Do you work at a call center office and looking to add some greenery into your space? I’ve worked in a call center in my early career in the office, and I know how draining it can be; demanding customers, noisy surroundings, and stale air. Adding some live plants to your desk can do wonders for your mental well-being and for those around you.
When selecting a plant for your call center desk, consider plants that are compact and do not require regular maintenance. But also consider one that is visually appealing for you, because after all, you’ll be looking at this plant for most of the day, apart from your screen!
Call center plants are plants that can survive in a low-light office setting. These plants provide excellent air purification, which is critical in a people-dense environment. As such, the best plants for the call center are:
- Pothos
- Philodendrons
- ZZ plants
- Spider plants
- Succulents
- Lucky Bamboo
- Snake plants
Let’s have a look at each one:
1. Pothos
The pothos is my go-to plant for office plants in general because it takes almost no effort to maintain. Simply fill any container with water, put a few cuttings of the pothos and you’re all set. This plant is basically indestructible and will continue to thrive on neglect, which means that it will still maintain its shape even after returning from the holidays. You just need to replace the water once a week.
Also known as the devil’s ivy, this beautiful vine makes an ideal call center plant because of its indoor air purification abilities. The pothos is often nominated as one of the best air cleansers. This might be due to its large leaves providing such a big surface area to exchange toxins in the air for oxygen.
2. Philodendrons
The Philodendron is another top pick for call center plants for similar reasons as the pothos. At first glance, they do look alike in that they have vine-like growing habits. Like the pothos, they grow well indoors where they are not in direct contact with sunlight.
They can be grown in containers filled with water and without the need for soil, which is a huge benefit because soil naturally attracts fungus gnats, especially indoors where humidity and moisture are high. You certainly don’t want these pests to be flying around your colleagues in the call center environment.
The Philodendron does have some distinctive features that are different from the pothos. For example, the Philodendron has more heart-shaped, thinner, and smoother textured leaves. If you want to know more about the differences between the two to help you choose, Stamen and Stem provide an excellent comparison here.
3. ZZ plants
ZZ plants are extremely popular indoor plants found in shopping malls and offices, and there’s a good reason why – they’re almost indestructible even with little care. So if you’re looking for a plant that doesn’t require a whole lot of attention, the ZZ plant is a great option. In fact, this plant prefers to be left alone and only needs watering when the soil is completely dried.
ZZ plants grow fleshy stems with oval-shaped leaves that look like feathers. After taking a difficult customer call, they’re pretty to look at and bring your mind back to focus. Your colleagues may mistake this plant as a fake plant due to its shiny plastic-like texture!
4. Spider plants
Working at the call center can be dull at times, especially when taking calls of similar questions. A plant that might keep you slightly amused is the spider plant. The spider plant grows clusters of long, green strappy leaves with white central striping or white margins on each blade. These plants are popular indoor plants that don’t mind a bit of neglect. Like the other plants mentioned above, they just need to be placed in bright, indirect light.
The only potential issue with spider plants is the common browning of leaf tips, which can be a bit of an eyesore. Browning tips are nothing to stress about as they are often due to excess fluoride found in water. This can be resolved by thoroughly watering the plant to wash out the salts. Bear in mind that this may be a bit of a hassle if you don’t have a large sink, or your work kitchen is shared with many other people. You might get stares from colleagues watching your plant-care duties while they patiently wait to wash their dirty dishes.
5. Succulents
Succulents are an obvious candidate for call center plants. The advantage of succulents over the other plants mentioned so far is that they’re often small and compact. This means that it doesn’t take a whole lot of space and it’s convenient to carry around in the office.
The potential problem with succulents is that they can be tricky to maintain. A common mistake with succulents is that people tend to water them too often, resulting in its death. Succulents require good soil drainage and only need watering every 14-21 days. If succulents are your preferred choice of plant, I suggest having a read of Cassidy’s tips on how to care for succulents here.
Once you get into the right rhythm of watering the succulents correctly, you’ll be rewarded with a gorgeous miniature plant that will relieve stress in between calls.
6. Lucky Bamboo
Want to incorporate some feng shui into your desk? If so, consider getting the lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) to attract some happiness and good health into your call center workplace!
Lucky bamboos are eye-catching structural plants that come in swirls or braided stalks from the nursery. These plants will have your neighboring colleagues looking and appreciating their natural beauty. The lucky bamboo is ideal as a call center plant because they don’t need direct sunlight, which is suitable if you don’t work near a window. Simply place these anywhere on your desk for instant mental relief for your workplace.
A word of caution not to overwater these lucky bamboos, a mistake beginners often make. These plants prefer slightly moist soil, so you only need to water them once a week with distilled or bottled water(lucky bamboos are sensitive to chlorine found in tap water).
7. Snake plants
Last but not least, my top pick of call center plants is the Snake Plant. Apart from being a hardy plant, requiring minimal watering to no sunlight to thrive, it’s a living air filter (quite literally!). According to NASA’s Clean Air Study, the Snake Plant provides a natural way to remove air pollutants such as benzene and formaldehyde.
Call center workplaces are usually packed with fellow co-workers next to each other with their headsets talking to customers. You can imagine the amount of air pollutants that are being produced!
While one snake plant might not make a whole lot of difference, you can encourage your work colleagues to get one as well for that added natural air filter.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it – my seven top picks for call center plants that are easy to care for, durable, and visually appealing.
The easiest plants to start with are the Pothos and Philodendrons, as they can be grown in water. You just need to replace the water once a week. The other plants mentioned in this article are better grown in soil as they feed off the nutrients quite well. Perhaps, the only potential problem with soil plants is that they tend to attract fungus gnats and other flying pests.
Hope this article has encouraged and helped you choose your most ideal call center plant!
