Downsizing your office space is a fantastic way to control costs and create a new productive work environment for your employees. You might even make your work relationships stronger and more in sync. If you’re looking to make a change in your work life, like downsizing your office space, you need to consider a few things before making the adjustment.
Try the Minimalist Way
Take a step back and reevaluate some of the furniture and extra luxuries in your office. Consider taking the minimalist approach and try swapping out the bulky desk and unnecessary decorum. If there is any equipment you and your employees have not used in some time, remove it from your space.
Remove all old documents and files that crowd the area too. Don’t throw these things away if possible. When it comes to your business, you never know what you might need in the future. Rent out a storage unit and place all your old vital information here. This way, you never get rid of anything crucial, and if you want to resort back, you have some old furniture to sort through.
Define Needs and Wants
What are things you and your employees need, and what are the things you want? You need to define what’s essential and what’s not. Sometimes over the years, offices can accumulate knick-knacks and several items that just fill up the space, and you can remove most of them as you downsize.
For your office, you really just need the equipment to perform your jobs, proper seating and areas to work, and a kitchen or rest area for everyone to take a break. When you break it down to essentials, you can better evaluate what you remove from your office.
Don’t make this decision on your own. Discuss it with your employees because how you change the office affects them the most. You want to ensure you still provide them with an environment where they can work efficiently.
Rethink Specific Areas
Maybe you can transform some of the more common areas into workspaces. For example, personal areas room can function as collaborative rooms. You can turn them into places where your employees all work instead of having cubicles that block everyone off.
Promoting a more collaborative environment works for your employees. You’ll see an increase in productivity because everyone gets a chance to bounce ideas off each other. It makes for a better workflow.
Instead of your employees getting up to go to another person’s cubicle for a break, they can just look up and start a conversation. These 15-minute breaks help everyone because it gives their brains a chance to decompress and allows them to come back to their assignments with a fresh pair of eyes.
You want to consider all these things before downsizing your office space to keep employees happy and increase productivity in your work environment.
