Floor space is not cheap, especially in urban centres. Many small business owners are forced to squeeze everything into small spaces. It's not all doom and gloom, however. With a little bit of creativity and some investment, you can turn your small and cluttered office into a comfortable and productive workplace. To help you with that, here are some small office design concepts that you can implement.
1. Creativity in Space Creation
If you are constantly holding impromptu meetings, or are regularly in communication with your team members, you might want to forego the traditional cubicle walls and privacy panels. Instead, build your office in the mold of a classic newsroom — basically, pushing together individual desks to allow you to hold meetings and discussions of any sizes without any unnecessary movements and chair shifting.
Incorporate a modern touch into the space by placing a couple of flexible seating options at strategic locations. These can be fold-able chairs, stools or even bean-bag seats. The whole idea behind this design is to have an open space that fosters group camaraderie, in addition to getting rid of all the obstacles to holding meetings.
2. Flexibility is Key
When dealing with a small office setting, you may not have the luxury of a lunchroom or a break out area. The space might not be enough to include them and adding more space would be expensive. The most effective approach in this case would be hotel desks, which are typically workplaces that can be used by different employees at different times of the day.
For instance, you can use the conference room for meetings in the morning and departmental group discussions in the afternoon. Essentially, find a way to make some spaces multi-purpose.
Read here - Grease Trap Cleaning and Maintenance: Major Do’s and Don’ts You Must Follow
3. Light It Up
The positive effects of natural light on employee productivity and happiness are often underestimated. Increasing the amount of natural light that gets into the office will not only alleviate eye strain amongst your workers, but also improve your office aesthetics.
One way to achieve this would be to get rid of the window blinds to let in more sunlight. This is because even when rolled up, blinds can still block some light rays. Another strategy is to place some mirrors on your walls and room dividers. When placed correctly, mirrors reflect natural light and make the room appear larger.
Artificial light complements natural light. Replace your overhead bulbs with better and brighter models (there are great energy efficient brands). Further, you can install wall lamps to not only improve the lighting but also enhance the new design.
4. Strive to Declutter
While working with a small floor space, you need to make the most of your vertical space in order to minimize clutter. Invest in tall wall shelves to store all your documents — after all you probably keep most of your data in computers. To complement that, have a couple of plastic shelves near the workstations to facilitate easy storage and access to frequently used files.
Additionally, instead of having lockers that take up precious floor space, use wall hooks on which your employees can hang their coats, bags and sweaters. If you’re not allowed to drill walls, consider purchasing freestanding shelves.
Read Here - 10 Pieces of Advice to Follow Before Locating to Your New Home
5. Customized Workspaces to Boost Employee Morale
It's possible that most of your employees are millennials and as you might know, what motivates them is quite different from what motivates older generations. Thus, you need to come up with some creative small office ideas for work to enable them to thrive.
The first thing you can do is having areas where they can collaborate on projects. Considering that you don’t have much space available, you can use your conference room for this purpose. Employees can do much more together, socializing as they work so creating co-working spaces is also vital. Another thing to consider is agility in the work environment. Create spaces to cater to different personalities. Some people like to work on certain projects in private while others prefer working in the open with other people around them.
Lastly, go green. Having pieces of nature in your office would be a welcome addition. Talk to your interior designer and let them suggest the right potted plants for your office.
6. Have a Theme
If your customers visit your office often, you might want to have your brand colors reflected throughout the premises.
With a small office, this won't cost you much. Paint the walls with company colours and ensure almost everything else in the office, from furniture to artificial lighting reflect that. This way, employees feel a sense of identity and it leaves an impression on anyone who visits your office. Remember that it makes the workspace appear bigger.
Conclusion
Whatever your tastes are, there are lots of opportunities and options out there in regards to small office space designs and decorations. All you need to do is consider your space limitations, your business needs as well as your employees' preferences.
