An office is more than just a place of work; it’s also a part of the team. An orderly, well-kept office will give you more room for improvement and productivity as you’ll waste less time searching through things. Likewise, a cluttered office space, along with a chaotic workplace setup, will hinder your efficiency and make your business look not only messy but unprofessional as well. So, how do you find the perfect office setup for your small business? Read the guide below.
Open vs. private office layouts
Depending on your type of business, you want either an open or a private office to act as your designated layout; the difference? Well, open offices are more suited towards creative, team-oriented businesses where co-workers are required to brainstorm and collaborate with one another on a regular basis. Also, they’re the more affordable option of the two, as you can pack in more employees per square meter that way. On the other hand, this layout can be extremely distracting for managers and IT specialists, for instance, who would prefer a more private setting such as cubicles. What’s more, with the private layout, there’s less chance of diseases festering and spreading within the office, allowing your employees to stay healthier, and therefore productive, for longer. Additionally, it can also act as an incentive for promotion. However, the best possible layout would probably be a balanced mix of the two; so don’t be afraid to experiment a bit to find the perfect concoction for your business.
A decluttered workplace
Office supplies and their evil sidekick, the leftover paperwork, are the two most notorious office super-villains. Namely, you need to take care of all the unnecessary clutter building inside your office before it takes care of you! For instance, you can start by purging all the superfluous paper to give yourself some more breathing room. Next, you can sort the most important documents into a colour-coded filing system (green for finances, red for medical, etc.) to keep things neat and well-organized. Now, for your more fragile and costly equipment and supplies, you’ll need some state-of-the-art office storage solutions; especially so if you’re in the healthcare industry, where samples and consumables have to be maintained under strict regulations and guidelines. That way, useless junk won’t interfere with your work, allowing you and your co-workers to stay efficient and organized.
The ideal ambient illumination
Poor office lightning can be a real mood wrecker. A badly lit room will have an adverse effect on your employees’ morale, drain them of their vital energy, and cause severe headaches and eyestrain because of all that squinting; thus impairing their ability to work effectively. Therefore, to boost productivity, you need to make sure there’s an abundance of (quality) lighting in your office space. The cheapest option would be to move your desks closer to the windows, yet, staring at the outside world might make your employees day-dream more and cause other unnecessary distractions. Now, if natural light is not an option, you can use various LED bulbs (warm white, natural white, etc.) as an appropriate replacement to illuminate your office. Also, be mindful of where the light is coming from (and its intensity); find ways to diffuse the harsh light to prevent annoying glares, without casting too many shadows.
Non-digital spaces
According to Neil Patel, co-founder of Crazy Egg and bestselling author, an office should have two separate zones: a digital and a non-digital. The first one is your run-of-the-mill computer work-station (where you do most of your tasks), whereas the non-digital area includes tasks such as meetings, brainstorming, document reading, leisure, etc. In short, when you’re performing non-digital tasks, you want to be as far away as possible from your computer’s distracting glow. That way, your employees can properly unwind and stay productive for longer periods of time. A simple water cooler or kitchen area can do the trick with co-workers sharing news and gossip with one another while they take a quick breather.
Ultimately, you want to make sure that the ventilation and heating systems are also in perfect working order, as they too can have a profound impact on your worker’s performance.
