With over two decades of experience looking after the buildings of our clients, we know what maintenance best practices will help keep your business running smoothly. Here are 7 up-to-date office maintenance tips to take with you into 2025.
1. Clean on a Regular Basis
Keep your offices clean and healthy! There are many great reasons to keep your offices clean but consider how a clutter-free and more pleasant environment will help things run smoother. If you regularly clean floors, surfaces, and common areas, it’ll be a much more inviting and productive for your staff.
Choose the right cleaning equipment and consider hiring a professional cleaning service for regular cleans. This ensures a consistently tidy and sanitary work environment for the well-being of everyone in the office.
Commercial premises are better off with equipment like microfiber mops, which use fewer or no chemicals at all than regular mops, and professional carpet cleaning equipment. The idea is that commercial spaces have a higher standard of hygiene than a home, but much harsher restrictions.
Whether you opt for a cleaning crew or hire a professional cleaning services, the more regular the office is cleaned the better. Keep bins empty and surfaces free of stains. A checklist should be used to make sure the same areas are cleaned every time, and nothing is left behind. It’s no easy task, but it’s worthwhile for a much friendlier environment.
Here are 7 cleaning tips for offices in 2024.
2. Choose the Right Lighting
While we’re on the subject of keeping your people happy and product, you need the right lighting for work environments. It’s generally understood that proper lighting is better for engagement, for example sunlight produces serotonin, which contributes to focus and mood.
With this in mind, when choosing lighting, go for bulbs that mimic this sunlight. Bulbs that have a light temperature of 4000K – 5000K is used in workspaces to increase focus without being harsh on the eyes.
Lighting being implemented correctly is crucial for a good office environment. Adapt it towards what employees need, and make sure it’s neither too bright or too dark.
Replace bulbs as soon as they go out and don’t darken the office by covering windows. Darkness forces our brain to produce melatonin, which makes employees feel sleepy, even if it’s in the middle of the day.
Remember: when choosing your bulbs,LED lights use 90% less electricity than filaments and last longer, so your bills will be lighter!
3. Modernise and Refurbish Your Office
To give the whole office a new look might be expensive, but it does wonder to inject some new live into your working environment. Keep in mind that dealing with a large quantity to recycle or rubbish will require expert assistance to reduce stress and minimize the waste of time.
Some simple refurbishment tips are:
- Re-think and re-organize your office.
- How can you get more open areas and more light for your staff?
- Does tech need replacing? Slow computers lead to slow work output and frustrated staff.
- Introduce procedure for keeping your office tech clean and maintained.
- Use a survey or other feedback tool to get regular feedback from staff.
Also consider if darker and more unpleasant areas in the office could do with a repaint. Warm paint, like yellow and orange colours, are considered as “happy colours” and could increase productivity. Or keep things simple and neutral with white paint, although too much can be seen as plain and dull. Break it up with your company colours to keep things pleasant and on brand for visitors.
Think of other decoration changes that might refresh your office!
4. Don't Ignore small problems
Tackle issues as they arise, as you don’t know what will escalate out of control. Whether it’s a flickering lightbulb, strange sounds for the air con, or an unusual taste to the water, don’t ignore anything out of the ordinary.
It might be easier to ignore small problems, but sometimes these issues can snowball into expensive problems. Don't allow anything out of the ordinary to turn into tomorrow’s disaster. The best practice is to address problems when they are easier – and cheaper - to deal with.
Our use of KPIs in our facilities management bespoke contracts, helps juggle all the little and big issues that can pop up for companies.
5. Keep Up With Safety Checks
To be compliant and to protect your staff, test fire alarms and extinguishers on a regular basis. Conduct fire drills with employees to ensure they know what to do in an emergency.
Carry out safety inspections around the office for potential safety hazards. Remove obstacles, secure loose cables, and ensure emergency exits are clear and accessible.
It’s a good idea to create a facilities maintenance checklist for each area of your building. This can be a big hassle to take on board, especially if you’re a smaller company. Employ the use of a facilities management specialist to take care of this headache for you.
6. Keep your office at the right temperature
We understand warmer temperatures contribute to an increase in analytical thinking. Whilst the cooler degrees, make us more alert and are ideal for creative tasks.
Кeep the office temperature between 17 and 24°C. Remember to keep thermostats in sync with the season,.
Since smart thermostats have an automated climate control so consider upgrading your current air control technology. To save time and effort, run and monitor via an app.
The cost of your power drops if your HVAC system distributes air conditioning the right way.
7. How to Keep Air Quality Great in Your Office
The most simple and effective tip is to open the windows. Electronics and dust affect the quality of air in your office, keep it ventilated for the comfort of your staff and visitors.
Yet, winter might not allow you to keep windows open but make sure that your air vents are in good working condition. Here’s three quick tips for keeping air quality clean in your office:
- Don’t block the vents with large items.
- Schedule technical inspections once every quarter.
- Use fans if you’d like to have efficient airflow unless office temperatures are in the lows.
In summary the best approach is for well maintained air conditioning.
Conclusion
There are lot of spinning plates to keeping your office well maintained, these 7 tips don’t even scratch the surface of office maintenance.
A good facilities management plan by a reliable facilities management provider is best step you can take for your business.
Rejus Ltd. are proud to have over two decades of experience in taking care of buildings for our customers, so they can take care of their businesses. Get in touch today for a bespoke maintenance plan to suit you.