Office Plants Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity

By Jeanette Joy Fisher

Recent research at the University of Texas and Washington State University in the United States and Surrey University in England has revealed that distributing plants throughout the office workplace can both lower stress and enhance employee productivity.  

In the Texas experiment, participants were tested while using a computer program that had been specifically created for the test. The testing was done in cubicles that had been designed to replicate the average office environment. Participants were shown a series of random symbols, and were then monitored according to their stress level, based on blood pressure, and their productivity based on reaction time.

The tests were then run in environments with and without the common types of interior plants that are often seen in office cubicle situations. The results of the Texas study showed that participants were less stressed and had better reaction times when the plants were present. A computer program to test productivity and induce stress was specifically designed for these experiments. One hundred symbols were presented in identical randomized sequences to each test subject, and the only variable in the test was the presence or absence of plants.

Plants were positioned in such a way that they could be seen within the peripheral view of subjects as they sat at a computer terminal. Besides being able to concentrate and react more quickly, the study showed that simply having plants within view increased subjects’ ability to react by as much as 12 percent, as well as enabling them to recover from stress within five minutes.

Almost identical results were obtained in a similar study conducted at Washington State University, using essentially the same testing procedure. When plants were placed around the sides of a cubicle, subjects felt less stress (as indicated by lower systolic blood pressure levels) and just as UT researchers had discovered, the WSU study showed that subject reactions were some 12 percent faster while they were taking a carefully-standardized computer test.

A third study, conducted at England’s University of Surrey, examined the effect of strategically placing plants around an office in order to reduce noise levels. Plants were found to significantly reduce noise, thereby increasing productivity among employees. Although it’s somewhat difficult to quantify, most office workers are familiar with the effects of noise pollution firsthand. If you work in an office, just think back to the last time you had to take a break because you simply could no longer stand the noise.

Copyright © 2006 Jeanette  J. Fisher