Jake PopistWorking in an office, or place of business, quite often is much more strenuous than it has to be and this comes down to the fact that most often tasks and jobs are given to people that don’t have the skills or the proper environment to accomplish the given task.
This is salient – as work environment plays a crucial part in the productivity of any business. Now with the environment – we are acknowledging both the physical environment as well as the emotional climate of the workplace – there is much to consider.
Office dramas and office gossip can do much more harm to the productivity of a business, and it’s goals given throughout a day – more so than any business affairs that may arise.
To understand a bit more what the previous sentence is alluding to. It can be frustrating to have lost data due to a misappropriation of information on a hard drive to not sending emails to documents that may have been loss due to poor organizational skills.
These are just some examples of business problems that can make the productivity of the business goals slow down or at times come to a halt.
And it is for this reason that ergonomics plays a crucial role in the business and why it is necessary to have steps and procedures that the staff and the leader must follow.
However, aside from the business aspect there is nothing quite worse then the emotional toxic climate that may inhabit an office workplace.
Toxic workplaces are quite prominent in many places of business; no matter the size or scale. It is crucial for any company that wants to succeed and that wants to be as productive as possible to maintain a healthy and cooperative workplace.
Office dramas are as bad, if not worse, than any business problem that may arise. Office dramas slow down the productivity and as result workers spend more time arguing, bickering and sabotaging the mission – all just to harm the person’s image or character.
This may not seem like it can affect the overall mission, too much, but we must not forget the danger that may arise from one disgruntle employee.
So to help your business become as productive as possible and to keep and maintain a cooperative workplace we have outlined a few steps to help your business stay productivity as possible.
Lastly, remember that ergonomics is a highly encompassing field that is not only related to the field of office work but all manner of workplaces which we highlight below. The more knowledgeable you are about your workplace and how it can affect your workers the better you can guide your workers throughout their workday
The Different Types of Ergonomics
# 1 – Physical Ergonomics
For workers that must sit behind a desk all day and type, or research, on their laptop or computer – it would prove most valuable to provide the office workers the necessary chairs that will help them keep a proper posture and thus a better focus on the task given.
It has been proven that sitting down too long is unhealthy – but also, not having the right chairs could also have a devastating impact on one’s spine and posture. That is why it is highly suggested by many ergonomic trainers, ergonomic guides, and organizations that one provide their workers the necessary office furniture they can – to give the workers a much more comfortable environment.
# 2 – Cognitive Ergonomics
Now, this doesn’t solely confine itself outside the realm work, as this is what this mostly about. Cognitive ergonomics is about how people remember, perceive and reason. More importantly, cognitive ergonomics also play a huge role in how one interacts with people throughout their daily day.
As mentioned before toxic workplaces are very much some of the most prominent environments. It is important to develop cooperation in a workplace and even more so developing the mentality in oneself and others to understand that they will not always be understood at times.
# 3 – Organizational Ergonomics
This, organizational ergonomics, would deal much more with Human Resources; understanding how the workforce must operate. Organizational Ergonomics focuses on how workers time-in and time-out during the day. Understanding the workforce is incredibly salient as you can have a better time of knowing how much time is being given to the work.
Ergonomics Throughout History
Ergonomics does not solely confine itself to these areas. There are many ergonomics training courses and businesses that provide training in all other manners of work outside of the office place.
The history of ergonomics dates back as early as Ancient Egypt. Many historians have shown that the some of the early Egyptians used some form of ergonomics in their home and buildings development.
As we travel further along the line in history we also see how it played a huge role in science with the term “scientific management” being first coined by Frederick Winslow Taylor.
Then as aviation started to develop it became more popular and widespread. Ergonomics exist outside of the realm of science and technology and in the fields of information.
And with information we are talking about computer information technology but also espionage and governmental information.
Information – obtaining it, keeping it and passing it along was very crucial and important, and still is. During the cold war era ergonomics had a major role in almost every facet of the secret wars.
Practitioners Of Ergonomics
It is safe to say that those who follow ergonomics must have some level of deep understanding in the fields that they are engaging in. And so those who follow ergonomics have a great level of psychology in numerous areas.
Such as engineering psychology, perceptual psychology, experimental psychology, organizational psychology, applied psychology and so on.
It is important for anyone who wants to implement some ergonomics training into the workplace or business (as we have shown this is not strictly confined to business) that the to be able to hire a person who will provide the training that has a high level of understanding in the field of psychology.
Jake Popist
