It can be difficult to know what to do with a smaller office, keeping in mind your employees and their comfort levels and productivity, as well as ensuring everything in your office functions properly. However, there are many different ways to make your company’s small office space work, both for your employees and for your clients. In this article, we’ll talk you through some of the ways you can optimise your small office, from lighting and use of colour to workstations and furniture, to ensure your employees and clients alike are comfortable in your smaller office.

How to Optimise a Small Office

It can be difficult to know what to do with a smaller office, keeping in mind your employees and their comfort levels and productivity, as well as ensuring everything in your office functions properly.

However, there are many different ways to make your company’s small office space work, both for your employees and for your clients.

In this article, we’ll talk you through some of the ways you can optimise your small office, from lighting and use of colour to workstations and furniture, to ensure your employees and clients alike are comfortable in your smaller office.

Lighting in your Small Office

One of the fast and perhaps easiest places you can start when it comes to optimising your small office is using the right lighting.

This of course depends on what the natural light is like in your office, which will likely differ based on whether it’s South or North facing, and if your windows are blocked by any other buildings.

If your office gets a lot of natural light, you can use this to your advantage, meaning you’ll only need mostly soft lighting to fully optimise your small space.

However, if your office tends to be darker, you could look into using more lighting to give the impression of a bigger space. A lighter office is also known to improve productivity in employees.

Partitions in your Small Office

Another quick and easy way to optimise the space in your small office is by bringing in partitions to split up your space into different stations.

For example, if you want to separate an area of your small office in order to create a secure meeting area for clients, you can use a partition to do this.

So, with partitions, you can create specific areas for different uses. This means you can use your office space for a wide range of things, without needing to rent out any additional rooms for meetings and other uses.

Office Plants

You could also optimise your small office by bringing plants in.

One of the things most people don’t consider when it comes to small office spaces is, the air quality still needs to be kept at a high standard. This can become difficult in small offices, which can quickly become stuffy if overcrowded.

As well as contributing to the aesthetic of your office, plants can also help remove toxins from the air, helping improve the quality. In turn, this is great for employees’ health, as well as boosting their mood.

Use of Colour

Just like lighting, your use of colour in your office can also give the impression of a bigger space.

Generally, the idea is that brighter colours make small spaces look bigger, and this is ideal for an office, where neutral colours are usually preferred.

However, if you’re looking to make a statement, a feature wall could also be a good idea, as it draws the eyes towards a certain point in the room, distracting them from the room’s size.

So, if you get the paintwork in your small office right, you could potentially make it look a lot bigger.

Workstations in your Small Office

When you’re planning the layout for your small office, it’s a good idea to think about where you’ll put the workstations.

In small offices, it’s a good idea to have desks which all slot together and can be rearranged as necessary, to ensure you’re using the space as efficiently as possible.

It’s always important to balance this with your employees’ comfort levels, ensuring they’re happy with the setup at all times and never feel crammed in.

Furniture in your Small Office

Adding to the point above, generally, the furniture in your small office should be modular. This ensures it can be moved around to suit whatever setup you need for a particular day.

For example, when a more collaborative workspace is needed, you could push the desks together to create a bigger table for employees to gather around. When the collaboration is over, you can rearrange them back to the normal setup.

This versatility means that you can adapt your office layout as needed, which is ideal for small office spaces.

Clutter – Or Lack Thereof

One of the important things to remember when you have a small office is that every inch of space matters.

This means ensuring that there isn’t any clutter left out on the floor or on desks and workstations.

Not only can clutter turn into tripping hazards when left on the floor, it can also get in the way of your employees’ productivity.

In addition, a cluttered workplace can negatively impact employees’ motivation, which isn’t ideal for anyone.

That’s why it’s essential to keep on top of cleaning and tidying in your small office, to ensure every part of your space can be used properly.

Multipurpose Areas in your Small Office

As we mentioned above, with a small office, it’s important to use and optimise the space. This means using your office for a wide range of uses, including for meetings, collaboration and 1-2-1s.

As long as you have partitions and modular furniture and workstations, this should be relatively easy to do, and it won’t take too much of your time.

This also helps you save money, as it means you won’t have to rent excess rooms or spaces for particular purposes – everything will be in your current office.

Air Quality and Small Offices

Another thing which we touched on above is the air quality in small offices.

Sometimes, small spaces tend to get stuffy when you have lots of employees working at the same time. This can lead to poor air quality in your office.

There are actually regulations around this, which state that the air quality in your office should be the same as, if not better than, the air outside.

That’s why it’s a good idea to ensure your windows operate properly, giving your employees fresh air. You could also look into humidifiers or dehumidifiers and other things to improve the quality of the air in your office.

Removing Hazards in your Small Office

When your business is operating out of a small office, it can be difficult to find ways of storing things properly.

This can lead to cluttered surfaces and floors, as we mentioned earlier. However, these can be trip hazards, especially in an office where there isn’t much floorspace.

Your employees need to be able to walk around the office without being worried about falling over something, so it’s a good idea to come up with a plan for storing items, whether that’s modular furniture or adding extra storage to workstations.

Health and Safety in Small Offices

It’s important to note that health and safety applies to all offices, regardless of size. While it may be difficult to uphold these standards in your small office, it’s essential to keep on top of this.

From maintaining an optimal temperature and ensuring the air quality is good, to getting proper ventilation in the space and dealing with trip hazards, there are so many things to think about in terms of health and safety.

That’s why it’s always a good idea to keep a list of health and safety standards to regularly check for your small office.

Optimising your Small Office

So, in this article, we’ve looked at some of the ways you can optimise your small office, from the aesthetic choices like lighting and colours to make your space look bigger, to modular furniture and workstations to add versatility to your office.

There are many things to keep in mind when it comes to ensuring your small office is both functional and comfortable for employees and clients alike, as well as making sure that you’re meeting health and safety standards as discussed above.