8 Ways Your Business Can Create More Inclusive Spaces

Dr. Nika White • January 13, 2022

When we think of inclusion, we often talk about what we can do to make a space more inclusive. Like what attitudes and behaviors we can model to promote inclusivity in the workplace. While behavioral changes do matter, there’s a lesser known aspect of inclusion that many aren’t discussing: physical spaces.

It’s no secret that physical spaces impact people’s moods which can encourage some people to come out of their shells or push others further into them. In this article, we’re going beyond what behavioral skills you can develop and explore what ambiance you can create to make spaces more inclusive, accessible, and comfortable.

Why Physical Space Matters

Think about physical spaces as the first welcome to new employees, potential partners and stakeholders. It’s like the business card of your workplace or the first handshake with a potential partner.

If you’ve worked this hard to make yourself a better and more inclusive leader, you can go a step further by translating that intention into the workspace ambiance. We should think about how we can make our office spaces more accessible and welcoming to people with different needs. Whether someone is a religious minority or sensitive to light and smells, how can we make this space as comfortable as possible?

The benefit of going this deep on your ambiance is that the right environment can offer openness, encourage collaboration and promote comfort for any occasion.

In fact, a good example of this happened to me recently. A few weeks ago, I was having negotiations with a long-standing client. I distinctly remember my client saying, “hey, why don’t you choose where we meet and connect. I want you to feel comfortable”.

This was a great example of putting me and our future partnership at the forefront of our conversation. Allowing me to choose an ambiance put me at ease and helped the conversation go smoothly.

When we engage in sensitive conversations, there’s power in being mindful about space, ambiance, and how the person we’re talking to will feel. That’s what this is all about: unlocking the power of physical spaces to make them as warm and inclusive as possible.

8 Ways to Build More Inclusive Physical Spaces

 

1. Paint the Walls Light, Calming Colors
In your office space, consider the color of the walls. Are the walls painted a calming hue like green, blue, or purple? One study showed that colors like violet and blue are preferred to brighter colors like yellow. The same study shared that lighter colors are perceived as friendlier and more pleasant. When considering what color to paint your office walls, opt for light and calming hues.

2. Offer Tea and Non-Alcoholic Beverages
Beverages can make one person feel at ease while making another person feel totally uncomfortable. Not everyone wants coffee right before an important meeting. Some prefer tea as a calmer source of energy. Offering herbal and non-caffeinated tea can be a small step towards encouraging inclusivity for those who are sensitive to caffeine or prefer more soothing options.

The same goes with alcohol. While some people enjoy alcoholic beverages at company gatherings, others do not. Offering alcoholic as well as nonalcoholic beverages can help each person make the right choice for them.

3. Offer Rooms For Prayer, Nursing Mothers, and Mental Health Breaks
If your company doesn’t currently offer a room for those who wish to pray, nurse small children or simply take a step back from the workplace, consider creating one. Rooms where people can connect with their spiritual, physical and mental wellbeing are important to inclusivity and accessibility. It ensures that visitors, employees, and partners alike have the space to feel grounded, handle their personal needs, and show up as their best selves in the workplace.

4. Ditch the Fluorescent Lights
While it may not be obvious, nearly 9 million people in the United States are sensitive to bright light. This means, the fluorescent lighting in your office may be turning off visitors, employees, and partners in a way that’s counterproductive to inclusivity. Switching your lighting to soft LED or warm colored light bulbs can help those who feel comfortable with bright lights to experience more ease.

5. Let the Sunlight In
If your office space has rooms with big windows, consider opening them to allow more sunlight in. Indirect, but bright sunlight can be a calming element for many people and can help some people feel more relaxed and comfortable in company gatherings.

6. Consider Food for Various Dietary Preferences
Catered company meetings can be an attractive perk for employees and partners. However, if your company doesn’t offer enough options for those with various dietary preferences, it could be a turn off for attendees. When planning the menu, be mindful of who’s attending and consider offering vegan, gluten-free, halal, and/or kosher options. For many people, food is a direct link to their spiritual, physical, and mental wellbeing. Providing options that are inclusive of many dietary preferences can help the gathering be more amicable and, therefore, successful.

7. Switch up the Waiting Room Entertainment
For office spaces that use TVs in their waiting rooms, consider rotating between the channels. Not everyone loves watching sports or the news while they wait for their meeting with a manager or partner. A great alternative is to put on a channel featuring naturescapes. Studies show images and videos of natural environments can help calm the nervous system. For guests visiting your office, seeing a desert scape or ocean view can promote ease and calmness before an important meeting.

8. Decorate the Office with Inclusive Photos of Staff
It’s no secret that 72% of company leaders in Fortune 500 companies are white and male. If your leadership team reflects that of the dominant culture, consider adding photos of lesser known staff of color, women, or persons with disabilities. Representation matters. Seeing smiling faces of folks who look like leadership and minority staff can promote feelings of positivity, inclusivity, and warmth.

Behaviors Matter, But So Does Ambiance

While behaviors and attitudes matter towards building more inclusive workspaces, ambiance shouldn’t be overlooked. The physical workspace can mean the difference between warmly welcoming guests or deterring them from ever returning again.

Environments that feel cozy and approachable are key when engaging in delicate conversations like future partnerships, salary negotiations, and important team talks. Building physical spaces that allow for prayer, offer calming colors, and relaxing entertainment, invites more positive outcomes when engaging in various business activities. Inclusive and accessible spaces allow people from all walks of life permission to relax, be authentic, and show up as their best selves.

Read more from The Human Shift on Substack, where I share long-form essays on leadership, culture, and how we work and live.

Share this Content:

When Trust Starts to Erode - The Small Moments Leaders Often Overlook

By Nika White • July 20, 2026
Trust rarely disappears overnight. Most of the time, it fades gradually. A missed follow-up. A rushed response. A concern that never gets revisited. A promise that seemed small at the time. People often think trust is built through big moments. In reality, it is shaped through consistency. Earlier in The Human Shift, The Weight of Unspoken Expectations, we explored leadership aftermath and what people carry after interactions. Trust is often built or weakened in those moments long after the conversation ends. A Reframe Trust is less about grand gestures and more about repeated experiences. One Simple Practice Think about one commitment you've made recently. Follow up on it today. Even if the update is simply: "I haven't forgotten." What This Looks Like In Practice A leader tells a team member she'll revisit a concern. Weeks pass. The concern itself becomes less important than the silence. When she circles back, even without a complete answer, trust begins to repair. Question to Consider What commitment have you made that someone may still be waiting on? In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. When someone earns your trust, what do they consistently do?

The Need to Be Understood - Why Some Leaders Spend Too Much Energy Explaining Themselves

By Nika White • July 13, 2026
Most leaders want to be understood. That's normal. The challenge comes when the need to be understood starts driving the conversation. You explain again. You provide more context. You clarify your intentions. You revisit the decision. And yet somehow, you still leave feeling misunderstood. Earlier in The Human Shift, The Stories We Tell Under Pressure, we explored how pressure shapes the stories we tell ourselves. One of the most common stories leaders carry is: "If people understood me better, this would be easier." Sometimes that's true. Sometimes the real issue is that understanding and agreement are not the same thing. A Reframe Being understood is valuable. Needing everyone to understand you can become exhausting. One Simple Practice The next time you feel the urge to explain yourself again, pause and ask: "Am I seeking clarity, or am I seeking validation?" Answer honestly. What This Looks Like In Practice A leader shares a decision with her team. A few people disagree. Her first instinct is to keep explaining the reasoning. Instead, she allows the disagreement to exist without trying to resolve everyone's discomfort. The conversation becomes more productive because she is no longer trying to manage every reaction. Question to Consider Where are you spending energy trying to be understood by people who have already heard you? In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. What's something you've been explaining repeatedly that may not need another explanation?

When Everything Feels Important - The Hidden Cost of Carrying Too Much

By Nika White • July 6, 2026
One of the first signs that capacity is stretched isn't exhaustion. It's compression. Everything starts feeling equally important. Every email. Every request. Every conversation. Every decision. There is no hierarchy. Just urgency. Earlier in The Human Shift, The Cost of Constant Readiness , we explored how constant readiness changes perception. When the nervous system stays activated for too long, discernment becomes harder to access. The result is that everything begins competing for the same attention. A Reframe When everything feels urgent, the problem is often not workload. It's a lack of space. One Simple Practice At the beginning of your day, identify one thing that truly matters. Not three. Not five. One. Let that become your anchor. What This Looks Like In Practice A leader begins every morning reviewing a long list of tasks. By lunchtime, she feels behind. When she shifts her focus to identifying the most important outcome for the day, her decision-making improves and her stress decreases. The work doesn't disappear. The relationship to the work changes. Question to Consider What would happen if not everything deserved equal access to your attention? In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. What is taking up attention right now that may not actually deserve it?

The Difference Between Listening and Waiting - Why Conversations Break Down Even When Everyone is Talking

By Nika White • June 29, 2026
Many people think they're listening... What they're actually doing is waiting. Waiting to respond. Waiting to explain. Waiting to clarify. Waiting to prove they understand. We've all done it. The challenge is that people can feel the difference. When someone feels truly heard, their nervous system settles. When they feel managed, redirected, or rushed, something else happens. Earlier in The Human Shift, When Teams Stop Telling You Things, we explored how silence often becomes a cultural signal. Many people stop sharing because they've learned they are being heard only enough to move the conversation forward. A Reframe Listening is not gathering information. Listening is creating enough space for understanding to emerge. One Simple Practice In your next conversation, wait three seconds after someone finishes speaking before responding. Just three seconds. Notice what happens. What This Looks Like In Practice A leader receives feedback from a team member. Instead of immediately explaining her perspective, she pauses. The employee continues talking. What emerged in those few extra seconds was the actual concern. Not the polished version. The real one. Question to Consider How often are you listening to understand versus listening to respond? In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. When was the last time someone made you feel completely heard?

When Your Presence Changes the Room - Why Leadership Starts Before You Say a Word

By Nika White • June 22, 2026
Most leaders pay attention to what they're going to say. The agenda. The feedback. The decision. The update. What often gets overlooked is what people experience before any of those things happen. They notice your pace. Your energy. Your level of tension. Whether you seem rushed or grounded. Whether you're fully there or already thinking about the next meeting. Earlier in The Human Shift, Culture is What People Carry Home, we explored how culture is shaped by what people carry after interactions. Before people carry anything away, they're already responding to what they experience in your presence. A Reframe Presence isn't something you add to leadership. It is leadership. One Simple Practice Before your next meeting, pause for ten seconds before speaking. Take one slow breath. Notice your feet on the floor. Then begin. What This Looks Like In Practice A leader enters a meeting feeling rushed after back-to-back conversations. Instead of immediately jumping into the agenda, she takes a moment to settle herself. The meeting itself doesn't change dramatically. The experience does. People become less reactive. The conversation slows just enough to become more thoughtful. Question to Consider What do people experience when they enter a room with you? In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. Think about your last meeting. What do you think people felt from you before you even started speaking?

The Energy Behind Your Leadership - Why how you show up matters more than how much you do

By Nika White • June 15, 2026
Leaders often focus on effort. Working harder. Doing more. Giving more. But effort is not the only variable. Energy matters. The tone you bring into a meeting. The pace of your communication. The steadiness of your presence. Earlier in The Human Shift, The Body Knows Before The Mind Does, we explored how the body communicates before words. Energy is often what people remember most. A Reframe Leadership is not only what you do. It is what people experience in your presence. One Simple Practice Before your next interaction, ask: “What energy am I bringing into this?” Then adjust—slightly. Question to Consider What do people consistently feel after interacting with you? What This Looks Like In Practice In leadership and culture work, energy is one of the most overlooked drivers of performance and trust. It shapes how work feels—and how people engage. In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. If your team described your leadership in one word based on how it feels, what would they say?

The Leadership Habit of Anticipation- When thinking ahead becomes living ahead

By Nika White • June 8, 2026
A Strong leaders anticipate. They think ahead. They plan. They prepare. But anticipation can quietly become overextension. Living in the next moment instead of the current one. Earlier in The Human Shift, The Cost of Constant Readiness, we discussed readiness. Anticipation, when constant, keeps leaders slightly ahead of the present—which can disconnect them from what’s actually happening. A Reframe Preparation supports leadership. Over-anticipation distances it. One Simple Practice Bring your attention back to one present interaction today. Ask: "What is actually happening right now?” Not what could happen. Not what might happen. Just what is. Question To Consider How often are you leading from the present versus the future? What This Looks Like In Practice Leaders who reduce over-anticipation often report clearer communication and stronger relationships because they are responding to reality, not projection. In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. Where are you currently living ahead of the moment instead of in it?

The Subtle Drift into Disconnection - How it happens without anyone noticing

By Nika White • June 1, 2026
Disconnection rarely happens all at once. It builds slowly. A conversation you rush through. A moment you don’t fully listen. A tension you move past instead of addressing. Over time, these moments accumulate. Earlier in The Human Shift, Inclusion Isn’t Exhausting – Disconnection Is , we explored inclusion as lived experience. Disconnection is often not intentional—it is the result of repeated missed moments of connection. A Reframe Disconnection is not a single event. It is a pattern of small moments. One Simple Practice Today, in one conversation, slow down enough to fully listen—without preparing your response. Just notice. Question To Consider Where have small moments of disconnection quietly added up? What This Looks Like In Practice In culture work, repairing disconnection rarely requires large interventions. It requires consistent attention to everyday interactions. In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. When was the last time you felt fully present in a conversation?

When Presence Replaces Performance - Why leadership effectiveness isn’t always about doing more

By Nika White • May 27, 2026
In high-performing environments, leaders often feel the need to demonstrate value constantly. Speaking. Solving. Contributing. But not all leadership is visible. Sometimes the most impactful presence is quiet. Earlier in The Human Shift, The Shift From Bracing to Grounding , we explored grounding as staying connected to yourself in the moment. Presence allows leaders to influence without constant action. A Reframe Leadership is not always what you do. Sometimes it is how you are. One Simple Practice In your next meeting, contribute one fewer time than you normally would. Instead, observe: What changes when you create more space? Question To Consider What would shift if you trusted your presence as much as your output? What This Looks Like In Practice Leaders who learn to use presence intentionally often find their influence increases—not decreases—while their effort becomes more sustainable. In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. Where might doing less actually strengthen your leadership today?

The Weight of Unspoken Expectations - What leaders carry that no one names

By Nika White • May 19, 2026
Not all expectations are stated. Some are felt. You feel them in how quickly you respond. In how prepared you need to be. In how little room there seems to be for uncertainty. These expectations shape behavior—even when no one has said them out loud. Earlier in The Human Shift, Culture is What People Carry Home, we explored how culture is what people absorb. Unspoken expectations are one of the most powerful ways culture is transmitted. A Reframe What is unspoken is often what is most influential. One Simple Practice Ask yourself: “What expectations am I operating under that no one has actually confirmed?” Then question one of them. Question to Consider What might change if you clarified one assumption you’ve been carrying? What This Looks Like In Practice In organizational work, many performance patterns are driven less by formal expectations and more by perceived ones. Naming them creates immediate relief and clarity . In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. What expectation are you currently meeting that may not actually exist?