In the business world, first impressions are everything. And just as being dressed in a well-fitted, eye-catching suit is important, so is having a clean and tidy office. Both can have an equal effect on your reputation and can make or break the success of your company. At the least, it can negatively affect how your future partners or clients think of your company.
Not only is having a clean office important for the welfare of your employees (especially during the ongoing pandemic), it can help create a professional atmosphere and create the confidence you need to create new business relationships.
There are many moving parts behind every successful business, and while cleaning is a small cog in it, it is very essential and shouldn’t be overlooked. We spoke to the experts at Cal Office Cleaning to learn how you can tidy up your business space and here’s what we learned.
Make Sure It Smells Nice
Your business office should always smell clean. Our sense of smell is one of the most refined senses we have, and having your office smell unpleasant will instantly leave a bad impression as visitors will experience the smell before they even properly see the space.
When your office has a lot of staff, it can be difficult to stay ahead of everything since this is the place where they live for the most of the day. But having a cleaning schedule in place will make sure the smell of your office is never so bad as to leave a bad first impression.
Make sure you stay away from strong air fresheners and cleaning products, as overpowering smells can also be heavy on the senses. The area where employees prepare food and eat must be regularly cleaned, several times a day. Finally, emptying the trash at the end of every work day is absolutely mandatory.
Freshen Up The Carpets
Another thing that can make a huge impact on the look and feel of your office are stained, old and dirty carpets. You might not notice that right off the bat, but neglected carpets tend to produce foul smells and make your office feel messy even if the rest of it is in top shape.
Make sure your office carpets are vacuumed daily or as frequently as possible. You should also have them regularly washed based on how much traffic your office sees. Not only will they look and smell better, they will benefit your employees’ health.
Get Rid Of The Clutter
This is easily one of the hardest things to get in control in an office space. Old boxes, piles of papers and scattered office items are a grim reality for many workplaces and having them kept in check seems nearly impossible.
Coincidentally, the clutter is what most of your visitors will notice first as soon as they enter the workplace. On the other hand, you and your employees might be perfectly used to it seeing how you spend most of your time there every day and have learned to ignore it.
Clutter might make it seem like you are unorganized and may affect the confidence your partners or clients can have. The last thing you want is to have the clutter cost you a good business deal, so here are just some things you can try to keep the clutter in check:
- Get rid of any paperwork that is no longer needed.
- Consider switching to digital documents as much as possible. Not only will it eliminate the clutter, it is much healthier for the environment.
- Provide enough storage for necessary paperwork and encourage your employees to store it there.
- Make sure to have the office supplies stay at one place, and not move from desk to desk. This will make it easier to keep them in check.
- Use labels to create a designated space for office items and have your employees leave the items where they found them, in the space designated for them.