CC0 Licensed Image Courtesy of Pexels
An office renovation can be severely disruptive to your productivity. But you can minimize this with some forward planning. Here are some tips for keeping your staff on board and on point.
Keep Essential Utilities Available
Some areas of the office will be inaccessible when renovation work is going on. However, you must always make sure your employees can access essential facilities such as somewhere to prepare food, safety stations, and washrooms. But sometimes, these might be blocked, so alternatives are needed. If need be, you can hire a commercial plumber service to designate a temporary area for off-site restrooms or reroute water and waste facilities for temporary use.
Tell Your Staff What to Expect
Any change at work can make people nervous, especially if they don't know how it will affect them. Giving your staff plans, drawings, and sample boards is a good way to spread the word and put their minds at ease. Making physical mock-ups can also give the staff a chance to try out the proposed design. And giving tours and updates to staff during construction can help them feel like they are in the know as the work to make the office better moves forward.
Use a Reputable Contractor for an Office Renovation
When doing a renovation, it's better to hire a team with experience and a good name. This is because you might not know about some building rules and regulations. And the kind of builders you need will depend on how you want to change things. Request references or examples of past work to avoid being let down. Then you'll need to work with your contractors to come up with an accurate budget, details about how things are going, and other important information.
Plan When Renovations Will Take Place
The more time you give yourself to plan an office renovation, the smoother it will be to do. A typical plan to fix up your office should start about one and a half years before your lease is up. You can never start too early, though. And if you know you must complete something, you should always start early, so you don't have to rush. If you don't, you might have to make quick decisions that lead to an outcome you don't want or isn't right or one that costs more money.
Prioritize Employee Welfare
At the end of a renovation project, the space should be as close as possible to perfect for working. For instance, you need a place where employees feel safe and can do their jobs well. So, try to think about all the extra stress and any possible health risks, like those from dust and debris. Your staff can carry on working from the same office buildings, away from the area that is being fixed up. But it will also work well to offer work-from-home opportunities if they aren't safe.
Summary
Getting through an office renovation can be trying. However, you must provide access to water, use a reputable contractor for the best service, and always guarantee employee safety at work.