Office, Uncategorized

What Does Your Office Say About You?

Your office is your home away from home. It’s the place where you fight for market share, pursue new business opportunities, and realize your dreams. It’s also, for better or for worse, part of the public face of your company.

As a result, the most productive offices typically balance the comforts of home with a professional business image. But does your office live up to this goal? Chances are it could use some fine-tuning or perhaps even a completely new approach — achieving your objectives without busting your budget.

Whether you’re just getting started with a new office space or hunting for tips to breathe new life into an existing space, we’ve come up with eight important things to consider. Put these tips to work and you’ll be sure to put your best foot forward on the path to business success.

1. Make First Impressions Count

When you spend every day working in an office, it’s easy to forget how others might see the same space. So put yourself in the shoes of a first-time visitor: What does your office say about your company? Does it present an organized, efficient image? Does it reflect a healthy, active business? Is it both a practical workspace and a welcoming environment for visitors and colleagues?

Be sure to look also at the outside entrance to your office. Is it clean and inviting? Does the reception area make the right first impression? If you usually use a back or side entrance, is the front door clean and accessible? Spending just a few minutes a week keeping things tidy, and investing a few dollars in new plants or a fresh coat of paint, will ensure that first-time visitors see your office the way you want them to see it.

2. Add a Splash of Color

The ideal office space mirrors, to some extent, the type of work you do. Neutral colors, for example, are a good fit for conservative lines of work such as banking and legal services. And for more creative offices, such as photographers and graphic designers, a warmer, more vibrant approach often makes sense. Either way, make a deliberate decision about your office paint and decor — don’t just accept whatever was there when you moved in.

At the same time, think about how to incorporate your company’s branding into your office decor. Consider where and how to use your business name or logo, and decide whether it’s appropriate to hang a sign outside your office. Issues like where to put your business logo and what color of paint to use may seem trivial, but they can have a powerful psychological impact when potential customers or clients come calling.

3. Look for Cost-Effective Office Furniture Alternatives

Think an office-supply store is the best place to buy office furniture? Think again. Even buying furniture from a “discount” store can set your business back thousands of dollars. And while leasing furniture may sound like an easy option, it can be even more expensive than buying new furniture.

First, consider acquiring office furniture one piece at a time rather than as a set. By purchasing single pieces with a similar style and color, you’ll have more options for buying furniture — and nobody is likely to notice the difference.

Real-estate “staging” firms are another great way to acquire high-quality furniture at a low price. Stagers keep large collections of furniture that they use to dress up homes for sale (including home offices). Most of the time a stager’s furniture gets used just a few times and then put up for sale at a steep discount. The International Association of Home Staging Professionals can put you in touch with stagers in your area.

4. Declare War on Office Clutter

Over time, most businesses acquire huge piles of paper: file boxes, stacks of documents, and other office debris. We all tell ourselves that we’ll get around to organizing it someday, but we rarely do.

Maybe it’s time to set aside a few minutes a day to put office clutter in its place. Go through documents one box or stack at a time and decide whether to file or discard them. Over time, spending even a few minutes a day will dramatically reduce office clutter. In the process, you may find that an uncluttered office actually makes you feel more energetic and organized.

For small business owners, office space is always at a premium. Now that you’ve banished all of those file boxes and old documents, take a look at how you and your employees use office space. Do you spend more time looking for items you need than you do actually using them? Do you buy new supplies only to discover later that you already had what you needed?

The best way to deal with these problems is to create functional spaces for specific office activities. Keep your files and archives in one area; put your copier, printer, and fax machine in another. Create dedicated storage areas for common office items, and restock them as needed. And if you have new employees coming on board, consider creating “new hire kits” that include everything they need to start work — without fumbling around or buying duplicate items.



6. Put Yourself into a Position of Power

You don’t have to be a Feng Shui master to appreciate the impact that aesthetics can have on a productive business environment. Even in strictly practical terms, the decisions you make about where to place office furniture and how to use lighting are worth considering carefully.

In other words, skip the lucky bamboo if you want — but do consider positioning your desk so that you combine personal privacy and comfort with the ability to greet visitors and communicate with co-workers. You may also want to turn off harsh overhead fluorescent lights and add indirect lighting, such as lamps and task lights. And be sure to take full advantage of any natural light available to your workspace. Whether you call this Feng Shui or plain old common sense, it all adds up to an office with a comfortable, practical layout and an atmosphere that’s more conducive to productive work.

7. Connect with the Local Arts Community

Ever walk into an office and smirk at the “Successory” posters plastered to the walls? So have we — and if that’s our only decorative option, we’d rather stare at a bare wall.

Fortunately, there may be a far more creative alternative available: Consider inviting local artists to display their artwork in your office. It’s a great way to add color and style to your office while giving artists a place to showcase their work to your clients, customers, and visitors. And depending upon what line of work you’re in, it could also give you a ready-made way to extend your company’s marketing message to a whole new audience.
Source: https://www.allbusiness.com/slideshow/tips-on-decorating-your-office-space-15617190-1.html

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Doral News, Office

CityPlace Doral $800 million project includes residential, office, retail space

The city of Doral, hoping to be a new hot spot for those looking for a delicious dish or a shopping spree, had a grand opening Friday for CityPlace.

“CityPlace, as you can see behind me — this is the entertainment circle and this is where all the action happens,” Related Development CEO Steve Patterson told Local 10 News reporter Todd Tongen. “This is where the fun happens, and then we have Boutique Boulevard, which you can see straight down this line with the palm trees.”

 

The mixed-use development will eventually have 2,000 residents, office space and 40 stores, equaling 235,000 square feet of retail spaces. The urban village concept is not new, but CityPlace has taken it to a new level with boutique shopping, eateries, entertainment and an ice cream and candy shop.

A $4 million fountain features preprogrammed shows, similar to the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

The city of Doral has long been a transient community, but downtown Doral and urban villages, like CityPlace, are hoping to change that.

“There (are) over 100,000 daytime jobs in Doral, but only 50,000 people live here, and traffic is an issue because everybody is leaving town at the same time,” Patterson said. “These urban villages — they create density clusters outside of the main city and a lifestyle for people here in Doral.

It has been five years in the making, but at a cost of $800 million, the much anticipated CityPlace Doral is finally open. 

Source: https://www.local10.com/news/florida/doral/city-of-doral-hosts-grand-opening-of-cityplace
Photo: F. Ceron

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Doral News, Office

El Doral en estos momentos es una de las ciudades mas bullentes de Miami. En ella viven muchos latinos; es más la comunidad Venezolana, dicen, la ha convertido en una “segunda Caracas”. Una de las calles esta nombrada en honor al conocido cantante venezolano, José Luis Rodríguez “El Puma”

En realidad una de las grandes ventajas del Doral es que está cerca del Aeropuerto Internacional de Miami, del que la separa sólo una milla.

Muchos venezolanos que inmigraron a Estados Unidos, huyendo del régimen “chavista” comenzaron en Miami negocios de importación y exportación. Para ellos era fácil vivir cerca de donde trabajaban y así comenzó el Doral a resonar mas fuerte y adquirir más residentes, hasta que en el 2003 se convirtió en ciudad y se incorporó como tal.

Los inicios del Doral se remontan al año 1950, cuando Alfred y Doris Kaskel compraron 2 mil 400 hectáreas entre la Calle 36 del NW y la Calle 74 del NW, y desde la Avenida 79 del NW hasta la Avenida 117 del NW, con el fin de construir un campo de golf y un hotel; proyecto que lograron en 1962 al inaugurar el Doral Golf Resort & Spa. Lo llamaron Doral porque hicieron una combinación de Alfred y Doris.
Este club resonó cuando en 1964 se celebró el primer torneo abierto de golf Doral Open Invitational

Años mas tarde los nietos de los Doris desarrollaron la empresa Lennar Homes para construir casas en este terreno y eso fue un gran éxito.

 

Grupos de familias jóvenes empezaron a poblar esa zona. En 1989 se empezaron a construir jardines, caminos, se mejoró el servicio de iluminación y hasta se creo una fuerza policial

En 1996 se realizó la primera elección del Concejo Comunitario y en Enero del 20023 se llevaron a cabo unos comicios. Fue entonces que los habitantes del Doral votaron a favor de establecer un gobierno local independiente.

 


En junio un 92% de la población dijo si a la Constitución de la ciudad y eligió su primer alcalde y a los miembros del Concejo Municipal.

Ya en el año 2000 el censo mostraba que la población era de 20.438 habitantes. Para el 2008 había 39.011 personas, de las que mas de un 67% eran latinos. En el censo del 2010 mostraba que había 45.704 personas residiendo en el Doral. Del total de esa población más del 79% eran hispanos y más de un 20% de estos hispanos eran de origen venezolano, seguidos por los de origen colombiano que sumaban más de un 14%.
Muchos consideran el Doral, al que en broma han llegado a llamarlo“Dorazuela” (mezcla de Doral y Venezuela) es un sitio ideal para criar a hijos y vivir en familia.

. Por su parte el Doral se jacta de ser un epicentro del intercambio comercial y fomentar la inversión económica, por ello dicen que es una “ciudad amistosa para los negocios”. Juan Carlos Bermúdez, alcalde del Doral, describió de esta forma las ventajas que representa para los negocios: “Primero es que los impuestos sobre la propiedad y otros acá en el Condado de Miami Dade y acá en Doral son los más bajos. Segundo, la comunidad es muy diversa, bilingüe, en algunos casos hasta trilingüe, acá convergen 77 nacionalidades y tenemos 4 de las 10 corporaciones hispanas más grandes de los Estados Unidos.

Lo tercero, es la educación de nuestros residentes: sean de donde sea, el nivel es bastante alto, muchos tienen postgrados, son ingenieros, abogados, médicos, etc y por último, estamos en el centro del Condado de Miami Dade, muy cerca del Aeropuerto Internacional, pero también cercanos al Condado de Broward”. Entre las empresas que aparecen en el directorio del Doral, figuran 702 empresas de importación y exportación, 585 de distribución al por mayor y 200 empresas de cargo.

Photo: https://www.providentresorts.com/blue-hotel/doral-miami-hotel-overview.php
Source: https://www.aboutespanol.com/la-ciudad-del-doral-1188701

 
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