Many people spend roughly a third of their day at the office, yet few of us realise how important this environment is to our well-being. If you happen to have a working environment that you are not comfortable with, these hours can be quite torturous. Employers who have limited space can still get the most out of their employees, despite the size, by employing the following guidelines that maximise office space:
1. Utilise common areas
Employees feel suffocated by small areas but if you can make them focus on the entire office facility as their physical space, and not just where they sit, they will not have these feelings anymore. Therefore, let everyone know that they have the run of the common areas and virtually the entire office space.
2. Go paperless
Using paper requires that you invest in additional cabinets and storage facilities. You would be surprised by the number of cabinets you may need in your small office and note that this number will keep on rising, eating up more and more space. By going paperless you are eliminating the need for this equipment, which will give you more space to work.
3. Eliminate clutter
Other than storage facilities, there are very many things found on desks and general working area that do not really have any significance. Avoid keeping those colourful magnets and mascots that fill up your desks and the areas that surround them. Defining this space will help you when it comes to decision-making, and it also makes movement within the office easier.
4. Try stand-up meetings
Stand-up meetings not only take up little space but also end quickly. Studies show that people tend to be more creative and innovative when in such meetings, compared to the lengthier structured ones.
5. Install wall-to-wall flooring
Rugs will make any office look smaller no matter how big it is. Therefore, to avoid this in an already tiny office, go for wall-to-wall flooring. However, choose your materials carefully since hard tiles can cause echoes and make hearing a problem within the space.
6. Employ structured cabling
Structured cabling involves coming up with a system that will help you identify cables easily and keep them in check. For the small office, you can use cable tags on both ends. This is important to avoid having to kneel down for minutes looking for the right cables in an already congested environment.
7. Use mobile monitors
Monitors occupy a significant amount of space and can at times be in the way of you doing something. This is why you need adjustable arms. The arms make it possible to move them out of the way when you need more desk space, something that is valuable in a small office.
8. Use small desks
Large office desks are a thing of the past. They are both inefficient in space utilisation and excessively large for today’s offices. If you’re running on limited space, do away with them and instead go for small workstations that have drawers for additional storage that will declutter your desk.
9. Choose the right lighting
You can conserve a lot of space in the small office by using ceiling lighting compared to floor lighting that takes up extra space. Alternatively, you can try a small office LED desk lamp. Please bear in mind, you should avoid traditional fluorescent office lighting – here’s why.
10. Think vertically
Since you do not have enough space, think about installing vertical sturdy pockets for your commonly used files. This decongests office and desk space while also making the office look stylish. Wall hooks are also effective for your jacket and sweaters.
These are some of the best ideas to maximise your already small office area. However, there are times when you’ll need to just bit the bullet and move on to bigger premises. When your business reaches this point, you should take a look at some of the office space Monument has to offer and see some of the best workplaces available right in the heart of the capital.
