Although the home office has been trending, corporate office suites are still popular. Office suites provide an atmosphere for employees to work together as a team. Whether there are five IT professionals or fifty customer service representatives in an office, making the most of the space is key to having a good workspace. Organization within the office can help foster greater productivity and improve employee morale.
If you work in an office suite or have a home office, you can structure the space to make it feel bigger. Most offices feel cluttered and small because of poor organizational skills. But walking into a clean and orderly office can help you feel accomplished before you even start working. Here are five ways to make the most of your office space so you can do what you do best.
Purge and Declutter
If you want to maximize your office space, the first thing you should do is get rid of the unnecessary clutter. It will be a lot easier to get organized once you have decluttered. The easiest way to get started is to start with the paperwork. Keeping old and useless documents not only takes up space but also accumulates dust. Shred any paperwork you don’t need to eliminate desktop clutter.
Removing clutter from the desks, alone, will make the space seem larger. Also, this is the time to inspect old and faulty equipment. You should properly dispose of office equipment you’re not using. Avoid stacking it up in storage areas to get it out of the way. This will just postpone your purge and give the appearance of an organized office. If you do have extra working equipment, you can donate monitors or look into selling servers. Once you’ve cleared out the space, you can focus on getting organized.
Set Up Work Zones
The best way to organize office space is to start big and then work your way down to smaller sections. Think about the tasks that will be performed in the office. Will it be a shared space for tech support or a creative hub for a graphic design team? Maybe you’re a cyber security expert who will be working from home. The steps to getting organized will not change. They apply to all office settings of any size.
Again, consider the work you will do in the office and set up work zones. Once you have outlined the zones, it will be easier to organize everything else. You could set up a specific area for processing paperwork, an area for brainstorming and note taking away from screens, and a zone for computer operations. The goal is to try to keep everything you will need for a particular task in close reach. Setting up zones allows you to do it in an orderly fashion.
Organize the Essentials
Once the clutter is thrown out or sold, you’re ready to organize the equipment and supplies within your zones. You can do this one zone at a time if it’s easier. Within the paperwork processing zone, you would organize documents within file cabinets. Your filing system is extremely important.
You should organize files so that they’re easy to locate when you need them. In your computer zone, you should organize all the cords attached to your equipment. Some office furniture will make this easier. But remember to keep all cords out of any walking paths to prevent falls.
Use Small and Light Furniture
It may not seem like it but the way you furnish the office can determine how productive you and other workers are. Aside from computer equipment and file cabinets, you should use light furniture that doesn’t take up too much space. All desks and chairs should be comfortable. It’s best to avoid big bulky desks if you don’t have a lot of room. If you need to change things around later. It will be a lot easier if the furniture is easy to move.
Use Good Lighting
The right lighting can make the office seem more spacious, and keep you alert while working. But it’s not just the atmosphere that’s affected by good light. Luminescence can also affect your mood and emotions. You will need to illuminate the space with bright lights for optimal work conditions.
In fact, lighting can even affect how well you work with others in the office. According to ergonomic research studies, some people are more likely to become combative in dimly lit surroundings! Depending on where the office is, you may not have much control over additional lighting. But make sure that all light fixtures are working properly.
Final Thoughts
For most people, the office you work in is your home away from home. You may even spend more time there than you do at your personal home. Your office should be comfortable, clean, and organized. The more people that work in the office, the more equipment is needed. It can be a tedious task to get everything organized. But there are ways to keep it simple.
The first thing you should do is declutter by disposing of trash and getting rid of extra equipment. You should also set up work zones and then organize essential supplies within those zones. Choose furniture that’s easy to move and doesn’t take up a lot of space. Once the office is organized and ready, you can focus on doing what you do best.