Every professional needs a workspace conducive to productivity. Whether you conduct your business in-office or at home, each little detail of your space is important – from your choice of lighting to your storage facilities and even the style of your furniture. However, there are a few key supplies, above all others, that you should never be without. Here are the four crucial things you should consider implementing for a more efficient, productive office space.

Good storage facilities

A functioning office space will always house a lot of paperwork, and while they’re necessary for business, files that aren’t properly organised and stored can be a source of havoc in the work environment. Working at a cluttered desk can not only impact workers’ productivity, but it might also have a detrimental effect on mental health by exacerbating any feelings of stress or anxiety.

In contrast, focusing on work tasks becomes much easier when files are stored neatly out of sight whenever they’re not being used. In fact, it can be that much easier to find the documents that you need as and when you need them, if they’re properly stored in an accessible storage unit.

Good storage is more than just a messy stack of papers, or an overfilled filing cabinet. By opting for a built-in storage solution, you can optimise the space that you have available to you, keep the mountains of paperwork out of the way, and create a sleek, modern workspace that’s conducive to productivity.

It’s also good practice to decide how long you wish to retain your paperwork for and then utilise a reputable Archiving provider who will have purpose-built storage facilities, climate controlled and with 24/7 security in place to look after your data and paperwork.  These can still be accessed and either returned in the original format or scanned back to you, the choice is yours.

Ergonomic furniture

Most people will find themselves spending the vast majority of their workdays seated at their desks – particularly those who work in-office, who may not have the same amount of daily flexibility as a remote worker.

Unfortunately, spending hours in a seated position like this isn’t great for the body. So, it’s important to invest in some quality ergonomic furniture that will help to relieve the stress on your muscles and joints.

Ergonomic chairs are built to support your body, in order to prevent injury and keep you comfortable throughout the workday. Usually they’ll have adjustable seats, backs and armrests, and will be adaptable to suit your individual needs and frame. That means no unwanted aches and pains, and no need to reposition yourself throughout the day – ultimately making for a much more constructive work environment.

A space to take calls

Taking calls is part and parcel of working in an office, and often, time spent speaking with important clients will be prioritised above all other office tasks.

So, when it comes to these crucial communications, you’re going to need to have a comfortable, quiet space to conduct business away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the office. In a shared workspace, this will mean having separate areas that employees can retreat to for some privacy, while in a home office, it may be that there is a designated call-taking area that others in the household don’t frequent.

You’ll want to make sure that this space is well-equipped with a good answering system, and that the telephone is of clear sound quality for a stress-free call handling experience.

Smart decor

When it comes to decorating your office, you’re going to want to strike the perfect balance between creativity and functionality. This means opting for designs that won’t distract from work, but will be engaging enough to inspire.

Consider modern designs in neutral colours for a clean, contemporary space. Don’t forget, an attractive office not only makes for a pleasant place to work – it can also increase employee motivation and productivity, and will provide a professional space from which to host customers, clients and other visitors.

Choose with wellbeing in mind

Most of us spend a whole lot of our time in the office – so, it’s crucial to make sure the space is one we (and our colleagues) love to be in. No matter which of these ideas you choose to implement, it’s important that you make choices with your physical and mental wellbeing in mind. After all, healthy and happy people make for the most high-achieving and rewarding workforce.

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We push data to the cloud, google drives, one drives, so why not store your archiving documents in a secure document retrieval system for safe keeping and instant access?

All documents are vulnerable to being destroyed, lost or corrupted (if digital), either maliciously, be accident, or by a natural disaster, such as a flood or fire.  With electronic documents these can be compromsed by security threats.  

Take a look at 8 reasons why archiving is a positive step to introduce in your workplace.

1) EFFICIENCY

When you receive a request for data you can confidently confirm the delivery time frames when you have a document management system in place.  Documents are indexed and given an individual identification code.  Documents are then boxed up and sent for storage in a secure warehouse and are then ready to be retrieved when a request is submitted for either the physical documents or digital copies.  

2) AUDIT REQUESTS – STRESS FREE

Documents can be located with ease and you can have them securely delivered to your office or digitally within set time frames.

3) MORE SPACE

Once you have decluttered and organised your off-site archiving you will have more space to future proof for growth or possibly downsize.

4) CONSIDER DOWNSIZING OFFICE SPACE

If you have a considerable amount of space now available and over multiple floors it might be possible to consider downsizing which will save your business money.

5) GO PAPERLESS

Implementing an digital archiving strategy can form part of your journey to reduce the need for paper onsite and helps you adhere to data protection regulations. You will also remove the possibility of losing data due to natural disasters from water or fire when its in a digital format. Shredding onsite is also possible with the use of a mobile shredding truck which can shred up to 3 tonnes of paper an hour and can also securely destroy IT equipment and media (compliant to EN15713 standard).

6) SCAN BACK SERVICE – A GREENER WAY

A scan-back service is a greener alternative to traditional vehicle based document retrieval. The scan-back service offers digital access to documents, which will help reduce labour costs and increase productivity and of course less Co2 emissions.  The steps include logging into a portal to view your documents, you identify and request your files (searching using index numbers and other metadata) and the provider locates your documents to scan and return it the same day.  A scan on demand service also provides a full audit trail to show who has interacted with a document, when and its delivery status. You can also add in restrictions to who can access certain documents for added levels of security.

7) PROOF OF DESTRUCTION

A certificate of destruction is provided for any records that are shredded after a scanning project if the hard copies are no longer required or when documents are no longer required to be stored.  

8) SECURELY STORED

No more storing your files in a cupboard!  With a records management provider your files are secure from the start.  Collection and delivery is via lorries fitted with security trackers and documents are then scanned in and held within state-of-the-art, purpose built, storage premises which are climate controlled, with 24/7 security and CCTV in place for peace of mind. Don’t forget to check your provider has records management acreditations including ISO27001 (compliance for information security) and ISO9001 (compliance for quality management systems) as a minimum.

If your business would like to discuss implementing a Records Management System for your workplace, click here. 

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You want your essential data, which is used on a daily basis, to be a manageable size and efficiently stored. A good way to achieve this is by moving the data you no longer use regularly to a less expensive but secure location, while at the same time making it easily available if it’s is needed in the future.

Benefits of archiving your data digitally

The benefits of keeping your archived data digitally in a secure location where it is indexed and organised correctly (and where it cannot be affected by fire or water damage) are:

• Improve the performance of your current business systems and applications
• Reduced costs in terms of data back-ups and upgrades
• Make available valuable floor space within your office and on your servers 
• Digital data retrieval is quicker, cheaper and greener as there’s no access to your company information
• Legal and regulatory compliance
• No loss of data due to traceable audit trails
• Data is readily available and easy to retrieve
• Only authorised people can access the data

There are a number of options when it comes to the storage of digital data, including hard drives, USB memory sticks, DLT tapes, DAT tapes, CD Rom and DVD. Look for storage companies that keep hardware under controlled environmental conditions in a durasteel vault.

What to consider

There are many data archiving solutions available for both digital and physical storage and you may need a combination of both in a tailored solution. You need a provider who has state-of-the-art records management centres that have 24/7 CCTV monitoring, sound business practices and transparent pricing.

Whichever way your data is stored, you want to find a storage company that can retrieve your data – whether it’s just a single file or an entire archive box – quickly and accurately. If you need to retrieve a paper file, you will want a company that can deliver it to you safely and on time. 

A good archiving solutions provider will have a complete file tracking solution which locates documents quickly and can also track the file documents from retrieval through to delivery.

With documents that must be kept for legal and compliance reasons, safety is the prime concern, but also look for companies with deep storage solutions as that will make storage more cost-effective.

Archive storage companies will be happy to advise you on best practices, record management policies and retention policies.

Click here to find out more about how we can help you with archiving and the different solutions available.

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