Last Updated on April 25, 2024 by Hanson Cheng
When setting up the workspace of a small business, certain pieces of equipment immediately spring to mind. Namely, computers, furniture and a decent telephone system.
However, in addition to these crucial items, some functional pieces of equipment are easy to forget. Yet, they can play just as important a part in the smooth running of your daily operation.
In this post, we’ll showcase a selection of these peripheral items and outline the value they might bring to your organisation. If you decide to incorporate them into your office space, they should be well worth their expense.
Storage Equipment
When setting up your workspace, storage equipment might not be the first thing you think about. However, they still play a vital role, given that many Australian companies are still unsure about whether they should go paperless or not. Particularly for compliance reasons.
Storage equipment comes in many forms including folders, USB flash disks and external hard drives and they help businesses to keep their paperwork separate, straightforward to retrieve and organised.
If you do use storage folders to archive documents, make sure you label the outside of them clearly. Additionally, when saving documents to a USB flash disk it is worthwhile having the original document intact as a backup.
External hard drives can also be useful for a small business as they can provide it with extra storage space to utilise on any computer.
Laptop Charger Cabinets
Between you and your employees, if your business uses several laptops, you will need to keep them safe and charged overnight.
One way to do this is via laptop charger cabinets which perform both of these functions equally well. They come in all shapes and sizes and, as they are lockable are very secure.
You can find out more about them here.
Creative and Collaboration Tools
Creative and collaboration tools help foster creativity and connection, so they are very important pieces of functional equipment for any office.
As well as online tools like ProofHub or Trello, physical items such as whiteboards, bulletin boards, television screens and projectors are useful. They make it easier to develop and share ideas, train staff and present to potential clients.
Additionally, they can also be easily transported to different rooms and are a much more environmentally friendly alternative to paper.
The beauty of creative and collaboration tools is that they can inspire and motivate staff to be more effective and creative in the roles they perform for your company.
Recycling and Office Waste Tools
An increasing number of businesses are becoming more conscious about their carbon footprint. One of the best ways they can reduce it is to embrace any of the recycling and office waste tools that are now available.
Recycling bins are an obvious starting point as they not only keep the office environment tidy but also reduce the amount of rubbish that gets sent to landfills. Additionally, paper shredders make it easy to destroy customer reports, data or other confidential documents more responsibly.
Air Conditioning and Heating System
When kitting out your office space it is very easy to forget about the air conditioning and heating system. However, these are crucial pieces of functional equipment every office needs to consider.
If employees feel too hot or cold they will find it harder to concentrate and therefore, their productivity levels will start to drop. In turn, this could lead to a decrease in morale and even staff wanting to leave your company due to the working conditions.
Kitchen Supplies
Just like the kitchen is considered the heart of the home, you could argue the kitchen is the heart of the office too. Therefore, you and your employees must have access to a range of equipment that can keep them nourished and hydrated.
Possibly the most important kitchen item to have is a decent coffee machine. Coffee runs are part and parcel of every office environment. However, they can result in an incredible amount of lost productivity.
According to a survey that Nespresso commissioned, about 1.3 million hours of work are lost every year in Australia due to staff going on coffee runs – the average approximate time of each is 11 minutes.
As well as a decent coffee machine, you will also need a water dispenser, microwave, and fridge as a bare minimum.