Expanding your office or moving to new premises can offer a great opportunity to instigate change within your business, particularly when it comes to improving productivity. Take a look at our guide to find out how to use a time of expansion to boost your employees’ output.

Refresh your IT equipment

An office move or expansion is a good time to review your IT needs and assess whether your existing equipment is fit for purpose, be it PCs, laptops, printers (check out Kyocera for a range of business printers) or servers. With technology evolving all the time, there’s a strong chance that the computers that seemed perfectly fine a decade ago are unable to meet the demands of today’s workplace.

Replacing any outdated equipment will likely have a positive impact on employees’ productivity thanks to the increased efficiency this will bring – as long as they are properly trained to use the new hardware and/or software.

If space is a real concern, you could consider minimising your physical data hosting and filing cabinet needs by opting for cloud storage wherever possible. This will also aid workers who occasionally have to work remotely by ensuring they can access important files from wherever they are.

Install a staff room

If your present office currently has no communal space for your workers, consider installing a staff room in your new or expanded premises, whether it’s a dining area, games room or simply a place to spend breaks in peace away from the computer. This kind of addition to the workplace is likely to make your employees happier, which in turn could increase productivity by 12 per cent, according to research from Warwick University.

Make sure you furnish the space appropriately; comfy seats, large tables, interesting artwork/posters, a radio and a drinks machine or kettle are all ideal. Try to ensure the room isn’t used for work-related reasons, as it should be seen as a place for your staff to relax in.

If you do set up a games room, it’s worth laying down some rules regarding fair use of the space so that it’s only used during breaks, rather than providing an excuse to avoid important tasks for a few hours!

Revamp the decor

The decor of your office can have a big impact on employees’ mood, even if they don’t realise it! Workers are more likely to thrive in a spacious, airy room that gets lots of natural light and is nicely decorated than somewhere cramped, dingy and depressing.

Expanding your premises can offer the ideal opportunity to refresh the entire look of your office, from the carpets and walls to smaller things like plants and posters. It’s a good idea to get your staff’s input before you begin so you can get a picture of how they currently feel about the office and how they think it could be improved.

A report from the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment suggests around a quarter of job satisfaction levels can be accounted for by the workplace, affecting the performance of individual members of staff by five per cent and teams by 11 per cent – so it could certainly pay to choose the right decor.