The productivity of your workers depends on many things. One of them is a well-organized office space. Many people spent the majority of their life at work. Providing a comfortable environment for them is highly important. Meanwhile, optimizing the office space can help you save money on rent and boost your revenue.
In this article, we’ve collected some of the simplest ways to organize your office to achieve top results.
1. Declutter Once a Month
Before you do anything else with your office space, you need to declutter. Delegate this task to your employees. Everything they don’t need should be purged from the office. If it takes up space (other than on desks), the unnecessary stuff should go.
Anything from old printer boxes to wilted plants has to make its way to the garbage. These things take up space that can be used much more productively.
2. Plan Access Routes
Do you have one printer in the office that everyone walks to? You need to make the access route to such equipment easy and clutter-free. Find a place where it will be easy to reach by the majority of your staff.
You may want to consider purchasing new equipment to minimize routes. The more your office workers have to walk, the more often they are distracted from tasks at hand.
3. Make Labels
Label cabinets, drawers, desk, equipment, and everything else. Everyone should know that a certain cabinet is designed for a certain purpose. This way you won’t end up sifting through pounds of unnecessary documents in your desk drawers.
By organizing storage space, you can make the entire office work more efficiently. Labeling can help you find what you need quickly while helping others do the same if you are away.
4. Deal with Wires
Many offices suffer from the wire tangling problem. Numerous wires run around each desk and stretch to the walls to find outlets. As a result, the entire office looks untidy. Meanwhile, this wire jungle poses a trip-and-fall hazard to the office workers.
Your IT department should know whom to hire to deal with proper cabling. Special binder clips, screws, and washers exist to untangle your wire problem. You may also want to relocate desks to be closer to the outlets.
5. Update Your Equipment
While you are reorganizing your office, pay special attention to outdated equipment. If printers keep getting jammed and coughing up the ripped paper, it’s time to get them either repaired or replaced.
The smooth office operation depends on properly functioning equipment. As soon as something goes out of order, it results in utter frustration and lack of productivity.
Don’t just stop at printers and copy machines. Go further to check if such small things as calculators are in order.
6. Get Rid of the Unnecessary Paperwork
Offices tend to accumulate tons of unnecessary paper. Take time to deal with it. Get rid of the outdated paper and set “expiration” dates for the rest. Do you really need to keep expired contracts or applications of employees you would never hire?
While you are at it, think about going paperless. Even if you can’t afford high-quality custom software to eliminate paperwork at least partially, you can probably keep the necessary documents on the cloud rather than in your drawer.
7. Polish the Office Look
Take a look at the office as you stand in the doorway. Does it appear tidy? Do desks follow a certain pattern or are they standing randomly? Do you see any wires sticking out or old boxes cluttering the floor?
Imagine you’ve decided to buy a company. Would you finalize the deal if it had an office like yours? Orlando business broker, Diglio explains that the success of a company is often measured by the appearance of its headquarters.
8. Buy Large Trash Cans
Overfilled trashcans are popular in the office. The reason is that people often buy small trashcans since they don’t plan to use it for anything other than paper. In reality, these little buckets take a huge beating. Office workers stuff more and more garbage inside. As a result, it starts pouring out of the can, littering the floor.
Replace tiny office trash bins with larger cans. They should withstand the onslaught of garbage for at least a couple of days.
9. Recommend Daily Cleanups
It’s tough to force office workers to keep their desks tidy throughout the day. Many people just can’t make it a habit. But what you can do is ask for a “before leave” cleanup. Make it an office custom to tidy up desks before leaving.
Seeing a clean and clutter-free desk when you come to the office in the morning sets the right mood for a productive day.
10. Keep Important Things Close
If you want to get as much work done as possible, you need to minimize walking around and searching for things you need. That’s why it’s important to organize each desk so it has all the necessary things available within reach.
If a person has too many items that he or she needs during the day, you may want to consider purchasing a bigger desk. This can boost productivity and ease frustration.
11. Pay Special Attention to Comfort
Workers should be physically comfortable throughout the day. That’s why it’s vital to think about such things as natural lights and orthopedic chairs. When eyes and back hurt, you can’t expect someone to meet deadlines or come up with something creative.
Try to position desks close to windows to help workers get as much natural light as possible. By the way, washing windows regularly allows more light inside and boosts workers’ mood and productivity.
Final Word
Organizing office space is easier than you think. Start by reviewing the overall appearance, remove unnecessary stuff, replace old equipment, and ensure the comfort of your employees. All of the above can be done with minimal investments while bringing impressive results.
