Making the Best Use of Space in Your Business Premises July 23, 2019Featured, My Business, My CareerOff

One of the most significant running costs for any business, large or small, will be the physical space in which work is carried out. The cost of rents in the middle of a busy city can be astronomical, but even more remote premises can be a challenge to maintain. Downsizing can therefore result in considerable savings – but only if the space is sufficient to actually get the work done!

Here, we’ll look at a few ways to eke every last bit of utility out of a given space, and thereby allow your staff to do the same work while trimming the bottom line.

Storage

A given portion of your workspace will be taken up by the stuff that you need: but only some of the time. When filing cabinets take up entire walls, and your staff have to turn side-on to reach their desks, this is usually evidence that you’re not making the best use of the available space.

There are a few things we might do to cut down on clutter. To begin with, employee’s personal effects should be stored somewhere away from the desk – so providing storage lockers and coat-hooks might enormously reduce the amount of stuff floating around the actual office. It’s also worth making the best use of digital storage, and eliminating paper records where they aren’t necessary.

Vertical Space

Often, the unexploited space sits above the floor. Where appliances like washing machines and tumble dryers can be stacked atop one another, the space used is effectively doubled. This is especially important in utility spaces which are only infrequently visited, as the psychological effects of extra space at head-height aren’t as pronounced. Vertically-stackable appliances, such as those provided by JLA, are an incredible useful tool in the struggle for workspace.

Wireless Networking

The cost of threading hundreds of ethernet cables, and the mess created when the job is done piecemeal over a long period, is enough to have many office managers contemplating a switch to an entirely wireless network. In the past, they might have been reluctant to do so, for reasons of security and reliability. But now, Wi-Fi networks are more convenient and robust than ever before, and thus the temptation to go fully wireless might prove irresistible for clutter-conscious management.

Lighting

When a space is dingily-lit, it’s going to end up looking pokey. By spreading light to every corner of a room, you’ll maximise the apparent size of the space. Natural light does this most effectively, and will have an inherently positive effect on your staff morale and productivity. If natural light isn’t an option, either because of the dimensions of the building, or the times at which it’s being used, then carry out an informal ‘light audit’, where the parts of your premises that don’t receive enough light can be identified. You can then install super-bright (though dimmable) LED lights to fill in the gaps.

Building More

Some spaces might actually be too generous vertically. If you’re struggling for space to work, and yet there’s loads of room overhead, then it might be worth building a mezzanine floor to fill the gap. Done right, this will not only be a functional addition, but an eye-catching aesthetic one, too.

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