You wouldn’t take off for a road trip without first making sure you had a full tank of gas, right? Most decisions in life come with some sort of planning on the front-end for the best possible result in the end, but sometimes, people lose track of crucial attention-to-detail.
It’s estimated that about 30% of human life is spent “working”. Whether you just moved into a shiny new office space or you’ve completely renovated the one you’re already in, it’s always important to make sure you’ve made the right ergonomic decisions when it comes to the work environment.
Here are seven superb ways to optimize your office (new or renovated):
1 – Quality is king. Where is the office furniture for your new or renovated space manufactured? What is the reputation of the supplier(s)? Can they certify their products meet or exceed applicable furniture industry quality standards?
You should know the answers to all of these questions before making any big purchase decisions. Office furniture is an investment, so finding high-quality products that will withstand the test of time is paramount.
2 – Take advantage of bulk order discounts. If you plan on purchasing multiple units of a particular product, ask the supplier if there are any bulk order discounts available. It’s hard for certain suppliers to honor a discount on a single unit, but there’s strength in numbers, and certain order volumes translate into some pretty deep savings per unit.
Additionally, most suppliers have fixed shipping rates, but if you’re ordering multiple units, they may have the ability to save you some money on shipping. For example, single units may be shipped via FedEx Ground, UPS Ground or something similar while a bulk order could be shipped via LTL/motor freight, which can end up saving you thousands of dollars.
3 – What’s old can be new again. I’ll go out on a limb and say your new or renovated office is coming from a very traditional environment filled with stuffy cubicles and static height furniture, which explains why you’re moving into a new space or completely renovating it, correct?
Cubicles are stuffy, and static height furniture is for the birds… but, there might be a way you can salvage some of those already sunk costs. For example, you may be able to separate the “built-in” desktops from the old cubicles and retrofit them to brand new, height-adjustable frame from a standing desk supplier (like UpDesk’s sit-stand frame) to create a complete height-adjustable standing desk at a fraction of the cost.
4 – Make sure you’re covered. There’s no doubt you’ll find some suppliers who offer great products; however, do their warranties, customer reviews, and overall quality match up to your business’ standards and expectations?
Don’t be tricked by the allure of low costs on the front-end, because more than likely, they’ll turn into significant costs down the road when you have to purchase replacement parts or all new furniture due to significant quality issues.
If a supplier doesn’t offer a minimum of a 5-year warranty on high dollar products, run… Also, be sure to dissect what the warranty actually covers. Sometimes suppliers are vague in what they cover/replace at NO cost to you.
5 – Offer open AND private office environments. There has been a lot of debate when it comes to the topic of having an open floor plan (no cubicles and/or individual offices) or a more traditional floor plan (cubicles and/or individual offices). While there are real benefits of either option, I believe the answer is a combination of both.
By offering your employees a perfect mixture of open and private environments, you’ll make them feel more comfortable, productive and ultimately leaving the decision of where they’d like to work completely up to them. Flexibility is becoming more desired across the board in the office environment.
6 – Dedicate certain areas for collaboration. One of the main issues with an open floor plan is distractions, yet too many private offices discourage communication between your employees. Similar to optimizing your office space by offering both open and private environments, you should offer smaller areas that are dedicated to collaboration.
For example, products like the UpDesk UpWrite are primed to be an excellent choice for collaboration because it features a writable whiteboard surface, which is perfect for brainstorming, and it is height-adjustable – making it fully customizable to whoever standing (or sitting) at it. Put a couple of these bad boys around the office and watch the magic happen…
7 – Having the right accessories matter. Updating the furniture and layout of your new or renovated office space is one thing, but there are additional items you may or may not have considered – accessories.
Proper accessories, like monitor arms, anti-fatigue floor mats, and caster wheels for your desk, draw everything together when it comes to fully optimizing an office space. Without them, you leave more to be desired from your employees and the opportunity to fully capture your employee’s productivity.
