When you run a small business, you often start out in the comfort of your own home. Commercial premises don’t often come cheap and when you’re first launching your products and establishing your brand, the money that would be invested in a professional workspace could be put to better use – perhaps being put into product development, market research, advertising, or marketing campaigns. However, as your business begins to grow and expand, you’ll quickly find that you have more disposable income generated by increased profits. This means you can take on staff and provide them with a space to work from. When you reach this point, however, it’s extremely important that you keep on top of your office or other premises. You need to make sure that it is clean and clear in order to provide a space where people can be safe and productive. One huge step you can take towards achieving this is decluttering. Here are a few simple steps you can take to achieve this.
Make Your Files Digital
Back in the day, any commercially operating company would have a seemingly never ending source of files and documents. These would be stored in case you needed to refer back to them at any given point. More organised offices would have special filing cabinets to place files in within an organised manner. However, progress in technology means that now, we don’t necessarily need paper or physical files all the time. Many documents and files can be kept on your computers, laptops, tablets and even mobile devices. At the end of the day, this tends to be a lot more straightforward. The majority of us are already working online, so saving files digitally is much more simple than having to print everything out. Storing files online is also more environmentally friendly. Think about the amount of paper you can save by not printing absolutely everything you ever produce out! Thirdly, you don’t need to dedicate huge spaces to storage. Everything can be saved virtually, so you no longer need multiple filing cabinets of documents! On top of all this, storing documents online can ensure that there are backup versions of each file, so you needn’t worry about physical documents being physically harmed or damaged, losing information and data.
Make Your Media Digital
Another thing that many businesses store physically is media. Perhaps the most common form of physically stored media is CCTV footage. Now, CCTV is extremely important for many small businesses. It deters criminals and it ensures that you capture evidence of any wrongdoing, or evidence that can help to resolve disputes in the workplace. This can all be used to make sure justice is always served. However, do you really want endless tapes and film rolls to be stored away for future use? They can take up a lot of room and they can be difficult to organise. Instead, these can be digitally converted too. Services like Perfect Image Video will transfer videos, films slides and photos into a digital format that can then be saved on your work devices.
Providing Enough Bins
Of course, people are bound to make a mess throughout the day in your office. People are prone to snack while they’re working or eat their lunch at their desks, creating a mess of packages and wrappers which then get left and can build up. This can easily be resolved by ensuring that each desk has its own bin. Where possible, encourage your employees to recycle. Recycling bins have multiple compartments, which can house different types of waste. Using them will help the environment greatly! You should also consider having paper recycling bins near printers and scanners – spaces where people tend to dispose of a lot of pieces of paper.
Rearrange Desks
As your business expands and you take on more staff, you may start bringing more and more desks into the commercial space. Of course, everyone needs somewhere to sit or stand and work. But are your desks arranged in the best manner to keep spaces open and comfortable for everyone? Often, new staff start one at a time and you’ll squeeze in new desks wherever possible. But eventually, if things start feeling cramped and looking cluttered, you may want to consider a big rearrange that will ensure everyone has all the space they need and walkways are completely clear.
Hire Cleaners
Clutter free spaces still need to be cleaned. It’s unlikely your employees are going to bring in cleaning products and start cleaning their spaces up of their own accord. So, make sure you hire professional cleaners to start cleaning the space properly outside of office hours. They can complete tasks, such as wiping down surfaces, polishing desks, vacuuming the floors and cleaning windows from the inside. You may also want to hire a professional window cleaner to clean the outsides of your commercial space’s windows. This will make everything look a lot cleaner and more presentable. It also ensures your space is hygienic for your workers.
These, of course, are just a few different tips, tricks and areas to focus on when it comes to cleaning up your office spaces. Of course, it may take a little time to fully implement all of these changes across your workplace, and for people to get into the habit of working in a more clutter free and tidy way. But eventually, all of your efforts will pay off! The result will be a more productive working environment in which all of your employees. This will benefit everyone, as you’ll have a more content workforce and increased productivity can improve your company’s progress and, consequently, profits.
