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The Flevy Blog covers Business Strategies, Business Theories, & Business Stories.
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Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, 5S for the Office (190-slide PowerPoint presentation). The office, by any name, is a paperwork factory. To become a Lean enterprise, office activities must fully support shop-floor manufacturing operations to eliminate waste. The adoption of 5S throughout all office functions is the first step to increase efficiency. 5S principles are dedicated to [read more]
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In our pursuit of digital transformation, we focus on optimizing our workflows for remote teams, analyzing cloud costs, and evaluating enterprise software for new process improvements.
But we are a physical, desk-based organization, and our desks, filing cabinets, and office boxes profoundly impact our thinking as leaders.
The physical space around us is something we typically become aware of only when it becomes a major problem – we get so used to the background noise that it becomes invisible.
Disorganized physical workspaces impose a significant cognitive burden on executives and managers alike.
Even minor amounts of physical clutter, including every stray paper, unfiled report, and worn-out item of equipment, compete for their brain’s attention.
How much mental energy do you lose every day staring at your cluttered workspace?
To lead effectively, one needs to understand the psychology of the workspace one leads.
To create an effective workspace, one must strip it of physical noise that hinders productivity. That’s it.
Studies have shown that, for the most part, our brains are constantly processing our environment.
This means that while we’re working at our desks, our brains are constantly scanning the surrounding space for anything out of place.
That means stacks of old documents, unorganized boxes, and so on. Your visual cortex is trying to filter it all out so you can focus on your work.
And, it’s a drain on your mental energy. Think of it like the constant hum of a laptop in the background of a movie. It’s there, and it’s wearing on you.
The constant need to filter out distractions throughout the day at work to stay on track can, in the end, make one tired.
The result is that the typical 8-hour workday can leave someone feeling fatigued by the end of the second day.
This, in turn, could affect a manager’s ability to make complex strategic decisions about the running of their organization.
It is normal for any person to tire when performing repetitive tasks that demand a great deal of mental effort, such as making many decisions throughout the day, which is where the term ‘decision fatigue’ comes into play.
But does it have to be this way?
A clean space is key to promoting a structured way of thinking.
When you have a tidy workspace, your mind can slow down and make more informed decisions, as it thinks more clearly and logically.
A clear desk leads to a clear mind.
Many organizations indeed retain historical data, such as financial audits and client documents, for extended periods.
And for good reason: often, such documents are required by law for compliance purposes.
So, supporting a minimalist workspace would mean throwing away ten years of financial audits and other highly sensitive client files.
That’s just not to mention the organizational and operational headaches that would result from the need to retrieve and review such information stored haphazardly throughout the office.
In many offices, physical records – old or no longer needed – pile up in a messy attempt to meet compliance, historical reference, and ongoing work filing requirements.
Often, this amounts to an inability to get rid of excess material in favor of what’s nice to look at in their office space.
So, how can this legacy of paperwork be preserved whilst also clearing space and reducing distractions to enhance productivity?
Strategic management of physical assets is one of the key ways to do this.
This involves ensuring that records required to be kept are properly managed and stored, often at a task suited to a secure, professional storage facility, such as https://corodata.com/.
It changes everything.
Remitting physical records that your team needs to refer to regularly to a secure storage facility off-site means that you have been able to transform the physical space in your office back to its intended use of a hub or nexus of collaboration where your team can conduct Deep Work and create new innovative solutions to problems your company faces.
Once you’ve reclaimed space from the physical backlog, it’s time to think about designing your workspace to support Deep Work.
Don’t think you need to rip out the whole office to make changes here. In fact, with a few simple decisions, you can create a workplace that’s conducive to focus.
To begin with, one can implement a “clean desk policy” at the end of each workday by allocating 5 minutes or so to return the area where one works to its original state of order – to put away such things as notebooks and active files and to dispose of used coffee cups and the like.
The knowledge that one returns to a clean space each morning will be of great value to the mind at the start of the workday, as it affords a fresh start to the day’s work and projects.
So, where should you actually begin?
Next, make sure to keep your workspace and where you store your compliance papers and data separate.
This will help you keep your work organized.
If you do have to refer to files regularly, by storing them in a closed cabinet rather than on your work surface in open boxes and files, you will be able to keep them out of the way while still being able to refer to them as needed.
Lastly, when considering the physical workspace, all of the sensory components must be addressed.
Does your office have adequate natural light?
Are there adequate sitting areas, and are they comfortable? Is there proper ventilation in the office to avoid the stench of burned coffee and stale air that can plague a cramped office space?
Your physical workspace should be a place to work that does not hinder your focus or wear you down.
Leading a workspace of well-organized, productive physical spaces is better for company leaders and the teams they report to.
Help your teams audit and clean their workspaces quarterly.
Allow them the time and resources to properly archive documents, dispose of unnecessary items, and recycle materials when possible.
A well-organized workspace enables clear communication and leads to better collaboration among team members.
We spend most of our lives at work.
The physical space in which we work is a critical component of our success and high performance.
The space should be optimized and respected just as much as we optimize and respect our digital tools by clearing out the physical noise, storing vital history externally, and creating a space to execute great strategy at work.
You can download in-depth presentations on 5S and 100s of management topics from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.
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