When your current office reaches capacity, it is time to think about finding new premises. It won’t be long before you hire new members of staff that simply won’t fit in; they won’t have a desk, a computer or their own phone extension. Everyone in the business wants to enjoy the space they work in, and will arguably perform better in their role if they feel valued and happy. That is why your decision on the new office is so important; it must work for the present and the future of your company.
It can be a bit overwhelming when you start looking at what is available, so it is vital to keep a sensible head upon your shoulders. Try to keep in mind a few of these considerations when visiting premises and making up your mind:
Practical work space
The main area of your office will be needed to house the bulk of your employees. There are a number of ways to group desks together, but it all depends on the measurements of the room and of the furniture. If you are planning on bringing your existing desks and so on, jot down the sizes and bring a tape measure with you. It is never safe to presume that desks will fit just from looking at plans as there could be pillars or safety exits in the way.
Break out areas
Once you know where the staff will sit on a day to day basis, you can turn your attention to the break out areas where people can sit for lunch or informal meetings. Depending on the type of business you run, you might want to consider a few tables, sofas and a form of entertainment (TV, pool table, etc.) as long as it does not disrupt people who are working at their desks.
Meeting rooms
Of course, people will need to go somewhere a bit more formal for proper meetings – whether internal or with clients. That is why a set of professionally finished meeting rooms are important as they will set the mood for the agenda. You will want to impress people with the finish, the technology and the furniture in the room, so spend a good amount of time considering this.
Private offices
You might wish for your more senior members of staff to have their own offices, so you should do a headcount and figure out how many you need. It might be the case that you can get a company in to put up a few walls for you, or rearrange those that currently exist. It is always worthwhile having a couple of spare offices for changes that might occur in the future.
Storage
In all elements of the space you will need to think about storage. Provider of office storage solutions whitespace.org.uk suggests having a storage audit, which seems like a sensible move when you will be moving office. You will need to know exactly what needs to be stored and how, which could make the process on the other end much easier.
