How to Effectively Use Your Office Notice Boards

Notice boards are a familiar sight in offices, schools, colleges, libraries, universities, hospitals and pretty much any other workplace you can think of. Whether located outside or indoors, for public use or locked shut, they provide an essential information distribution service that’s as relevant today in the digital age as it was when such items were first introduced.

These days, notice boards come in a wide range of styles, materials and sizes for different purposes. The kind of notice board you choose may be driven by regulations (for example, fire-retardant notice boards in schools) or necessity (for example, notice boards with lockable frames for outdoor public spaces) but you can rest assured, that if you’re shopping with Office Screens, whichever notice board you choose will be practical, reliable and of excellent quality.

As leading manufacturers of office notice boards, our experts have put together top tips for making the most of your information boards. Read on for 5 ways to use your office notice boards more effectively.

1. Location

First and foremost, you should decide where your notice board will go; and to find the most appropriate space for it, you should consider three things:

Where are people most likely to see your board?
What information are you trying to display?
Whose attention are you trying to attract?

The location you choose for your notice board needs to be, above all else, visible. There’s no point in placing it behind a pot plant or down a dead-end corridor which is usually deserted. Choose a space on the wall which is clearly visible to passers-by, and make sure it’s at eye-level so people can easily digest the information.

The location of your board should also consider the messages you’re trying to share, and those who need to read them. For example, if your board is designed to display information for patients at a GP surgery, placing a board in the waiting area or next to a reception desk is the best way to attract attention. Similarly, if your board needs to showcase social distancing information for your office, then placing the board near the entrance makes more sense than installing it further into the building.

2. Content

OK, so you’ve found the perfect location, but what are you going to display? Is this a public or private notice board? Is it interactive or for display purposes only? Notice boards that have ‘long-term’ fixed displays such as fire safety information, evacuation procedures, annual calendars and the like will benefit from eye-catching, colourful and laminated posters or leaflets that can be fixed in place and left securely for long periods of time without deteriorating.

More interactive displays, for example, artwork presentations in schools or daily employee updates in offices, will benefit from easy-to-use functions such as magnets or pins so information can be put up or removed easily. Additions such as boxes of pins can be helpful in situations where employees or students are able to fix their own notices.

Accents Frameless Indoor Noticeboards

Flameshield Lockable Fire Retardant Noticeboards

3. Organisation

That brings us on to our third point - organisation. The most effective notice boards are neat and orderly, where all the documents are clearly visible and displayed in a tidy fashion. When layer upon layer of papers, leaflets or posters build up on your notice board it can become difficult to see what is new or relevant.

If your notice board is the kind that can be accessed by anyone, then having a clear set of rules for what can and cannot be posted on your noticeboard can be helpful to avoid overcrowding your display and to prevent inappropriate material surfacing where you least want it. Alternatively, having a designated ‘monitor’ whose role it is to keep tabs on the displays going up can also help you keep things orderly and neat, and ensure that no messages are lost behind newly-placed documents.

4. Flexibility

You might think of a notice board as a fabric notice board that is designed for use with pins or staples, but in truth, there are many different kinds of notice boards, all suitable for different purposes. Choosing a board that offers different functions in the same installation is a great way to offer flexibility and to make the most of limited space. For example, selecting a product which is part pinboard and part whiteboard gives you the flexibility to pin information sheets on one side, and write up-to-date messages on the other. This kind of board is particularly useful in fast-paced environments such as hospitals or sales departments. Some of our notice boards are even compatible with magnets which again offers flexibility for how you use your display.

5. Community

A notice board, by its very nature, is designed to promote a sense of community, whether that’s within an office, a larger workplace building or even a village or town. Encourage your coworkers to interact with the office notice board by making it accessible to everyone, but set down guidelines of what can and cannot be posted to ensure you end up with a community information site which is a respectful and professional zone. Your notice board can be a way to bring people together, through community activities, after-work social events or even birthday notifications.

For more information about any of our range of display boards or how you can use them effectively in your workplace, please Contact Us or call our team on 01234 676767.

Permalink:

https://officescreens.co.uk/blog/how-to-effectively-use-your-office-notice-boards.aspx