If you want your employees to work efficiently, you should provide them with all of the necessary office equipment, such as pens, post-its and envelopes. What constitutes the office basics will depend on the sort of work your company performs, however, there is one thing which all industries have in common – ordering procedures. How should one create them and what are the office basics?
What office equipment do your employees need?
The office equipment at your workplace will enhance employee productivity and have a positive influence on the image of the business. The basics which any office cannot do without are: arts and crafts stationery, board and display equipment, desk equipment, diaries and organisers, electronics, envelopes, file storage and archiving solutions, labels, office machines, office paper products, pads and books, paper, teaching and writing supplies, furniture.
- Office equipment on your desk
Imagine an employee sitting at their desk, trying to fulfill their daily tasks. What desk supplies for the office do they need? Firstly, a wide range of writing equipment, e.g. ballpoint or fineliner pens, correction fluid, highlighters, pencils, memo pads, post-its to take notes quickly, diaries and planners to prepare to-do lists, paper clips for document control, hole punches to make document storage preparation easier.
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- Office Paper Products
No office may operate without office paper products, used to copy or print documents – provide your employees with good quality copy paper or self print products, and to create badges or business cards on the spot. Businesses cannot function without some business and accounting forms, to issue invoices or bills, prepare orders or keep track of deliveries.
- Board and display equipment
Whether you work on projects with your team or train your staff, you cannot survive without a flipchart or a whiteboard. You should remember to order some extra flipchart pads, marker pens and whiteboard cleaners so that nothing stops you from sharing your ideas with your team.
Do not process the order until it includes envelopes, batteries for the office clocks or calculators, ink and toner cartridges for the copying machines, cleaning and hygiene supplies, coffee, sugar and milk (a happy employee is a productive employee!) as well as filing and archiving solutions.
Office supplies furniture
To make your office neat and tidy do not forget about ordering furniture for your office supplies, which will help to keep everything organised – filing cabinets for quick access to customer data or cupboards for maximum storage capacity.
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Modern office supplies
Instead of a traditional kettle, order a coffee machine. Reduce the number of cables by equipping your staff with power banks or wireless charging pads. Does your office lack space? You may need a portable scanner. Buy a multifunction printer to print and scan from your smartphone.
Supplies management
Once you have a list of supplies to order, consider how to successfully manage the office equipment.
It would be best to delegate the task of supplies management to an employee, who will keep an inventory and order further supplies as required. The job would involve checking, according to a previously prepared stationery list for the office, what to order next month.
Find a suitable space to serve as a supply room so that all of the employees know where to search for extra notebooks.
To save precious money, use up your stock first, then buy more! Inks will dry out and paper will turn yellow if these supplies aren’t used in time. Place a reminder note about a new order at the back of the shelf or at the top of the pile of the latest delivery of supplies so that people grab their supplies from the previous orders.
And last but not least, strategise your orders – it may be appropriate to order pens once a month but if you run out of toner in the middle of the month, you will be unable to print or copy for the following two weeks! That’s why you should establish ordering procedures to ensure a steady flow of work in your office.
