When I first started my career, I worked in the case assignment section of a county court clerk’s office. The office provided an employee breakroom and, to be kind, our courthouse staff breakroom was downright awful. It was an adequately sized rectangular room with windows along one wall, so the space certainly had promise. Unfortunately, that’s where the ambiance ended. Consider a morale boosting breakroom in your courthouse planning.
The breakroom had white walls and a white linoleum floor. It was furnished with three white collapsible tables and hard plastic chairs that were also – you guessed it – white. Though the color white is supposed to make a room look visibly larger and have a sense of brightness and neatness, our breakroom just looked bland and cheap.
There was no décor, not even window coverings. The room had three vending machines that weren’t stocked on a regular basis, so they were usually only half-filled, mostly with cold soft drinks. The most egregious oversight (at least for me) – there wasn’t even coffee available.
Maybe it was all the white furnishings or the lack of any decoration, or maybe it was the thermostat settings, but the room always felt cold. I wondered, “Would it really be that hard to spring for a Mr. Coffee, or to hang a picture or two?” Or how about just turning up the thermostat?
There can be many reasons for declining productivity and low morale in a courthouse – increasing workload, decreasing budgets and staff, even having to deal with stressful and complicated cases. But one area that shouldn’t add to dissatisfaction among staff is the condition of the breakroom. The good news is that there are some simple and relatively inexpensive things you can do to create a better space for employees.
Back to my personal courthouse breakroom experience for a moment. Because of the conditions described above, our courthouse staff breakroom was rarely used. Staff wouldn’t eat lunch in there. When the weather wasn’t nice enough for people to eat outside, they ate at their desks. Since the clerk’s office staff sat at wide-open cubicles in clear view of the public, visitors to the office were often greeted by a clerk eating a messy cheesesteak sub and onion rings. Thus, the clerk’s office appeared less than professional at times during the workday and that’s certainly not the impression we wanted to portray.
The unappealing breakroom also had a negative effect on productivity. Staff members rarely stepped away from their desks to take breaks, simply because the courthouse staff breakroom was so uninviting. Particularly when doing monotonous tasks, as can often be done in the clerk’s office, it is good – even essential – to take several breaks throughout the day. Countless studies have shown that taking breaks during the workday helps to keep productivity up.
In my travels to other courthouses as a courthouse planner, I have seen some breakrooms that wouldn’t be out of place in a penal colony. On the other hand, I have seen exceptionally nice employee breakrooms that are well-designed, relaxing areas which offer a welcoming respite from a hectic office. Based on these experiences, I can offer some simple suggestions for creating a courthouse staff breakroom that courthouse employees will want to use.
As a courthouse planner, I focus extensively on the types of spaces required to support courthouses of all sizes. The breakroom is one area where I recommend investing in your court employees by providing the best space possible to boost morale, increase productivity, and maintain a professional image for the court.
At a minimum, please provide hot coffee.