Does Your Office Send Out The Right Signals To Visitors?

Effective office design is about much more than simply making sure your staff members have comfortable and practical furnishings to use. It’s also about sending a signal out to the people who visit your premises. With this in mind, it’s worth asking yourself a few questions concerning the look and feel of your workspace.   Are your fixtures and fittings up to scratch?   For example, are your fixtures and fittings up to the required standards? Old or poorly designed seating, desks and storage can give visitors the impression that you’re struggling to make ends meet, and this could cause them to question your viability as an enterprise. The same applies to dilapidated doors, peeling paintwork and any other tell-tale signs that you’re letting things slip.   This is why it’s so important to ensure you have top-quality furnishings in place and, more generally, to maintain your office to the highest possible specifications.   Does the space reflect your brand?   It’s also important to consider whether your workspace really reflects your business’ brand. Bear in mind that branding doesn’t only apply to things like marketing material, products and packaging. It runs right through your company’s operations and so it should be reflected in your workspace. This means you must consider the image you want your premises to project. If you’re keen to come across as a young, dynamic, forward looking firm, some colourful, quirky furnishings could be ideal. On the other hand, if you’d like to present your enterprise as traditional in outlook and style, more conventional furniture might be better.   Think about your décor too. Ideally, your corporate colours will appear around your workspace to help reinforce your brand message. It’s also worth including plenty of branded signage around your premises featuring your firm’s name and logo.   Do you appear organised and on top of your tasks?   Then there’s the issue of organisation to consider. If when people enter your office they see piles of paperwork and disordered desks, they might get the impression that you’re unable to stay on top of your tasks. After all, a chaotic working environment is a recipe for mistakes and delays.   To ensure you don’t fall into this trap, it’s well worth investing in effective storage, and plenty of it. Of course, it’s not enough to just buy shelves, cabinets and other similar solutions. You must also use these furnishings properly by instituting effective filing systems. You may benefit from operating a clear desk policy too to ensure that your employees can’t amass lots of items on their workstations. It’s also important to make sure your office is cleaned on a regular basis and the bins and recycling are emptied frequently.   As long as you consider all of these issues carefully and take action if you notice any shortcomings in your workspace, you should succeed in making a positive impression on the people who visit your office. In turn, this could help you to secure contracts, attract investors and recruit the best personnel - so it really is worth making the effort.