Your surroundings have a larger impact on your work and business than you imagine. It’s all to do with your professional image.
There’s nothing like peeling paint, scuffed desks and age old carpet underfoot to kill morale and productivity. If you haven’t put the effort in to create a great environment for your staff, showing that you care for their wellbeing, why would they go above and beyond in their work for you? Let’s not dare to imagine the first impression you’re giving perspective clients.
Chances are, your current work space hasn’t kept pace with the evolving ways that businesses work either. Open plan, for example, ought to be a layout of the past. There’s plenty you can improve on. But don’t panic. Here’s how to go about making a change for the better.
Design for the Present & the Future
There are eight of you toiling away in your office right now, say. But how do you see your company expanding in the next five years? As a business owner, you’ll be used to planning ahead. So develop a plan which enables you to adapt to future changes as they happen.
Know Your Needs
Before you start a new Pinterest board and source design inspiration, nail down your reasons for undertaking a refurbishment to begin with. Understanding your business’ incentive for getting the decorators in will allow you to prioritise your needs. That’ll make them all the more achievable.
Get Everyone Involved
Unless you’re a one woman band, running the world on her own, you’ll need to include your work mates in the decision making process. Conduct a survey, or simply round everyone up for a one off meeting, to delve into what makes your staff tick. It’s an eye-opening step which can lead to a better and more productive office, by shedding light on what they really want from the office.
Chose Furniture Wisely
Nothing if not ergonomic. Your staff don’t need to be sitting pretty, on the most contemporary and stylish chairs. Just comfortably, so that niggling back pains don’t interfere with their work. Chairs and desks ought to be adjustable, to allow the user to tailor them to their needs. The best furniture meets your physical needs, while maintaining and bolstering your company image.
Why not match the fabric on your soft furnishings, to your brand colours?
Declutter
Now is as good a time as any to have a serious clear out, and to check that your staff are using their desk space to its full potential. Undertake a storage audit to evaluate what needs improving where. Would you benefit from under desk pedestals, to keep table tops free from clutter? Is your filing cabinet the best way to store your files?
Plan Ahead
Have a detailed timetable of when the projects’ key stages need to start and be completed and make sure that the project is monitored and progress tracked. The more organised you are, the smoother the project is likely to go.
Enlist Expert Help
Office refurbishments are huge undertakings. Do you really have time to source tradesmen, conjure up a plan, instruct the decorators, and everything else, while running your own business as smoothly as possible? Don’t let your company suffer. Leave it in Ultimate’s expert hands. We operate a full turn-key service, specialising in incredible office design and refurbishment. When you’re after a complete fit-out, say hello.
Author: Rebekah Krysko
When Rebekah isn’t helping everyone from Mercure Hotels, Yorkshire Water or GlaxoSmithKline with their business requirements, she’s training to complete the Yorkshire Three Peak Challenge with eight members of the Ultimate (Commercial Interiors) ltd team.
Image: Office refurb via Shutterstock