When I signed the lease for my office in 2005 and set up 5 workstations, I thought it would be a very long time before those desks were filled. At that time, I had one part-time employee and myself working in the office. Once in a while one or both of my kids would also come to the office to make a little bit of money scanning or shredding paperwork for me. Space was never an issue. However, as of June 2011, there were 5 of us in the office and all desks were used. I realized that I would need more space before my current lease was up. I figured by the fall of 2012 I’d have to hire an additional staff member and would need a way to add another work area.
Since there is no feasible office space available in my current building and I have two more years on my lease, an alternative had to be determined. My husband came up with a plan to create custom-designed counters/cabinets and we talked with someone from our church who could build them for us. We figured we’d do the new floor plan in the summer after the busy season passed and before a lot of work began to come in from those who filed extensions and needed their bookkeeping completed. The plan was in place.
A few weeks ago I needed to test candidates to fill a position that had become available. Before I interview candidates, I have them take a skills test which requires them to use one of our computers. Because I didn’t have an area for them to work, I had to let an employee use my desk and I worked outside of the office. We tried to schedule most appointments while I was at client locations, but this was not always possible. Doing this for two weeks put a kink in my workflow and forced me to work nights and weekends to make sure I could get my work done. I was thankful when I found the candidate I needed to fill the position.
Tonight we dismantle the old workstations. Tomorrow we install the newly designed desks. My staff is eagerly anticipating coming to work on Monday to see what it looks like. It’s an exciting change!
