Steps To Take When Renovating Your Office Space
Your office is a place of business. It’s also your home away from home, and spending eight or more hours there each day requires a bit of personalisation. Even if you don’t have much creative license with the property, small changes go a long way in keeping employee morale high, productivity up, and stress levels low. Renovating your office space can help with mental wellbeing as well.
Renovating your office space can be an exciting and invigorating process, but it can also be daunting if you aren’t sure where to begin or what renovations are needed most urgently. An organised plan of action will help you achieve the end result that you want with as little stress as possible. If you’re about to undertake an office renovation project for your company, read on for some useful tips and ideas to help you get started.
Identify Your Needs
This might sound like a given, but before you make any alterations or purchases, you’ll need to know what your company’s needs are.
- How many employees will be working in the space?
- Do any members of staff require special equipment or furniture for their jobs?
- Is there anything that can be improved for health and safety reasons?
- Is there anything that is broken beyond repair or needs to be replaced due to age or wear?
By asking yourself these questions and documenting the answers, you can create a needs list that will help you identify the renovations you should prioritise.
Communicate With Employees
While you’re busy organising and planning, don’t forget that your employees also have a stake in the renovations. They will have opinions, needs, and desires that need to be addressed. Trust is the foundation of any healthy workplace relationship, so it’s important to be forthcoming and transparent with your employees throughout the renovation process.
This includes keeping them informed about expected delays and closures that might happen when renovations take place. You should also communicate with employees about the renovations themselves, asking for their suggestions and feedback. This will show them that their opinions and ideas are valued, and it will also give you some insight into what changes employees would like to see made.
Hire The Right Professionals For The Job
Renovations are a big investment for your company, so it’s important that you hire the right professionals for the job. With so many companies out there that offer construction and renovation services, it’s important that you do your due diligence when choosing a company to partner with. A reputable company will have a strong reputation within the industry and a proven track record of high-quality work.
What’s more, you may need to hire more than one professional for the job. For example, you may need designers to help you furnish your office and electricians to install any new tech and lights you want. When looking for electricians near your office, it can be a challenge to find the right people for the job. To narrow down your search, explore MyBuilder and the electricians near me page on their website to bring you and the experts in your area together.
Choose Your Colour Scheme
This might sound insignificant, but the colour scheme of your office can have a huge impact on the mood and atmosphere of the space. Bright, vibrant colours might be great for a call centre or a retail store, but they might not be the best choice for a law firm or an accounting office. You can hire a professional colour consultant to help you select the right colour scheme for your office. Colour consultants will come to your office and perform a detailed analysis of the current colour scheme and environment.
Create Lounge Area With Fun Activities
Employees spend a lot of their time in the office, so it’s important to create spaces where they can take a break from the daily grind, recharge, and refresh. You can create a lounge area in your office with areas for lounging, reading, socialising, and relaxing. You can also add some fun activities and games to break up the monotony. Great options include a foosball table or a pool table. These additions will not only help employees relieve stress but will also create a sense of camaraderie and community within your office.
Invest In Some Greenery
Employees respond well to greenery and natural elements in the office, such as plants and flowers. Adding these things to your office will not only add some visual appeal, but they will also have some positive health benefits too. Plants have been shown to lower stress levels and improve indoor air quality, so they are a must-have in any office space. You can also add other visual elements, like interesting wall art, to complement your greenery.
Update The Flooring
There’s a good chance that the flooring has seen better days. Modern flooring materials are quieter, more comfortable, and more efficient when it comes to cleaning and maintaining them. When renovating, consider updating your flooring materials. Carpet, while once a staple in many offices, is no longer recommended. It has a shorter lifespan than other flooring options, such as tile or hardwood, and traps dirt, dust, and allergens.
Invest In Quality Furniture
Once your renovations are complete, and your new office is ready for use, you’ll want to make sure that it looks professional and well put together. Investing in high-quality furniture pieces that are also functional is a great way to achieve this goal.
While it’s fine to splurge on a few key pieces, don’t go overboard. You don’t want to have a ton of furniture that isn’t being used because it’s too expensive to move around or doesn’t fit in the space. Make sure that your new furniture is made for use in an office environment. It should be durable, easy to clean and have the ability to withstand being moved around and used daily. You don’t want to have to replace your furniture every couple of years due to wear and tear.
Maximise The Natural Light
The best way to enhance your office is to maximise natural light. This will not only make your office feel more spacious, but it will also make it easier to maintain a clean and healthy atmosphere. There are many ways to do this, including replacing your existing windows, installing skylights such as Sunsquare roof lights, and choosing lighter-coloured wall paints.
Revamp The Kitchen
The kitchen is one of the most important areas of your office. It’s where your employees come together and socialise with one another in the mornings and during lunch, as well as when they take a break for tea and coffee.
Make sure that your kitchen has everything that it needs and is stocked with goodies that employees like. Some things that you want to make sure are in your kitchen include filtered water taps, a variety of beverages and snacks, coffee machines, microwaves, a fridge, instant hot water taps, and ample seating.
Conclusion
Renovating your office is a great way to improve your company’s culture and productivity. Make sure to engage your employees in the renovation process so that they feel included and have input on what changes are made.
Having a collaborative approach to the renovation process and involving your employees will help ensure that their needs are met and that their morale remains high throughout the project. Whether you’re renovating a new office space or sprucing up an existing one, these tips and ideas will help you get the most out of your renovation project and make sure that it’s done as smoothly and efficiently as possible.