Changing Office Furniture? Go Modular.
Choosing the right furniture for your office space is not only important but essential for the success of your company. Why? Because the right office furniture ensures the comfort of your staff and encourages their productivity. But when you have to balance the different needs and preferences of your staff with your organization’s goals and image, what type of office furniture should you choose? We suggest modular office furniture. Here are a few reasons why:
By definition, modular office furniture is actually pre-made furniture units, including desks, chairs, storage cabinets, workstation units and wall partitions that can be combined and arranged in different configurations to furnish an office or establish a workspace. Much like the pieces of a puzzle, the modular office furniture units may vary in shape and size, however they are made in such a way that any combination of the pieces can be put together to create a unique and private work space for each individual employee, establish a collaborative team environment, or both (i.e. a collaborative team environment while respecting the individual workspace needed for your people to work optimally )—whatever is needed to get the most out of your employees and meet your organizational goals. In addition, some units can be designed to be ergonomically friendly. Talk about getting the best of both worlds!
Another reason why we recommend modular office furniture is because of its flexibility and adaptability to the actual office space and, of course, mobility if that office space changes. In other words, a set of modular office furniture units, particularly workstations, can be arranged one way for closed-in office space, and re-arranged another way in an open area — each arrangement optimizing the use of the workspace at hand.
A third reason for recommending modular office furniture is that it can be budget friendly. Modular units range from inexpensive cubicle units to more expensive executive furniture units. The furniture pieces purchased can be limited to the pieces needed to create an optimal workspace for your employees in order to stay within any budget constraints. Additional pieces can be added at a later date if your budget permits and the need arises.
A fourth reason for recommending modular office furniture is that it is environmentally friendly. Many modular office furniture units are made out of recycled materials. You would know by the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification stamp found on each unit.
Finally, in general, they are made to last! There are very few cases where a modular unit would need to be replaced or repaired due to damage.
Flexibility, adaptability, cost-effectiveness, environment friendliness and durability, plus no compromise on professional looks—all good reasons why modular office furniture should be your organization’s first choice for furnishing an office space.
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Don’t Be Fooled-DIY Office Renos and Office Moves Can Add to Your Operational Expenses
Ok. So your business needs to undergo some form of physical change to remain competitive in its market –maybe an office “facelift” or maybe an expansion into a new office. Whatever your decision, you know you don’t want to incur too many additional expenses to have your office renovated or moved. You decide that you and your employees will be able to do the work on your own with little, if any, external help.
At first glance this might seem like a viable option. After all, your expenditures wouldn’t go to interior designers or consultants, and if moving, you may only need to rent a truck especially if your staff does all the packing. Big savings, right?
Wrong. You may not realize it, but DIY office renovations and office moves can actually add hidden costs to your operational expenses.
How? Glad you asked.
First, let’s consider the term “operational expenses”. By definition, operational expenses are “day-to-day expenses incurred in the normal course of business”1. In other words, operational expenses are the moneys spent to keep your business functioning each day, every day. This includes materials as well as labour costs. While DIY office renovations or moves may not have a direct affect on some operational expenses, they would have a direct effect on others. For this blog, let’s focus on the effect on labour.
According to Statistics Canada, the average hourly labour wage for in August 2013 is $23.86 per person2. Based on a 40-hour week, that translates into an operating expense of $954.40/person/week. Multiply that by the number of staff you have in your company and you have your weekly operational expense for the labour category. (For the sake of the chart below, let’s assume a staff of 150 people) You pay those staff to do particular jobs that propel the functioning of your company. Imagine taking those same staff and redirecting their attention to fulfill office renovation or move tasks. Your physical operational expense for labour will not change, but the time taken away from your staff to do the job(s) you originally hired them to do add at least one hidden cost—the cost of their jobs not getting done! This may lead to
- Your overall business operations being placed on hold
- Delays in production or project completion
- Missed business opportunities (new and recurring)
- Loss of business to your competition
- Increased risk of consumer or stakeholder dissatisfaction
- Overworked staff
Place a dollar value on each of the above and sum it up. You may find that the total hidden cost of DIY office renovation or move adds up to millions, maybe even billions of dollars—at least 10 times the cost of hiring a space planning and relocation specialist firm to do the full job for you.
So do your business a favour. Don’t risk adding hidden costs to your operational expenses in the face of an office renovation or move. Instead take time to contact a space planning and relocation specialist in your area and have them do the job. It will actually save you time and money.
References:
1 Investing Answers Financial Dictionary, “Operating Expense”, http://www.investinganswers.com/financial-dictionary/financial-statement-analysis/operating-expense-2792
2 Statistics Canada, “Average hourly wages of employees by selected characteristics and occupation, unadjusted data, by province (monthly)”, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/labr69a-eng.htm
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5 Tips to Stay Productive During a Corporate Relocation
On Monday we offered a few tips to help your staff stay productive during a corporate relocation. Today we will focus on tips to ensure that you remain on top of things during the office relocation process.
During an office relocation, it is almost inevitable that a business owner or manager will face a bump or two in everyday routine. The question is how to address and minimize the potential for a standstill – that period when business won’t seem to be able to operate as usual? Christopher Elliott of Microsoft has a few tips on how to best remain productive during an office relocation.
1. Make the actual move at the best time.
Identify where the downtime of your business is, so you can minimize the impact of the move on your clients and customers. Before you make the move, know where the local-area network, PCs, printers, and wireless networks are, so you can get right to work when you absolutely have to.
2. Expect the unexpected.
A client or customer might suddenly request a copy of an important file, or arrange for a special transaction. Be ready for any business-related concerns that might suddenly crop up during the move.
3. Upgrade.
It’s time to let go of outdated software and PCs in favor of faster, more updated ones. Office relocation is a time for you to upgrade. Another tip is for you to use laptop computers as your office tools in the meantime, before you settle into the new office.
4. Make room for downtime.
You are smart to notify your clients, associates, and other stakeholders in advance of the move that there might be a lag in correspondence. If any unexpected issues come up that won’t be addressed until after a few hours after the fact, you won’t have to explain over and over again every time a client asks you what the problem is.
5. Move your applications.
Fortunately, this is a lot easier now, regardless if you’re on Mac or Windows. In fact, you might also want to consider cloud computing. There are several applications that will give you a much easier time moving your files and applications from hardware to hardware.
Read Christopher Elliot’s full article here.
Tips to Stay Productive During a Corporate Relocation
For many companies, the fear that productivity will come to a standstill during a corporate relocation is enough to make them shy away from deciding to undergo the big move, regardless of how beneficial it might be in the long run. This is a valid concern. It is, after all, a common experience shared among companies who endured the daunting office relocation process by themselves or faced it with an ill-experienced corporate moving company. We’ve all heard the horror stories of corporate renovations and relocations that went over budget and well past the expected timeline. But this doesn’t have to happen to you.
At D.J. McGauley & Associates, we’ve been successful in helping our clients move to their new office without putting the productivity of management and/or staff at stake. Here are just a few tips for keeping your company running at an efficient pace while undergoing a corporate relocation.
Timing is everything. Even the most experienced corporate movers may forget this in their haste to finish the move as fast as possible. But it’s not only about how fast the move is, it’s also about how strategic it should be. We’ll find the best time in terms of efficiency and speed for you to move into your new location.
Consider telecommuting. If the job function is operational and ministerial—meaning it doesn’t require collaboration and can be done on a computer—then you might want to let employees perform their work from home. If you’re not sure if this will work, you can experiment. Do a couple of test runs with your employees – once a week, perhaps. Set clear ground rules and expectations. Many companies that offer telecommuting options will hold set daily meetings over Skype or other remote conferencing platforms.
Set up temporary work stations. Some corporate movers think their job starts and ends with the moving. At D.J. McGauley & Associates, we think your business is as much of our concern as your move is. After all, what’s the use of a bright, shiny new office if you lose your valued clients along the way? If what it takes to keep your productivity at an all time high is to put up temporary work stations, then we’ll help you set one up.
Keep everyone informed. Sometimes it’s easy to forget to bring those who are not directly involved in the corporate moving process into the loop. To keep people’s minds off the move, however, it’s important that they stay informed. Time spent fearing the unknown will occupy much of an employee’s time and end up distracting even the most focused staff member.
These are just a few tips to get you on your way to a productive and efficient corporate relocation. Moving your office doesn’t mean that you should put a hold on your office activities. We’ll do what it takes to make sure you stay at the top of your game. Call us for more tips, advice and free corporate relocation quotes.
The Lowdown on Modern Office Design on a Limited Budget
As many companies try to balance the costs of their corporate relocation, office design often takes a back seat to other priorities and a strict budget. At D.J. McGauley & Associates, we understand that the expenses of a corporate relocation can easily balloon up to disproportionate heights, so we make it a point to give fair prices and helpful budget breakdowns without sacrificing the quality and efficiency of your move or your newly designed office space.
In our years of experience, we have nailed down the best and ways to make your office space design both modern and practical. Here are just a few tips and tricks:
Go for bold accents. Offices with neutral colors are a thing of the past. Choose office furniture and even office supplies in bold colors, with the psychology of color in mind. Purple means success, green represents renewal, yellow signifies warmth, and so on. Why settle for drab and boring when you can go for exciting color accents that make your office stand out?
Go clean and professional. If bold colors do not suit your corporate image, you will likely choose to stick to monochrome. This can be accomplished without inducing a sterile or boring “feel” simply by choosing paint and purchasing office furniture from gradients within the same color block—from walls to computers to chairs. For example, a neutral grey selection – from charcoal to a light grey with a slight tinge of blue. Then add accent pieces in black or white. This scheme will make your office look clean and high-profile without any dullness.
Decorate the office. It doesn’t have to be all work, now does it? Skip the overdone inspirational posters and instead display some great art work in the office, and you’d get some heads nodding in approval. Keep in mind that fewer large pieces almost always make a bigger visual impact than many smaller pieces placed on every available wall surface.
Is most of your business local? Make sure to do some research to find a new and upcoming local artist.
Go for partitions that free up space. There are many partitions of different styles that will give the impression that there’s bigger space in the office than there actually is, without sacrificing privacy. Luckily for you, we have the ability to secure office partitions, office equipment and systems furniture to fit virtually any budget!
Should You Buy New Office Furniture During a Corporate Move?
During a corporate relocation, you will inevitably ask the question: should you buy new office furniture? Many companies undergoing a corporate relocation will choose to purchase entirely new systems office furniture, while others will hang on to as many pieces as possible. Which decision is right for your company? Here are a couple arguments for and against purchasing new office furniture during an office move.
Keeping the old…
- Cost Savings
What do you hate most about the office furniture you have? Will it simply not work in the new space or are you just searching for a new look and feel? It can sometimes be more cost effective to renew instead of replace those worn out or squeaky chairs. If certain pieces can still be freshened up by having them reupholstered and refinished, you get the best of both worlds while saving money along the process.
- You can get LEED points by repairing your furniture
LEED certification gives credits for waste management, recycled content, and materials reuse. You can also get additional credit if you use pieces with lower VOC emissions. If you’re serious about getting LEED-certified—and it’s long been proven that having LEED certification is good for business—then you might want to hold on to your furniture during your corporate relocation.
Bring in the new…
- Ergonomics
If the office chairs have seen their years and simply aren’t good for the spine or resting of the arms, etc., then you’re putting the productivity of your employees and, ultimately, the profitability of your company at stake. Invest in your employees’ health by buying new office furniture while also investing in your company’s net worth.
- You need a new look now
If you’re moving into a new office with bold colors and a chic design, your old, dated furniture might ruin the entire look you’re going for. If you need a new look and do not have the time to refurbish, or if no amount of work will hide the old-fashioned bones of the furniture, new and contemporary furniture might be exactly what you need to complete the look of your new office.
GTA vs. Downtown: The Better Choice for Your Office Space Relocation
Planning to move into a new office space in either Downtown Toronto or the outskirts of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)?
Moving into either location is a crucial decision that will not only affect your pool of customers or the clients that you will attract, but also the employees that will be working for you. In recent years, several developments have taken place that you should factor in when weighing your decision.
Toronto Downtown
According to a recent report by TD Bank, Toronto downtown’s population has more than tripled in the last five years. Echo Boomers, those who were born between 1972 and 1992, are largely responsible for this. The Echo Boomers comprise the new young generation—aspiring, energetic, and highly educated. If you are looking for a labor pool with talented and skilled people, downtown seems like an easy answer.
But take note: this will not necessarily be the trend in the next decade or so. After all, the Echo Boomers are a product of their parents who chose to leave downtown back in the 70s to buy homes in the suburbs. It’s too early to say that the Echo Boomers will stay once they hit late adulthood or old age.
Toronto downtown is quickly turning into a world-class city, and the development in its infrastructure, public facilities, and other services has never been this fast.
Greater Toronto Area
While Toronto Downtown is on its way to establishing its status as a booming industrial location, GTA has well established itself as such. Currently, it holds over 200 million square feet of office space—much more office space than Toronto Downtown, although of course most of this has already been filled by offices.
The population in GTA is much larger and more diverse. It is growing by more than one million each decade, and promises more jobs in the next few years as office development is one of the major thrusts of the area.
If there’s any problem, perhaps it is the public transportation system. Employees have been grumbling about poor transportation and twisted highways.
Verdict
Either area has its highlights. If you want a more stable area that will more or less retain its demographics in the next few years, GTA seems like the smarter choice. But you shouldn’t dismiss the clear advantage of Toronto Downtown. Big companies like Google Inc and Coca-cola are relocating offices into the area for a reason, and the brightest young minds are moving into the area. Can you afford to stay away from the place everyone is clearly talking about?
Corporate Space Planning & Relocation Advice 