Whether you realize it our not, nearly every business runs on creative employees. Even the most fact and numbers-based industries require problem solving, brainstorming, and innovative approaches to common problems. As a business owner or leader, it’s imperative that you nurture your team’s creative spirit. If you are in the fortunate position to be able to design (or redesign) your company’s physical space, here are some important concepts to consider to get the most out of your staff’s creative brain power.

Design Your Space with Your Mission in Mind

Far too many commercial properties have no sense of identity. They have white walls, fluorescent lights, and practically scream “office!” Putting aside aesthetic considerations, you must consider what a negative affect this sort of environment has on creativity. In designing or decorating your space, find ways to connect it to your company and its mission. It may be in the design, incorporating brand marks or colors. Or it may be in the materials themselves.

Provide Quiet Areas for Focus

Let’s move from cosmetic considerations to practical ones for a moment. Offices are busy places, with lots of noise and activity. If the entirety of your location is busy, though, you’re doing a massive disservice to your employees’ creativity. It’s critical to have semi-isolated, quiet areas where people can go to write, plan, or even just think from time to time.

Offer Variety and Diversity

Speaking of thinking, inspiration is unlikely to strike even the most creative person if they are trapped in a boring symmetrical building for their whole day. Find opportunities to infuse your campus with variety, both inside and out, wherever possible.

Allow Flexibility for Employees

Along similar lines, one of the best things you can do to support creativity is to allow your employees to move freely about your location. While there may be scenarios where workers need to be close to a certain piece of machinery or technology to perform their daily tasks, make every effort to free them of this chain, even for part of their day. Creative people need to be able to move around, and thanks to mobile devices and intercoms, it’s usually not hard to track them down in an urgent situation. These devices may also allow them to work away from a normal desk, too.

A leader should nurture and inspire their team. One of the worst things you can do is stifle their ingenuity. Keep these tips in mind to avoid accidentally doing this!