Working in the office requires collaboration and organisation.
This is why you have to ensure that your office and workspace have things in place to make coworking easy.
Of course, a lot of organisation issues come from individual employees, but management can implement things to help avoid this.
Provide calendars and planners
Whether it’s physical or digital, giving employees calendars and planners will help them plan their workday, and if everyone is personally organised, projects and teamworking becomes much more efficient.
Shared calendars are also a great resource for your staff, as it allows them to see their coworker’s commitments and time budget.
Digital shared calendars and planners are helpful, but there has also been research that suggests that written and paper copies of planning tools improve productivity.
Having the ability to quickly check your calendar and tasks, as well as add any new information just by grabbing it from your desk helps many people stay on top of their schedule.
Desk organisers
Simple, yet effective.
A desk organiser will typically include space for stationary, notebooks, headsets, and so on.
This means that employees can have all of the resources needed for their workday, kept tidy in one spot.
This also helps avoid the desk and drawer clutter rabbit hole that many of us fall into.
If smaller desk items are kept tidy, then it allows drawers and cabinets to be used for the important stuff, like documents and folders.
It’s much easier to work efficiently when you can find the things you need.
Labels
On the topic of stationery, labeling items can help you and your employees.
It can avoid items getting lost, misplaced, or incorrectly used.
Labels can describe the item or describe how it’s used.
This doesn’t just work for stationary; you can also label bins, drawers, and cabinets.
Some offices will use labels to mark items belonging, whether it’s an individual or a department.
Segment the workspace
In a shared office, many different people and roles may all share a space.
This is great for collaboration, but if unmanaged, can get a bit hectic.
This is why you should consider segmenting the office and having areas in place for specific tasks and actions.
There can be an area for discussions and paperwork, which could include a bigger desk, a whiteboard, the printer and other items that help with non-digital collaborative working could all fit be kept in their own space.
There is a range of tools and processes needed to work effectively, as well as a range of work styles for employees.
So, offering an organised office with space for them to work the way that’s best for them can be a great help.
Implement a filing system
Although most things are going digital and paper-free, there are still plenty of documents and files that float around the office every day.
Documents and files should be easily accessed by staff and those that would need them.
Having piles of paper in your drawer isn’t helping you, and it means nobody else can find what they are looking for.
A filing system only works if everybody is onboard and following the system, so as management, this is your responsibility.
This can also take you back to labeling, having drawers and filing cabinets will only help the organisation if they are labeled and understandable.
It’s also worth looking into digitalising your paper documents, finding out what you can scan and file digitally so you can cut down on clutter, and recycle the paper copies.
We value coworking and collaboration at Itek House, if you need office space for your business, contact us and see how we can help.
