Did you know the average office worker in the US spends around 50 minutes every day looking for files and other lost items?
If you have dozens of employees with varying levels of tidiness, your office could look like a tornado hit it without a moment’s notice. All it takes is one lost, important document or folder to descend into chaos.
Proper office organization strategies are so important for employee attentiveness. A tidy office means less stressed employees who actually want to be in the office. It also looks professional and will impress your clients.
So, how can you create a calm, tidy, productive, and distraction-free office? Here are some top tips to get you started with organized, smart management!
Label Everything in the Office Supply Cupboard
Good office organization always begins in the office supply cupboard. It’s the one place that gets messy first after a big clean-out.
Issues arise when the current guidelines are either too relaxed or too strict. There’s a middle ground between chaos and stacking every pen in a color-coordinated, rigid display.
Instead, opt for bins and boxes for every item that fits on each shelf. Order an old-school label maker so you can label each bin. Throw all the post-its, pens, and pencils in their own bin.
It’s an organized system yet easy to maintain.
Create Desk Name Plates for Everyone
If you have a large company, you likely have an open plan office and it’s unlikely everyone knows who everyone else is.
Save time and lessen the chance of miscommunication by investing in desk name plates. You could include every employee’s name, position, and preferred pronouns. And if you often hire contractors, get some dry wipe plates so people can add their own information.
It also increases employee engagement as a fun activity if they get to design their own.
Go Paperless
Want a way to improve workplace safety as well as make your office look more organized? Go paperless! Or at least, go as paperless as possible.
Swap out your visitor book for a tablet sign-in form. It’s better for privacy reasons, too.
Create a virtual memo system, encourage work group chats, and invest in lots of dry wipe boards for creative projects. Having less paper is an easy way to cut clutter at the source.
Hire a Dumpster Every Month
It’s easy to throw out and recycle smaller pieces of waste every day. But what about those larger items your employees no longer need? What about the trade show displays and boxes of business cards with the old logo?
It’s likely they sit in some unused corner of your office gathering dust and making the place look untidy.
Hire a dumpster every month to encourage everyone in your office to throw out these space-sucking items. It will also give everyone a regular nudge so they will tidy up their desk and their space at least once a month. Dumpster rental services are available at online sites such as https://temporarydumpster.com/, and allow you to manage your office waste effectively.
Office Organization Techniques That Work
Office organization isn’t often exciting, but it is necessary. Get the whole team involved, create some new easy-to-follow guidelines, and you will have a much calmer, tidier, safer office in no time.
Want to learn more ways to improve your business and your employee’s workplace happiness? Browse our website for tons of helpful business, finance, and tech-related articles packed with useful tips!
