How Can I Make My Office More Productive?
Sometimes our workspace can get the better of us and fail to support our requirements. One of our specialties is to re-create your business space so that it works for you.
Every business requires a certain level of productivity in order to generate income and work-flow. You can hand pick the best people to work for you. But are they working within the best office interior you can provide for them?
Are they comfortable?
Do they have sufficient workspace?
Are there facilities that allow them to escape from their desk and refresh?
If you’ve answered a big yes to all of the above then you should be seeing a positive financial result. If you aren’t, perhaps we can help you consider ways to turn your current working environment into a space that everyone can flourish within.
Your business occupies a space with four walls, a ceiling and floor. However, there are a number of hidden interior contributors that can make or break the working space.
Do people complain about hot and cold spots within your office interior? If so, you need to consider having a professional review the system. They can ensure adequate ventilation and optimum temperatures are consistently reached. Some people run hot and some run cold. If your interior climate is set correctly, utopia can be achieved.
These are non-negotiables within every working office interior as they are required for the most basic functions. Yes, there is a cost to supply and install them but it doesn’t need to be at the high end. Placement of services and inclusion of them in feature areas will add to your budget. However, the result in added value to your working environment when installed.
Many employees put their personal needs above their work productivity. You may have staff that fall into this category that you want to retain. if so, you may need to consider items on their wish-list.
End-of-trip Facilities
With today’s emphasis on a healthy lifestyle, people ride their bike, walk or run to their place of work. With this in mind, a shower, change of clothes and a comfortable end-of-trip experience is required.
Some CBD towers provide tenants with hairdryers, ironing facilities and bike repair stations. Don’t let this deter you. Often access to a locker, shower and secure area to store equipment is satisfactory.
Breakout Area
The old cafeteria has been re-imagined. Multi-layered heating and cooling facilities are now accompanied with an assortment of seating and lounging arrangements. Some may even include activities for everyone to enjoy such as pool or video games. The key to providing the best incentives to increase staff productivity is awareness. Find out what your people are interested in as well as what they find annoying. If the majority of people prefer a quiet, relaxing space away from their work area, video games may be an issue. And always keep in mind that sometimes, the simple things in life are a better solution.
Every business that operates within a commercial interior is operating within a workspace environment. This includes offices, open plan workstations, meeting rooms, utility areas and so on. The key to creating efficient and cost effective workspace is understanding the symbiotic relationship each area has with the other.
Careful Planning
If your working day involves the collation of information into a presentation document, you want certain items close by. Ideally, you don’t want to have to walk 50 metres to get to a copy area from your desk. It doesn’t take a long time to walk this distance, but consider the wasted time if you have to do this frequently.
And time is money
Energy Efficiency
A common focus these days is the efficiency of your office interior and how it can save you money. Support the various work areas you have with appropriate services. This is as simple as individual switching to offices and meeting rooms. A standard BCA item of compliance. You may also like to consider enclosed spaces and how often you will be using them at full capacity. Air conditioning needs to be flexible enough to support fluctuating heat loads and run at optimum levels at all times. Don’t add unnecessary costs to your business if you can avoid it.
Storage
Many people don’t realise how much storage they need to accommodate. While the paperless office is the ideal, there are still many businesses that cannot eliminate paper based functions. Filing cabinets, cupboards and compactus units suit many businesses. However, are you happy to pay for the floor space that they occupy. An ideal way to minimise the storage footprint is to maximise your wall space. Install full height storage and use space that doesn’t impact on the overall floor plate.
Multi-use Areas
Planning these spaces within your tenancy is an efficient way of reducing unnecessary building works. They can also economise services and the all-important floor space. Multi-use areas are a good way to promote staff efficiency. An operable wall will divide a conference room into smaller meeting rooms. Effectively allowing it to be used every day. Hot-desks are another example of multi-use areas within an office interior. Workstation arrangements can provide flexible space for staff to periodically share and work from. Hot-desk workstations minimise the total square metres your business needs to occupy. Ultimately, saving you dollars.
If you consider you have all of the above points covered within your business environment but still fail to reach productivity levels you have set, there are still further things to consider.
Technology
Our lives are surrounded with it and we generally can’t run a business without it. Our offices willingly accept technical standards such as computers, printers and phones. But are they a help or hindrance? Open plan workspaces can be a noisy hive of activity which can lead people to believe they are not efficient. In most cases, this is an incorrect assumption. If phone based tasks create a disturbance you don’t like, consider changing the standard handset to a headset. This automatically focuses the user on the conversation they are having. It reduces outside noise which in turn, leads them to lower their voice.
Desk Space
Apart from tidying a work area, evaluate how employees use their space and what equipment is located on their desk. Screens that sit on desks take up space. However, screens mounted on a monitor arm free up the desk space and allow for more user flexibility. A simple remedy to an uncluttered environment.
And The End Result Is...
You don’t need to spend bundles of money to create a more productive and efficient working office interior. A streamlined and simple approach to improving a workspace will achieve a higher result than over-complicated paraphernalia. In effect, a more productive office can easily be achieved by clearing a path through inherited expectations.
If you would like to read further about how we create productive interiors, head over to our The Bellfort Process blog.
Contact us for a free consultation and let us help you create a productive office interior for your business.
79 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000, Australia
