Feng Shui Gives Businesses a Boost in the Modern Office Environment

[Jada Hudson]

The modern British office is about as calm as a tent in a
thunderstorm. The fast-paced winds of corporate life whip everything
into an all-consuming froth of clutter through which we try to conduct
our working lives. Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement, is
now being employed to counter the endemic culture of corporate
disorder with supporters including Richard Branson and Donald Trump.
Liza Evans, the in-house Interior Designer and Feng Shui consultant
for Executive Offices Group, creates harmonious working spaces by
translating the discipline into an effective corporate instrument that
helps businesses succeed in their market place.
Feng Shui is a discipline that explores the relationship between the
natural and built environment. When Liza designs an office every
detail of a building is taken into consideration including its
location, direction and surroundings, as well as the positioning of
its entrances, public spaces, and the office layout itself. In
practical terms the main changes she effects involve a wholesale
removal of clutter and the careful and subtle placement of objects in
conjunction with complementary colour and texture combinations. The
offices she creates have a sleek and contemporary interior design
quality but are born of an art that has been honed by its
practitioners over thousands of years.
The overall design must encourage the flow of the positive energy
known as chi. Business centre entrances are particularly important
because they are the threshold that unites the outside world with the
activities inside; freely flowing chi at an entrance creates energy
and harmony in everything that enters, leaves and occurs within the
building. As well as harnessing chi, Feng Shui seeks to strike a
balance between yin and yang, the receptive and active forces of the
universe. This can be done by establishing an interaction between
light and dark colours, soft and hard surfaces, smooth and rough
textures in treatments furniture and flooring.
While there may be some misplaced scepticism surrounding a practice as
elusive and unquantifiable as Feng Shui, few would be unimpressed by
the results Liza has seen her work produce. Her Feng Shui offices have
increased productivity, reduced staff turnover, improved staff
relations and, perhaps most importantly, created tangible increases in
profit. Recently, Liza was called in to help a City company who were
having problems with turnover; money was flowing into their company,
but flowing out twice as quickly. With a few adjustments to enable
their staff to be more focused, which included re-seating the MD,
looking at their company literature and clearing the clutter, the
company's fortunes changed dramatically and they eventually went on to
float on the stock exchange.
However, if a comprehensive redesign of the office is not possible,
Liza's top ten tips can bring harmony to any office:
1. Keep the office and desk clutter free, including removing mess from
the drawers 2. If you don't use it, lose it! Get rid of any unused or
unwanted items 3. Store archive filing off site but treat files with
respect as they represent past and future business 4. Keep the office
clean and tidy to keep the energy in the space light and fresh 5.
Regularly open windows to let fresh air/energy in and raise the blinds
to allow natural daylight into the space
6. Fresh flowers or healthy plants will help bring a touch of nature
into the office helping to keep the energy fresh 7. Put up colourful
and inspiring artwork to help stimulate creativity 8. Use mirrors to
help open up, energise and enlarge spaces 9. Ideally position your
desk so you have a clear view of the door. If space permits sit with
your back to the wall to give you additional support 10. Arrange the
office so people can move around and function easily. This will help
the energy (chi) to flow around the space