When you eliminate your paper files and move to document management services, you’ll find that you’ve freed up a great deal of space just waiting to be repurposed to make your office a more productive space. Here are a few ideas for how to better use the space currently being occupied by bulky filing cabinets.
1. Enjoy effective meeting space. If your office currently lacks enough collaboration space—or quality collaboration space—turn your existing file room into quiet meeting space for team members to meet and work together on projects.
2. Create a sick room. Every once in awhile, an employee gets hit with a headache or just doesn’t feel well after that gas station sushi he had for lunch. Many times the employee doesn’t need to go home for the day, sometimes just taking a few Ibuprofens and a twenty-minute nap will eliminate a little headache. Create a quiet space with a comfortable couch to allow employees who don’t want to have to miss most of their workday for something that may have passed in thirty minutes. Don’t forget to leave a bottle of disinfectant in the room to kill any germs from employees who really did need to go home.
3. Create a health room. Invest in your employees’ health and get a treadmill or elliptical machine for employees to burn some calories on their breaks. Just make sure you understand your liability and make anyone using the exercise equipment sign a waiver.
4. Make it comfortable waiting room for clients. In the past, if your office space has not allowed for a proper waiting area for clients, set up a single-cup coffee maker and some comfy chairs and make whatever wait someone has to endure, a comfortable one.
5. Provide a kid room. It happens; sometimes employees get stuck without childcare. If the child is of an age that doesn’t need constant supervision, sometimes kids can accompany their parents to the office. Provide a space where the kids can play their video games or watch movies without being a distraction to other workers. Parents will appreciate that they can still get work done even when childcare falls through.
