Selecting Office Furniture For Your Work Place
When deciding on office furniture, you will need to consider the equipment that will be used on a daily basis, the staff, and the type of business.
The office of a dentist or doctor uses a reception area to greet the patients. The receptionist usually has her desk in the front of the office, a computer to see patient information and book their appointments, as well as a phone to answer. She needs a task chair, and a desk or work place designed for a computer. Files are needed for each patient record, and they can be stored either in a filing drawer system, or along the walls. The file clerk will need some counter space to sort them out and alphabetize them for filing.
The dentist or doctor has rooms for his patients, but he will also need his own office. He will have a phone with an intercom system for paging him, room on the side of his desk for personal files, and some additional shelving, or a book shelf for reference books and leaflets.
If the office is for boiler room type telemarketing, each of the staff will have their own desk, with or without a partition. If they need to look up or input information into a computer, each will have a desk and computer for this purpose. Since they will be on the phone a lot of the time, the phones on the desks should be in a convenient corner, and there should be a place to take notes also.
For a printing and publishing establishment, drafting tables may be used. Huge sheets of paper are coded and examined, so large work areas are needed. They also use computers to look at and approve work, and they need counter space, too. Sales offices, as well as insurance and real estate offices usually have partitions for the staff. They have computers, phones, and other equipment that they may even share. That is because these professionals are sometimes working out in the field, and they come back to the office periodically to check their emails, and so forth.
Designing the office before the furniture is purchased is key. This will let you know if individuals may share equipment, such as a printer, or if someone may need a separate one for a certain position. A color printer may also be needed.
The boss will also need an office, and with a certain amount of privacy. He needs to be able to store confidential information in his office, and yet he needs to be able to relate to his staff. He has to be apart from the rest, and yet close enough to communicate with them.
Using ergonomic chairs will make your staff more comfortable. They are there all day, either sitting most of the day, or standing. They need to feel that their backs and necks are being taken care of. The staff member that will be typing for most of the day needs to have a work place that will not send her to the chiropractor, or worse. And when they are comfortable they will produce more quality work. Buying office furniture does not need to cost a fortune, but certain items should be considered, because comfort and production go hand in hand.