If you have a relatively small or moderately-sized office, it’s always a good idea to make the most out of it. In maximising your office space, you should be able to fit all the required office furniture and equipment within it while leaving optimal space for movement and promote productivity. The aim of maximising office space is, after all, to maximise overall efficiency. So let’s take a look at ways and tips that can help you maximise your office space:
Spring Cleaning
Before you reorganising your office or invest in renovations or more space-saving equipment and furniture, try to schedule a day or two to clean up the office and get rid of office clutter. It’s entirely possible that you already have maximised your office space but just have accumulated too much clutter and other items you no longer need as time went by.
Cut Back on Paper
Although going paperless may not be possible for some offices, making an effort to cut back on paper can go a long way in both saving space and even cutting overhead office costs on paper, printing, and disposal. Review your operations and check if there are reports and paperwork that can be done digitally instead of needing to print them out, see if documents requiring signatures can be substituted with electronic signatures instead. Think of paper as a last resort for reports and any other documents. Just make sure that you provide a backup system or a cloud-based system to safeguard your documents.
Go Vertical
When it comes to storage, we often think of those large and wide filing cabinets. However, to save space while still be able to organise and store all your office files properly, you may want to invest in wall shelves, tall cabinets, and overhead storage racks to make use of your office’s vertical space. Just make sure that it’s tall enough to be able to accommodate your files but short enough that it would still be convenient to get files from it. You should encourage the office to store more frequently-used documents at the lower areas of the shelf or file cabinets and the lesser-used ones on higher shelves or compartments.
Rethink Your Desks
Bigger doesn’t always mean better. Yes, giving your workers big desks allows them to place more items and give them more space to work with, but it also promotes clutter and a big desk stacked with files and folders may even negatively affect your workers’ productivity and morale. So go for something optimal — provide an office workstation desk that has enough working space, but not too much that would accommodate too many files and clutter in the work surface. By having the optimal workstation, you’d be able to encourage productivity and minimise clutter (which can affect productivity and can even be potential fire hazards).
Lighting
You’re probably wondering how lighting can maximize or contribute to your office space. Lighting won’t increase storage space or such, but optimal lighting can make your office feel wider and brighter. If you can, allow natural light to illuminate your office as it can make your office space look and feel more breathable, and could positively affect your workforce’s disposition.
Conclusion
Just remember, when maximising your office space, that you adhere to fire regulations and always place safety as a priority. And also take note that “maximise” doesn’t mean fitting and cramming as much office furniture and equipment in the workspace. Your office should still be breathable to not make your workforce feel secluded, and should still have walking spacing where your workers (and even office equipment) can move freely.
