How to organize an office to make the most of the space and get the best performance out of it? We will tell you.

One of the problems we face in our daily work is the lack of order: material piled up or in inappropriate places; Uncontrolled papers and files in offices or personal belongings occupying all work surfaces. They are common examples of a lack of order that generates serious costs in any organization.

Have you noticed that having a messy space with many things and documents leads you to have an equally messy mind? If we learn how to organize an office, we will achieve many benefits for productivity and mental health.

In addition, it is a basic norm of coexistence when we work in shared spaces.

Como organizar una oficina

How to organize your office with the 5s method

Many organizations, including Ofita, have implemented the 5s methodology, developed by the Japanese company Toyota in the 1960s, in their processes. It basically means applying cleanliness and order on a day-to-day basis. It should be understood not only as a working method, but as a philosophy imprinted on your corporate culture.

This methodology is summarized in 5 words that begin with S:

  • Seiri: Classify. Differentiate between what is needed and is kept and what is not needed and is thrown away.
  • Seiton: Order. Organize the necessary things in a logical way, so that it is easier to find them.
  • Seiso: Cleaning. Keep the work area clean and keep things neat and in order.
  • Seiketsu: Standardize, that is, keep the first 3s.
  • Shitsuke: Habit, it is the discipline of maintaining correct procedures.

How to organize your work office with the right furniture

An organized work office is characterized by an orderly file where you can easily find all kinds of documents. However, this is not the natural state of an office. Generally, mountains of paper grow on the tables, and thus the search for a necessary document can take up to hours.

The paperless office – where more organizations are going every day – is a solution to the accumulation of documents, saving space and time and improving processes. But what is clear is that the total disappearance of paper is still a long way off, and that we also need different elements and tools in our daily work. How then to organize your work office?

Keeping the documents of a company well organized for easy location and access is essential to be able to function correctly and efficiently.

If our company generates a more or less important volume of documents on physical support, it is essential to plan their storage from the very approach of the design of the offices.

The first step to maintain order in your work office will be to establish a criterion for the organization and classification of the documents that are generated in the company and that must be kept.

The best storage solutions

Once the document filing system has been chosen and the locations they should have, it is necessary to define what type of furniture is adequate to safeguard them.

Aware of this challenge, at OFITA ​​we have a wide selection of office furniture for archiving and custody of records. They will help you answer how to organize an office.

According to its capacity and frequency of access, we can establish 4 types of files that will give you clues on how to organize your office: Job File, Departmental, Lockers and the Corporate File.

The job file is the one located on the desk itself. It is reserved for the documents that we use most frequently, those that we are handling at the time, and to store our personal belongings.  Ofita pedestals include different accessories to keep the table in perfect order, such as pencil trays or file drawers with a frame for hanging files.

If your table does not have a fixed drawer unit, you can always opt for file models with wheels that are very useful, such as this trolley from Ofita, also ideal for the home office due to its design.

TrolleyHow to organize a non-territorial office, that is, when the positions are not assigned to any person? In this case, lockers are used, generally located at the entrance of the office. Like the Lock Lock model from Ofita.

The departmental file, for its part, is reserved for those documents that can be accessed by the entire team or department and that are no longer used on a daily basis, although they can be consulted sporadically.

If they are not very sensitive documents, they may be on open shelves or on furniture with doors without a lock, in case we prefer that they remain hidden from view to give a feeling of greater order and cleanliness in the workspace. In the case of more sensitive files, it will be preferable to choose closed and lockable models.

In the case of choosing cabinets with doors or drawers, we can select versatile models such as the modular Chess filing system, which offers a wide variety of possibility of combinations with doors or drawers and different finishes.

Finally, the corporate storage. It is reserved for filing documents that must be preserved for a long time, by law, for example, but rarely consulted. For this reason, they are usually in spaces far from the daily life of the office.

On the other hand, bookstores or shelves will help us keep the tables clear of magazines and other publications.

How to organize a small office

Space is becoming increasingly scarce, both at home and at work, especially if the office is small. Therefore, we must try to make the most of the available meters and get good performance from them.

How to organize a small office? The main rule is to have only what is essential, “less is more”, and especially when it comes to a small space. Have everything in its place and well organized and make it your duty to clean up once a week.

We must avoid the feeling of a small and crowded space. For this, it is important to clear the walls as much as possible, use furniture according to the dimensions of the space, with light structures, and opt for colors that give a feeling of spaciousness and well-being. The best option is to choose light and very bright colors that help you give a greater feeling of spaciousness.  

mobiliario-oficina-online-home-office

Give windows and natural light the greatest possible prominence.  Placing the desk under a window is always a good idea. Do not put up heavy curtains, but rather choose from the sheerest and most transparent options.

For the storage, a great option is the trolley that we talked about before, due to its visual lightness and functionality, and lean shelving for the holding documents.