How To Boost Employee Productivity With Smart Lighting In The Workplace December 7, 2016 00:00
Smart lighting has seen an incredible surge in the variety of ways it can be used lately. From artists taking advantage of its limitless versatility to create never-been-done displays to musicians playing their tunes through the impressive speakers contained in some of these innovative bulbs, it seems like the list of ways you can make use of smart lighting are growing by the minute.
And while some people might think the advantages of an ultra-sophisticated light bulb might be limited solely to creative affairs and home-design elements, the truth is businesses all over the world have begun reaping the benefits of incorporating smart lighting into their offices.
Innovations in smart lighting
For one thing, these bulbs are significantly more efficient than any other lighting device out there, with base models usually staying lit at least 3 times longer than CFLs and at least 20 times longer than incandescent bulbs. And when it comes to cutting down on your business’s expenses, the utility bill is the first place to start.
Some lighting companies have taken the capabilities of smart lighting even further, using the amount of light reflected and the interactivity with motion sensors to map out employee motion patterns. Determining how your workforce navigates can be particularly useful in manufacturing facilities and can end up saving you and your company quite a bit of money next year.
Use different colors to energize or relax employees
Another aspect of smart lighting that many people have found especially attractive is the color change feature. A good portion of high-quality smart bulbs like the Flux Smart WiFi and Bluetooth LEDs come with the ability to change the light output to over 16 million different colors!
And it’s not just the aesthetics that benefit from this feature either. There have been a significant number of studies conducted that show a strong correlation between mood and energy levels with certain hues of light. Red, for instance, has been shown to have a more relaxing effect while blue has been documented as bringing about a more alert and energized state of mind.
Any business owner knows a boon in productivity for their employees means more money coming in the door so energizing and engaging the workforce should be pretty high on the list of priorities. And if all it takes is shining a different colored light in their workspace, a cheaper alternative is surely hard to come by.
Set brightness schedules to enhance production
Keeping in the same vein with increasing production, smart lighting also allows you to alter the brightness of your bulbs. This can come in handy in a variety of situations.
For instance, business owners could either brighten or dim the work environment to find that perfect level of light to bring about the highest production yields in their workforce. As studies have shown, there is a fine balance between too much or too little light and that sweet spot.
Keep the lights down too low and your employees will not only find their tasks harder to concentrate on, their mood might even suffer as well, leading to more conflicts and insubordination. On the other hand, if they’re too bright you’ll likely see these same effects. When you have complete control over your lighting levels though, you can avoid this problem entirely and get your lights to work for you!
The brightness control of smart lighting can be applied to higher-level positions in your business as well. If, for example, your company is hashing out the complex details involved in implementing your new marketing strategy, try dimming the lights just a little.
As this study shows, bright lights can sometimes aggravate emotions, making upset individuals even angrier and sadder people more depressed. The takeaway here is that, according to the study, dimmer lighting leads to the ability to make more rational decisions. And when you’re determining the course of your business, you certainly want to make a decision based on reason rather than emotion.
Cater to individualized needs and increase efficiency
When you are talking about the efficiency of your workforce, you know that there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy for increasing production and the quality of work. And the main contributor to this variability is the fact that each and every one of your employees has a different set of needs than the person sitting next to them.
So how do you get the best out of your staff when each of them will react differently to anything you put in place? By letting them determine what type environment they want to work in.
This idea of a customizable workspace is becoming increasingly popular in modern corporate America and smart lighting is leading the way! Several companies have implemented programs to give their employees direct control over their lighting needs right through an app on their smart device. The brightness and color of the light directly over their desk can be controlled however they see fit, letting them determine in what light they’ll work best.
A customizable light source can come in particularly handy for a workforce made up of employees old and young. In fact, workers older than 45 years will need twice as much light as a 20 year old to perform equivalent duties. What better way to offer that than giving your employees the reigns?
And don’t forget about headaches, migraines, and eye strain. Anyone who has stared at a computer screen for eight hours knows just how tired your eyes can get throughout the day. When it comes to headaches and migraines, extended bright light can not only aggravate the condition, they can actually cause them entirely!
By letting your workers choose their own lighting needs you’ll likely see a happier, more efficient workforce in no time!
Let us know what you think!
How have you used smart lighting to energize your office? Can you think of any other ways smart lighting can help make your workforce more productive? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to take your business up a notch with the Flux Smart product line!