As an office manager or business owner that runs an office, you have one goal. It is to produce results in your employees. To accomplish that, you need to make doing office work as efficient as possible. However, many offices lack that kind of efficiency. They are just not designed to create productive work flows. If you find that your company’s office isn’t turning out to be as productive as you wish it were, you can take some steps to correct that. Below are some ways to more effectively use your office space.
Design Your Office with Efficiency in Mind
First, you should organize your office with efficiency in mind. If certain employees need to be constantly copying documents, you should obviously have their work stations located near the copy machine. Small details such as that tend to be overlooked. However, they can all add up to the point they waste employee time and waste you money. A few seconds or minutes a day can add up over the weeks and months. Try to design your office with producing the most efficient workflow in mind.
Properly Organize Your Paperwork
Running a business means collecting a lot of paper work. This includes accounting information, business contracts, business registrations and more. You can’t keep everything as a digital file. That’s unwise due to the fact that files can be erased. Make sure your business’s paperwork is properly organized so employees can quickly retrieve it when needed. Also make sure they know how to find it or at least who they can talk to get access.
Supply Your Employees with Desktop Computers
BYOD, Bring Your Own Device, polices were a fad. Sure, there may be a lot of business apps, but you can’t really beat traditional desktop office software when it comes to creating employee productivity. Instead of having your employees work on smart phones or tablets, you need to provide them with desktop computers so they can complete their work most efficiently. Thankfully, the price of desktop computers for business has come down significantly in recent years.
Provide Employees with Adequate Desk Space
Offices need desks. Employees need some flat unoccupied space to complete work on. If your employees’ work stations lack adequate desk space, certainly trade in that cruddy office furniture for better work desks. You will of course also need comfortable office chairs to go with them. Options like standing desks can also help make the workspace comfortable for your employees. Buy these items used from an office supply company to save some money.
Make Your Office Accessible
Obviously, this can include getting your office in a good spot in town that is easy to get to, but that can often be too expensive, especially if you are starting out. However, accommodations like wheelchair access, braille displays, or sign language apps are also a must. Accessibility does come with a cost, but not only does it open your office to a more diverse workforce, but it also lets that workforce work at their best. People work better when they feel that their employer is looking out for them. Providing accommodations lets able-bodied and disabled employees alike feel looked out for and enables them to work more efficiently. If you find that your employees aren’t completing enough work in your office, it may be time to rethink the layout of your office as well as the office furniture and appliances you fill it with. Overall, keep productivity, accessibility, and efficiency in mind when deciding how to use your office space.
Lizzie Weakley is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and walks in the park with her three-year-old husky, Snowball.
