking as we just tend to be more forceful and aggressive when surrounded by red walls; it makes it hard for us to concentrate. 


What Not To Avoid

Orange 

Orange makes us perceive a brand or company as providing a product or service with value for our money. This is also why some companies will incorporate orange into their logo/brand (e.g. Think Furniture (i.e. us!)). And my oh my do we provide a good value service. If you have a dedicated room for meeting with customers, you should consider painting the room orange, or if it is too striking you should consider having orange decor. 

Pink

Looking to calm people down? Then pink is your colour! Having a room pink, or with pink decor can usually calm it's inhabitants, even The Hulk. Particular shades of pink can calm people for a certain time frame, and after that time frame, the individuals tend to remain calm. It's known for draining people of their energy. So if your employees are always at each others throats, maybe paint the office pink? 

Let's keep those inmates calm...

Green

The colour green breeds creativity, productivity, and allows people to think on a broader horizon. It's associated with nature and trust in individuals. If you want to squeeze more work from your employees by making them more productive and creative then I would suggest painting the office green. 

Blue

The most accepted, universal colour. The majority of people around the world will say that their favourite colour is blue. This is likely due to the fact that we associate blue with clear blue skies and water. It's seen as a good sign. So painting an office blue will more than likely please most. 

Painting a wall most certainly will not do all the work for you, but it will help give that nudge to ensuring you are getting the best out of your employees whilst also keeping them satisfied. Take careful consideration when decorating your office!