It's all too easy to simply move your business into new offices and just get started straight away, without giving too much thought to the design layout of the office. The problem with this is that an ill-considered layout can have a serious detrimental effect on the performance and productivity of your employees. For example, a small office can feel cramped and dark if you do not optimise the space that you have with good design.
This is why it's so important to assess the space that you have, preferably before you move all the furniture in. Measure the dimensions of the rooms that you have, so that you can work out an effective desk arrangement. It helps to use plans for this. You also need to ascertain what advantages and constraints that you have. Are there a lot of windows from which to gain natural light and can you paint the walls in a light neutral colour if you wish to? Working with this information helps you to learn what you can do to optimise the use of space.
Get Rid Of The Filing
It's amazing how many businesses still use filing cabinets. In case you had not noticed, this is the digital age. The vast majority of your filing should be kept digitally. You can prepare for this by ensuring that you have full connectivity in place when you move into an office. Professional serviced offices will make sure that you have full functionality straight away and can immediately start to file digitally. If you need to keep paperwork for business or legal reasons, you may want to consider secure remote storage. You can also make use of less space guzzling storage options such as shelving and storage pockets.
Modernise Your Furnishings
If you are moving into offices for the first time you should aim to start out with modern furniture that has clean non-bulky lines. Choose furniture in neutral colours or white to help install a sense of light in the space. Glass office desks are fantastic for this as they look clean and contemporary. Even if you are not moving, you can get rid of the old furniture and use streamlined items that give you access to more space.
Consider open plan or glass partitions
There is nothing worse than a lot of dividing walls to eat up space in a small office, and make it seem dark. You do not need to have walls to divide areas of the room, you can colour code various sections for ease of reference. If you really need certain areas to be sectioned off, for privacy or noise reasons, you should think about using glass instead of walls so that the sense of space remains.
Ordering furniture offline may seem the most convenient way of purchasing suitable furniture, however it can take up time and effort if it doesn’t look right or fit correctly. Save time and money by searching for furniture near your office. Search ‘office furniture near me’ online to see where the closest store is to you. Great idea right?!
Form a Collaborative Area
There are many offices were certain people are given their own office space. This is often unnecessary and it can present problems when meetings or interviews need to take place and there is no space available. Consider having one collaborative area where all of your employees are located. This releases space to be used for meetings and private teleconferences. It can also help to build team spirit as colleagues interact with each other more, due to their close proximity. Meeting rooms may need to still be used for private conversations, so think about the shape and style of your office tables to ensure they fit comfortably in the room. Nobody wants to sit in a cramped space for hours!
Only Use Desk Space That Is Needed
Another thing you need to think about is how big do the desks in your office space need to be? It may be that some employees need a bigger desk than others. Make sure that you do not simply order a batch of the same size desks if this means that you lose a lot of valuable floor space. Depending on the nature of your business, you may also want to think about adopting agile working where employees can work from other places, such as at home or in a public place such as a coffee shop. If you have employees that work at different times to each other, you may also want to consider hotdesking as an option, where more than one person shares a desk space. However, if multiple people are sharing, ensure you have suitable office storage solutions to keep your office looking in tip top condition and clutter free.
Maximise The Amount of Light In a Room
Natural light coming in through windows helps to increase the feeling of space in an office and makes it feel less claustrophobic. It also helps to increase productivity. Make sure that there are as many windows as possible in the office space that you choose and that all items are removed from window sills, optimising the effectiveness of the windows.
Never just settle for the lack of space, and the feeling of no space, that you have in a small office. As you can see, there are several aspects of design and organisation that can help to improve the situation.
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Guest post by: Leanne Thompson, Professional Copywriter