6 Easy Office Organization Ideas to Improve Productivity

Every office manager is always on the lookout for new ways to keep the office just a little more organized and a little more productive.

An out-of-order office can leave a negative impression on clients, potential employees, and even the overall productivity of the people who work there. Fortunately, a few simple changes can go a long way towards invigorating your office and your employees.

Simple organization can actually make it easier for people to do their jobs well. There’s something to the idea that a cluttered desk will lead to a cluttered mind, and some strong organization can help with that.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at 6 easy office organization ideas that will improve productivity and keep your employees (and you!) feeling good about their workspace.

1. Provide Desk Organizers for Your Team

Desk organizers include both in-drawer options and those that sit on top of the desks themselves. They’ll help keep your employee’s workspaces clutter-free and looking great.

It’s much easier to work efficiently when you have everything you need right at your desk, and you can find it quickly without rifling through papers and files to find something that’s been misplaced (or worse-- accidentally tossed in the trash).

Need a few ideas? The following all are cost-friendly and look great:

• The Container Store’s Navy Stockholm collection
• Target’s interlocking drawer organizer set
• Target’s wood desktop storage unit
  
  

Provide these organizers for your employees, having some available for each desk. They should be free to bring in their own if they choose, of course, but this promotes order without requiring anyone to shell out their own cash.

2. Have Dedicated Charging Stations

We’re all walking around with too many devices to keep up with, so we can never be too far from a plug. This can result in a nest of tangled up wires that can look messy and even cause damage to the cables themselves over a long period of time.

Avoid this by having surge protectors available at every desk, and labeling each plug in it. The labels “lamp,” “laptop charger,” and “printer” can go a shockingly long way when there are technical difficulties you need to sort through.

Having dedicated charging stations right at their desks will also keep your employees from looking all over the office for a place to power their cell, keeping them a little more focused and a lot more productive.
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Cable organizers are also a great choice, which hold wires in place on your desk so they aren’t knocking over drinks (causing messy, time-consuming, and potentially expensive damage). Have them available at each desk, and check out an option for purchase here.

3. Label Everything

Do you have filing cabinets that your staff regularly accesses for crucial documents or supplies in storage? Create labels for everything, and it will speed up the entire work day as a result.

Everyone’s had that moment where they’re pulled out of their productive work mindset when they need to hunt down something they need, whether it’s a file, or a pen, or a stapler. If you can’t find whatever it is you need instantly, you inevitably must go looking, and that can make a huge impact on your productivity.

Want a little help? You can get a cheap label maker like this one online (labels included!).

4. Store Inventory Where It’s Needed

A lot of offices don’t have an enormous amount of storage space, particularly if they don’t have a warehouse of supplies (which most don’t). In these cases, it makes the most sense to store your inventory where it’s needed most.

Some offices, for example, will have a “printing station.” They’ll have a shelf or table next to the printer and copier that holds additional paper, ink, and a stapler. Again, keeping people from having to hunt down extra supplies is a huge plus, and since everything you need is right there, it’s easier to track when supplies are getting low.
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Need to buy some equipment to make this possible? Try searching for “tech stations,” like the one found here.

5. Use Online Data Storage Wherever Possible

The whole world is going online, and your office should too. Using online data storage whenever possible will reduce clutter in the workspace, and can often make it much easier to keep track of the information you need.

Which would you rather do: search for a single contact through a rolodex and hope the card didn’t fall out, or search for a client’s name in your customer management software? This is a quick and easy office organization idea that will keep everything in order while ensuring nothing slips between the cracks.
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Use online invoicing software like Quickbooks, online project management software like Trello or Asana, and customer management software like Hubspot. You can still keep hard data in office if you see fit, but it can be stored away securely and out of sight while the digital files keep everything a little more organized, accessible, and productive.

6. Opt for Desks with File Folder Storage

Some desks will come equipped with at least one drawer that has sliding file organization within it, allowing team members to store documents or resources that they need in an easy-access way. ‍
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‍Desks with built-in hanging file folder systems are incredibly valuable, allowing each employee to keep the documents and files they need right there at their desks. If it’s time to refresh your desks, you can look at options like the one above.

Conclusion

Having a decluttered office can increase focus and concentration, leading to a natural boost in productivity. That effect will only be amplified when your employees have everything they need right at the tips of their fingers (and in many cases, right at their own desks!). Take some time to implement these easy office organization ideas, and you’ll see the results before you know it.

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