Would you believe how many mental health benefits a tidy office gives your employees? Some of the top benefits include increased productivity and reduced stress levels.
As the business owner or a manager, why wouldn’t you want to do everything in your power to increase productivity?!
But you likely already know that good office organization is essential to running a business. The question is finding the best office organization ideas to help you clean and tidy your office so it stays that way.
Lucky for you, these office organization tips will help you do exactly that!
1. Start With an Initial Purge of Stuff
At the moment, the items in your office likely exceed capacity. Start your office organization journey by decluttering the items you know you want to get rid of.
Don’t start with difficult items like documents or stationery. Start with the broken chair, the boxes of last year’s campaign banners, or out-of-date food on your desk. You’re looking for quick wins that will motivate you to see this task through to the end.
2. Hire a Dumpster Once a Month
But if you work in a big, open-plan office space, how are you going to remove all these unwanted items? By hiring a dumpster!
Yes, one of the best business office organization ideas is to hire a huge dumpster for the day. Dumpsters are a great idea because they will take all items, big and small.
But if you do have a lot of recyclable waste e.g. books or paper, organize a special pick-up for those.
And be realistic; don’t only hire a dumpster once. You might be a tidy person by nature. Random items and useless clutter will start to appear again.
So if you want your new office organization system to stick, hire a dumpster once a month or every other month. This will be a good time to reignite everyone’s enthusiasm around the organization for office so they will declutter again.
3. Rent Storage Containers for Excess Goods
Are the office holiday decorations piled in a corner because you don’t have storage for them? Do you have tax documents, security tapes, and other items you need to keep a hard copy of by law?
You don’t need access to these goods 24/7, but you need to store them somewhere. That’s why you should rent storage containers. You’re still keeping the items safe and organized, but you’re keeping the clutter out of your office.
If you have room next to your office building, you can even keep a storage container nearby. And if not, rent one within driving distance of the office so it’s not a hassle for any of your employees to access.
4. Turn Decluttering Into a Competitive Game
If you’re struggling to get your employees or colleagues excited about office organization, turn it into a game.
The Minimalists created a game called the 30-Day Mins Game. If you continue this pattern for 30 days, you’ll have ditched almost 500 items!
It’s unrealistic to expect that every employee has 500 items on their desk that they can live without! The game should be challenging but not impossible. Split the office into small teams, and the teams that manage to complete the challenge should get a reward.
That reward should be appealing to everyone e.g. an extra paid day off or a fun trip during work hours.
5. Scan and File Papers in Digital Files
One of the most cluttering items in any office is paper. Somehow, even in the digital age, there are always stacks and stacks of paper everywhere. And no one wants to recycle anything that looks important on the off chance that it is important.
And so the piles of paper get bigger.
Give every team a small, portable scanner. Tell them to take it in turns to scan their paper clutter so they can file it away in digital folders.
Incentivize this office cleaning challenge by giving them a deadline. Either they scan and file their paper by the deadline or it’s getting shredded and recycled!
6. Create More Trash and Recycling Stations
People love convenience stores, rideshare services, and take-out food. In short, people are lazy. And many people in your office will only bother to throw away or recycle their waste if you make it super easy.
Put out more trash and recycling cans around the office. Choose sleek metal cans that aren’t transparent as they will look neat and professional. Put labels on the side of the cans so it’s obvious what type of waste should go where.
7. Fix Broken Furniture and Redecorate
Let’s say you’re wearing a brand new white suit or dress. You try super hard to keep it looking clean and stain-free, right? But as soon as you find a mark on it, you’re less careful because it’s already stained.
The same thought process applies to workspaces too. If your office is looking a little shabby, your employees will care less about keeping the place tidy.
Find the money in the budget to zhush up your office. Apply a new lick of paint, hire a floor or carpet cleaner, and give your office a makeover. Replace or fix broken furniture and get some indoor plants.
You can bring your coworkers in on the action too. Host a tidy desk or cubicle competition and have everyone in the office vote on which desk looks the best. Give the winner a prize and host the contest again in six months.
8. Invest in Storage Solutions and Labels
This is the oldest office organization trick in the book, but it works. There’s a wealth of paper trays, desk organizing boxes, pen caddies, and more to help you get organized.
Start with your desk or the supply closet depending on whether you are organizing your home office or a communal office. Take all stationery out of the box because these often aren’t the best way to store items.
Put pens, pencils, markers, and highlighters into glass jars. Put erasers, staples, elastic bands, and other small items into clear plastic boxes. Make sure they have lids in case someone knocks it off the shelf.
Line up larger items like staplers and sticky tape on a shelf. Put even larger items like paper reams on the bottom shelf. Create labels for every box and jar so that if it becomes empty, you know what to reorder.
Make good use of your desk drawers by storing all your documents and tools out of sight. Set yourself the challenge of only having ten or fewer items on your desk at all times to keep it tidy.
9. Swap Paper Notes for Whiteboard Notes
Documents and mail create most of the paper clutter. But there are other offenders too. Sticky notes, diaries, flipcharts, and notebooks also create a lot of mess.
Ban sticky notes and buy enough whiteboards and dry-wipe markers for the entire office. Encourage everyone to write random thoughts on the whiteboards and clean them when they don’t need the note anymore.
10. Take Advantage of Your Wall Space
For some reason, vertical and wall storage looks much tidier than storing things on the floor. Take advantage of your wall space by building high shelves for books, marketing materials, and other larger items.
Install a pegboard on the wall above your desk so you can use hooks to hang scissors, tape, pen pots, and more from it. Use cork boards to pin your mail onto and opt for wall calendars instead of desk calendars.
You could even attach coat hooks to a wall near the entrance so everyone can hang their coat and umbrellas here. It might seem like kindergarten, but it will keep people from putting their coats on their desk chairs and making the office look messier. Plus, your colleagues will soon love the idea after the first rainstorm as they won’t have to sit next to their wet coats.
Master the Art of Office Organization With These Tips
If you’re overhauling your home office organization system then all these tips will help motivate you to keep the system in place. But it’s much harder to motivate a workforce.
Be consistent, keep playing games, and keep hiring dumpsters as many times as you need. Office organization is an endless pursuit. But it’s a worthwhile one for all the benefits you will gain.
Office organizing is a worthwhile task. But your business won’t be successful if you don’t attract clients and make profits. Check out our business articles for lots more useful tips!
