5 ways your office can be better

Most of us in the workplace take for granted the things in the office that just happen without us worrying about it. I’m talking about the bathroom always stocked with soap and the printer never running out of ink. As employees, we don’t think about what would happen to company culture if one of these things didn’t get done. I would suspect that it wouldn’t take long for people to start complaining at the water cooler.There is a reason these things aren’t considered to affect company culture because we expect it. Here are 5 ideas that can help keep employees focused on building, thinking and selling:

5: Supplies are order automatically

‍The internet of things movement promised that our refrigerators would tweet at us when the milk went bad. The practical result of this thinking is your equipment (printer, coffee maker, etc) can know when supplies are low and order replacements automatically. This keeps the company running smoothly without fear of running out of paper before the big presentation.

4: Target important messages to specific people

‍We are all guilty of sending an email when a simple face-to-face conversation would have been easier. Email has become the go-to when we have a company announcement to broadcast. The problem is Jerry in accounting is on a diet and would prefer to not know when pizza is in the break room. Personalized Digital Signage powered by Robin can tailor content for a specific person, team or department. It can even allow employees to “subscribe” to channels that match a person's  interests. An idea like this could help make the workplace more efficient by displaying things like familiar faces nearby, alerts from the day, events going on, new wifi passwords, etc.

‍3: Office powers down when the last person leaves

‍The rule at many small companies is that it’s the responsibility of the last person in the office to turn off the lights and make sure the door is locked. This works great until someone forgets; costing the company money in electricity and possibility of stolen property. Imagine as the last person closes the door, the office understands the place is empty based on sensors and the time of day. It begins to turn off the lights, lock the doors and keep HVAC at an efficient level. Even better, because all this is connected to the internet, it could offer the ability for the Operation Director to login from his home to check to make sure everything is safe.

2: Is the bathroom free or not?

‍Not something every office needs, but as companies grow to big for their space, the bathroom usage increases. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a light sensor that told people when the bathroom was free? Something like this is a simple way to increase productivity.

1: Set the room temperature on preferences

‍There is always one or two people in the office that seem to operate colder than everyone else. This usually means fighting over where the temperature is set. Using a web dashboard and a Nest thermostat, you could avoid problems like this. Employees would set their temperature preferences on rooms available in the office. People who want it more warm gather at one side while the people who prefer it cold, huddle on the other side. Everyone wins.

Take care of the little things and employee will be happier.