As employees, our morale and productivity are heavily dependent on our surroundings. An office that feels streamlined, open and invigorating is directly tied to workers who feel motivated and ready to perform their best.
Good organization in the workspace is a key factor in creating this kind of productivity-enhancing environment. When we’re surrounded by clutter, it’s difficult to stay focused and easy to succumb to distraction. From a practical perspective, in a poorly organized office it takes longer for employees to locate things they need, causing unnecessary delays.
Interested in learning how to improve office organization? Read on for some great office organization ideas that can transform a messy, chaotic work environment into an efficient and calming space.
Eliminate Wires and Clutter
Our dependence on technology in the workplace requires plenty of plugged-in devices in our workspaces. Multiple monitors, laptops, computer towers, phones, fax machines and more; the average cubicle is full of devices that need to be constantly connected to the Internet or plugged into a power source. Failure to properly manage all the necessary wires can quickly become a tipping point leading to a frustratingly cluttered atmosphere that causes bad organization habits to snowball.
Luckily, office furniture has evolved to match our changing technology-related needs, and there are plenty of products available to help streamline your setups. Cords, cables and wires can be neatly tucked away into specially designed panels; smartly placed power strips keep all the plugs in one place. A few simple products and a tiny bit of effort can go a long way in enhancing your office organization.
Multipurpose Work Spaces
Multipurpose work spaces are growing in popularity, and they bring many potential benefits to a work environment. In addition to versatility and helping to create a more open, fluid environment where employees aren’t figuratively chained to their cubicles, they can do wonders for your office organization, too.
Maintaining an office full of multipurpose spaces that can act as a conference room, a team meeting spot, a brainstorming location or a lounge area depending on the day’s needs keeps employees moving around more and limits the collection of clutter. Workers are less likely to spread out their stuff and leave things behind if they’re sharing the space with everyone else in the office.
Use Color to Stay Organized
The use of color in the office helps brighten up your space and make it feel more cheerful. It can also provide subtle psychological cues that make maintaining good organizational habits effortless. Office managers can encourage employees to use color coding in their cubicles to improve individual desk organization. Assigning department colors allows employees to instantly identify the purpose and proper location of memos, messages and files. In addition to physical papers and files, this can be put to work virtually in email systems and on the computer desktop.
Offices are full of employees with varying work habits and levels of tidiness, so it can be tough to keep up with good organization. However, incorporating office organization products and these simple suggestions can go a long way in keeping your work environment feeling clean and efficient.