subject: What Does Your Office Say About Your Business: The Top 3 Mistakes Business Managers Make [print this page] What Does Your Office Say About Your Business?
It doesn't matter what your business does or how intuitive or insightful your clients are, there is no way to avoid your office space sending a message loud and clear when your clients, or future clients come to visit. You need to understand what your office is saying, because as home base for your operations you will want it to be on message. What are your office chairs, tables and whiteboards saying about your services?
A great office is the best investment in genuine 24 hour promotion for your company because you're turning your staff into ambassadors for your services to their entire network, and you're also probably making your team a magnet for leading talent in your industry.
So what are some of the common office decoration mistakes that business owners make, and what do they say about your business?
Mistake One: Messy offices and broken fittings send a message that your business is out of your control.
If you walked into an office and noticed that light bulbs weren't working, there were few bins and they were stuffed full, the office chairs didn't match and one of the flipchart legs was broken and taped to the board, you would assume that this business was a disaster. People quickly become used to their own mess, so walk back into your office, imagine it's your competitors place and watch your reactions. Fix anything that jumps out at you before it loses you business.
Mistake Two: Poorly thought out workspaces.
If your staff are constantly getting up to go to the filing cabinet, the printer, the coffee machine, to adjust the heating, to stretch then your office space is letting you down. Redesign your working space so it accurately caters to your staff's needs i.e. if they often work in groups, create desk islands where swapping ideas, document and memos can be done in their seat rather then getting up and walking to their colleagues space. If your staff work largely individually, separate the desks and working space so they can concentrate. Developing a communal work area that is separate from the personal desks is also a wise investment because you will encourage both activities, but separately so your employees work to their best ability in individual or team functions.
Mistake Three: Creating an office environment that does not promote your services well.
Think of your office like a shop, if you sell insurance it shouldn't look like funky marketing firm, and if you run a marketing firm, it'd shouldn't be look like a responsible and straightforward insurance firm. Make sure you look like what you say you are, businesses that confuse clients don't keep them for long. Your clients should be able to imagine your staff working hard on their project, so make sure your office space is obviously work ready. Whereas one office (marketing) requires group work/team space with flipcharts and whiteboards for brainstorming and discussions, an insurance office should have their workers set up at individually equipped stations with computers, phones and filing cabinets and form processing trays.
by: Wendy Bird
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