This post has been contributed.
Between smart apps, smartphones and smart data, it seems impossible to imagine a business environment without the extra smart touch. However, most business owners tend to waste too much time and money on the wrong type of smart tools and items.The latest IT gear is nice, but it doesn’t bring much if your business costs are still handicapped by outdated structures and mindsets. As a result, more and more entrepreneurs are turning to smart cost-saving ideas, to make the most of modern technology within the business world. From outsourcing to using renewable energy, there are a lot of smart cost-saving strategies to keep your budget out of the red – and your accountant happy. The latest move in terms of smart strategies is entirely focused on smart offices: How to make offices work better for the team, and for the budget too. This is exactly what we are going to discuss here.
Cost-Efficient Buildings
The addition of solar panels for renewable energy is a nice move. However, if you are looking at energy-efficient buildings, steel buildings such as Armstrong Steel buildings BBB endorsed, are not only easy to set up – you can build your next office yourself – but they are also extremely energy-efficient. Steel buildings are renowned for keeping the heat inside in winter, and the cool in summer, which makes them an ideal partner to save on your heating and cooling costs. If you are looking at ways to generate low energy bills, combining green renewables and metal buildings seems like a match made in heaven.
Going Paperless
One of the highest office costs relates to printing. Whether it is emails, presentations, contracts or interesting articles, each office has to face a lot of printing every day. Unfortunately, going paperless is more than deciding not to click on the print button. It is a complete change of mentality. A paperless office starts with training your staff and your suppliers to your new processes. From your employees’ perspective, this means that you not only should track the number of pages printed per person, but you should also facilitate digital processes so that nobody needs to print anymore. A simple gesture, such as giving everyone in your team a second monitor can only reduce the temptation to print. Using collaborative online tools, such as Google Drive, can also help to keep everyone updated in the digital world.
The Office That Makes Companies More Intelligent
Finally, what is a smart office for if it doesn’t make your employees’ life easier? Redesigning the work space to match your employees’ needs can improve productivity and lower costs. For example, one of the biggest problems in productivity is the need to organize meetings. If a meeting room is not suitable for its purpose, for example, if your meeting room accommodates 20 people but is generally booked only for small parties of 2 to 5 persons, then there’s a problem of inefficiently matching the space to the needs of your staff. Understanding how employees use the office is key to provide the right technology and the appropriate room, without creating any waste.