Furnishing an office, to many people, seems as if it would be one of the easiest tasks in the book. After all, all someone needs to do is purchase the equipment and then set it out in the office, right? While this is certainly a main part of furnishing an office, there is so much more that people will need to think about and work through if they want their office to be the best for the people working there.
From trying to determine just how much office equipment is needed, to making sure the office space has everything the employees could need, there are many things to consider when investing in equipment for an office, no matter how large. Here are a few of those things to consider when trying to furnish a large office space.
1. Plan the Layout Beforehand
Nobody really likes it when they have to stop their work for other people to move their equipment around and rearrange all of the office furnishings because there simply isn’t enough room. Before the employees of the office sit down and get comfortable in their chairs, it will be important to plan out the layout of the whole office before putting the furnishings in.
This will help immensely with figuring out where things go, finding the best place for the most important pieces of equipment, and generally making sure everyone has enough space to feel comfortable. It may take several iterations before a furnishing plan is clear, but this will be much easier to rearrange and work with when people aren’t settled into their locations.
2. Consider What People Need
When looking for office equipment, it is easy to get stuck on some of the larger pieces of equipment that people need. For example, it is easy to get so lost in picking out the right filing cabinets and containers, copying machines and printers, that a person may leave out coffee machines for other employees who are coming into work that day and need a cup of coffee.
If possible, it may even be worth getting in touch with the people who will be working in the office to determine what pieces of equipment are going to be the most important to focus on, while still getting everyone’s thoughts on what is necessary in a shared office space.
3. Plan for Potential Rearrangement
Of course, after spending all the time planning the layout of the furnishings and making sure that people’s preferred office machinery is in place, nobody will ever want things in the office to be moved. However, it will be important to plan for the unforeseen situations which may call for office furniture and equipment to be moved.
Fixtures that need to stay near plugs should still have ample space to be moved if need be. Things that need to be bolted down should have a lot of thought given to their location and whether or not it is easy to work around it.
4. Always Plan for More Storage Space
One of the inevitable problems that come with an office, whether it is single or shared, whether it is large or small, is that a person will eventually run out of space for storing files or other important office documents. When picking out equipment for an office, it is important to always plan for more storage space than is needed originally. This allows for more time between buying more storage options, as there will be more space to fill. It is much easier to accommodate too much storage space than not enough.