Want a promotion? Get a desk plant

The results showed that allowing staff to make design decisions in a workspace enhanced with plants can increase creativity by 45 percent and boost productivity by 38 percent.

The results showed that allowing staff to make design decisions in a workspace enhanced with plants can increase creativity by 45 percent and boost productivity by 38 percent.

Published Jan 22, 2014

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London - New research has revealed that office plants can help staff be more creative and productive, which could ultimately result in promotion.

At work, humble indoor plants have been proved to aid concentration, increase productivity and boost staff well-being by 47 percent, according to a study undertaken at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show in London. The results showed that allowing staff to make design decisions in a workspace enhanced with plants can increase creativity by 45 percent and boost productivity by 38 percent.

The study, designed by the Identity Realisation research group at the University of Exeter in association with Indoor Garden Design, compared people’s effective output across different types of business space.

In the study, 350 visitors to the horticultural show were asked to measure their creativity, happiness and productivity in four differently designed work environments in a series of 90 experiments.

The researchers believe their findings demonstrate that plants are not unnecessary elements of business environments and add weight to other studies, which indicate plants increase psychological comfort and business performance.

Psychologist Dr Craig Knight, from the University of Exeter, said: “We have previously shown that designing your own workspace improves health, happiness and productivity.

“It was time to go a step further and see whether the principle can also be applied to creativity and indeed whether the very act of designing the workspace can be used effectively.

“Results at the show demonstrated how creativity can be increased by 45 percent through improving the psychological well-being and design of a working environment.

“The research shows how plants, in a well-designed and personalised office environment, can boost business effectiveness through improved staff productivity and creativity.

“This gives company managers a real incentive to share control of office space with their staff and create meaningful, less didactic and more grown-up space.” – Daily Mail

 

THE BENEFITS OF HOUSE PLANTS

At work: Indoor plants have been shown to aid concentration and productivity and reduce sick days, according to the TNO Quality of Life study.

In schools: Having plants in a classroom can boost the learning potential of pupils, according to the Royal College of Agriculture.

In hospitals: Hospital patients with plants in their room have less pain, anxiety, and fatigue, take significantly less pain medication, have lower blood pressure and heart rates, and are happier with their recovery rooms than those without plants, Kansas State University researchers have found.

In homes: Plant-filled rooms contain 50-60 percent fewer airborne moulds and bacteria. The plants suck chemicals out of the air that could be linked to colds, breathing problems and cancer, the Stennis Space Centre found.

To the environment: Nasa says plants can remove up to 87 percent of air toxins in 24 hours.

To our health: Indoor plants can reduce fatigue, coughs, sore throats and other cold symptoms by more than 30 percent, according to the University of Agriculture in Norway.

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