Organizing an efficient office consists of two parts, the rules and the layout. Without achieving an equilibrium between these two trends, you stand virtually no chance at getting the most out of your office space. Luckily, implementing these trends is neither expensive nor does it require an advanced knowledge in the field of interior design. Therefore, here are the five simplest office organization tips you need to carefully consider.
Feng-Shui position for the supervisor's desk
The first thing you need to think about is the position and the orientation of the supervisor's desk in the office. On the one hand, you want to place it in a spot from which they can monitor everything that takes place in the office. On the other hand, you don't want to give your crew the impression of being watched 24/7. This makes them work under pressure and makes it impossible for them to relax.
In turn, they might have a hard time focusing, which can be particularly devastating for your creatives. Therefore, using the Feng-Shui principle of placing the supervisor's desk in the corner of the room opposite the door might be the safest choice.
Ease of commute
Another thing you need to keep in mind is that your office needs to be foot traffic-friendly. People go to the bathroom, walk to the water cooler or get up in order to use the printer. All of these reasons make them walk all across the room, which can be quite bad for the focus. Sure, someone walking past you may always cause a distraction, yet, the proximity of this bypasser makes the difference in the level of distraction that this makes. In order to handle this the right way, make sure that desks are far apart (which also boosts individual privacy of your staff) and keep your place neat.
Accessible storage system
The next thing you need to worry about is your storage system. First of all, when it comes to documents, it's probably best to go paperless, since this is A) more frugal, B) more practical and C) more planet-friendly. As for the office supplies, you need to look for the most adequate storage solutions that you can afford. Two key things about your storage are that it has to be efficient and accessible. As for the storage room itself, you need to make sure it's protected from employee theft by using peer system and making the inventory as often as possible.
Flexible work hours
Another thing you could do is allow for everyone to work when they see fit, provided that they do so for the sufficient number of hours. Different people have different work habits, which means that some may be productive in the morning, while others excel in the evening. The thing is that those who are not productive (at the given moment) usually don't just sit idly at their desk but actively distract others. In other words, giving your crew a chance to enjoy these flexible work hours is both direct and indirect boost to your productivity.
Available schedule board
Finally, regardless of where you make the schedule board, you need to make it visible and accessible to everyone around the office. Google Calendar can be shared around the office but it might be a nice visual touch to use an actual board for scheduling. From the standpoint of design, you can take this even further and make an entire wall into a blackboard on which you will fill in this table of responsibilities. Make sure that this board is visible from every desk by aligning it towards it like the room's focal point.
As you can see, the organization of the office itself is not a complicated matter and can be done even with all the existing furniture you have. Still, some areas do deserve an improvement, merely for the sake of future efficiency. Keeping your inventory and managing office material is easy when you have 10 people in your employ. However, keep in mind that, if things go right, this won't always be the case. It's better to adopt these practices in time.
Guest Author
Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls interested in topics related to marketing and the latest business technologies. In her free time she enjoys exercising and preparing healthy meals for her family.