Location Of An Office
Table Of Contents
- Meaning Of Location Of An Office
- Location Problems
- Factors Guiding The Location Of An Office
- Location Of Department Offices
- Factors To Be Considered In Location Of Department Offices
Meaning Of Location Of An Office
Location of an office means the position, place or site of the building chosen for office accomodation. The proper location of an office is important because it is closely linked with the general efficiency and the convenience of accomplishing office functions. An unsuitable location may result in loss of time, inconvenience and annoyance to the staff members and customers.
Location Problems Arise From The Follow Conditions
1. When the organization is starting its business.
2. When the lease of office premises expires and the owner of the premises refused its renewal.
3. When the facilities in the original location are no longer adequate to accommodate further expansion of the office.
4. When moving the entire business location from one place or state to another.
Factors Guiding The Location Of An Office
The proper location of an office building is determined essentially by the peculiar needs and requirements of the business concerned, including the following factors:
1. Closeness to banks and Post Office
2. Convenience for customers and business contract
3. Availability of suitably qualified staff
4. Accessibility to roads
5. Nearness to related trades and business centers
6. Proximity to other units of the Enterprise
7. Suitability of the neighbourhood
1. Closeness To Banks And Post Office
In locating an office, its closeness to Banks and Post Office facilities must be considered. There is need for the office and the staff members to open bank accounts and to deliver or receive mails from Post office and to require other telecommunication services.
These should be easily accessible to the office and the staff in order that loss of time and the cost of obtaining them are minimized. Closeness to banks and post office is vital to offices that handle large amount of cash and those engaged in mail order business.
2. Convenience For Customers And Business Contacts
The aim of establishing an office will not be realised, if its primary customers find its location inconvenient to reach. For example, an office located in a heavy-traffic area where parking spaces are non-existent, will lose some customers to competitors and may have less chances of attracting new ones. An office located in a remote area may make customers feel reluctant to go there.
The location selected must be convenient to customers and business contacts for effective transaction of business and sale of its products.
3. Availability Of Suitably Qualified Staff
In selecting a location, the availability of the right kind of office staff is essential for effective performance of the office functions. In this era of hi-tech office equipment, the importance of the right caliber staff with specialized skill being available cannot be overstressed. An office which is located in an area lacking the essential infrastructure is not likely to attract high caliber of specialist staff.
4. Accessibility To Roads
An office should be located where there is good access roads and ease of communication. For the convenience of office staff, customers and the ease of business operations, accessibility to roads is important in location of an office.
5. Nearness To Related Trades/Business Centres
It may be beneficial to locate an office near other offices in the same line of business so as to take advantage of auxiliary services. The same goes for locating an office in the centre of business activities generally.
6. Proximity To Other Units Of The Enterprise
The location of the office should be such that makes for easy contact with different units of the enterprise. This is so especially if contact with the factory, warehouse and depots is necessary for effective operations of the business. In that case a centralized location of the office would be ideal.
7. Suitability Of The Neighbourhood
An office should be located in a healthy noise and pollution free area in order not to affect the efficiency of the staff.
Prestige and publicity afforded are important considerations in the choice of office location. Of course, a lot depend on the nature of business the office concerned is carrying on. For example, Allen Avenue and Broad Street in Lagos are prestigious business street. Many business offices such as Banks, Insurance and Law firms have made the two streets choice location.
The rent payable, cost of land or rates payable for the area become important when it is compared with what is obtainable in other available places for the location of an office.
Location Of Department Offices
When the office premises or building has been located, the next important consideration is how to locate the different office departments inside the premises. The nature of the rooms or building will to a large extent determine whether individual office should be provided or open-plan offices should be arranged.
Factors To Be Considered In Location Of Department Offices
The following factors should be considered in the location of different office departments within the available office premises:
1. Inter-departmental Relationship
Departments which have functions that are closely related to each other should be as near as possible to facilitate communication and contact between the staff.
2. Departments dealing with outsiders such as customers or the public should be located as near the entrace as possible for easy and direct access to visitors.
3. Departments which operate noisy machines such as typewriters, duplicators and adding machine should be located away from other departments and shut out by noise proof walls/partitions.
4. Departments which provide central services such as typing pool, mail room and reprographics should be centrally located to make it easy for the departments which require the services to make use of them.
5. Board rooms, conference, and interview rooms should be located as far away from noise as possible. The back of the building and away from the main road is generally considered suitable.
6. Proximity of toilets, cloakroom and other personal conveniences to those who have to use them.
7. Office using heavy machines should be located as near the ground floor as possible for ease of installation and separated from office where staff require high concentration.