3 WAYS TO TURN YOUR OFFICE INTO A WELL-OILED MACHINE
Every business strives for efficiency. Well, at least every legitimate, sensible business. Whether you are implementing Six Sigma and kaizen methodology or on the lookout for some cheaper vendors, the fact is you want to increase profit and reduce costs.
The one key piece of the puzzle that way, way too many businesses miss, however, is office efficiency. By having a poor office design, businesses throw money away in a variety of ways.
Why on earth would I change my office design? you might ask. The paint and carpets are new. We have chairs to sit in and desks for our computers. Things are fine the way they are!
But stop for a minute and actually think about it: Does your office run efficiently? Is it designed to motivate your staff, save money and provide resources? Or is it a slow, clunky drain on your budget? Are you losing time and money every single day because of easily-neutralized roadblocks?
Well, the chances are that, if you haven’t done more than keep your office looking pretty, you are not using it to its full potential.
Here are a few tips on how to make sure that your office is working for your company:
Make It Fuel Your Team
A poorly-designed office can be a serious drain on employees. If the setting is depressing or if there are obstacles preventing communication, your team will be running much more slowly than it needs to be.
Changing your office design is the spark needed to light the fuse of employee productivity. Add colors, lighting and art that will inspire your staff’s creativity. Ergonomic and adaptable furniture will make work physically easier for your team. An open design with collaboration zones will increase synergies and allow for dynamic communication. By making one small investment in design, a business can find that it has created a thoroughly-motivated workforce.
How Much Energy Does It Use?
Few offices understand the profound influence that lighting has on their office—and thus the entire company. Your lighting can motivate your staff and impress clients. Furthermore, using natural and energy-efficient lighting can save you a bundle on electricity bills.
Use natural lighting wherever possible. By adding quality blinds, you can also keep the office cool during the hot summer months. Furthermore, the use of energy-efficient lights, timers and motion-sensors will help keep your monthly energy bill low.
Find Each Area’s Purpose
Many offices run inefficiently for one simple reason: They are messy. Over time, clutter piles up and different departments begin using the same area for different reasons. Rather than being adaptable, spaces become anarchic.
While we certainly need to let our office flow freely, there need to be defined areas in any office. Where is your reception area? Where is your meeting room? Where is your kitchen or breakroom? Where do you do training?
By having clear-cut, defined areas for each of these tasks, your office can function more deliberately. Ensuring this definition and purpose in the office will in-kind provide clarity for the entire business overall.
Every company needs to examine its entire process to determine where its greatest inefficiencies are. The only way to maximize productivity is to take a hard look at how every cog in the machine functions, and how they work together. Do not let your office be a source of lost time and money for your company. Face the challenge head-on and make your business everything that it is meant to be.
