Eating at your desk is becoming quite common, whether people simply don’t want to go outside, or your office doesn’t have a big enough breakroom there are plenty of reasons people opt to eat at their desk. But managers out there need to be aware of the possible issue’s office eating can bring.

Life in an office is never boring, is it? One of the biggest challenges office managers/ leaders will face is dinner time especially in smaller places. Now, most offices will have a breakroom or staffroom of some sort, but these won’t always be big enough to accommodate everyone.

Even if you have a large office with its own canteen then you still shouldn’t expect everyone to actually use it. Eating at your desk is common in most offices and many people do it to save time especially when they’re busy and while there is nothing wrong with it you do need to take certain precautions into account.

Prevent Mess

Preventing mess should be one of your main concerns when it comes to office eating. No one wants to work in a smelly or messy office, do they? Mess especially food and drink waste will also attract insects and vermin as well.

So, ensure your office has plenty of rubbish bins and make sure they are cleaned regularly. You should also ensure employees know the location of all the bins and that they get into the habit of using them.

You might also want to set some rules about foods people should avoid eating in the office. Overly smelly meals are probably something best avoided if people plan to eat at their desks. Sandwiches, salads and other similar cold meals aren’t going to annoy anyone but anything else is best eaten in the breakroom, canteen or outside.  

Ensure People Still Take A Break 

Eating at your desk does have a number of benefits many people who work flexi-time opt to do it so they can leave earlier. Or some people opt to do it simply so they can get more work done or because the weather is bad, and they don’t feel like leaving.

While it doesn’t always have the best reputation eating at your desk isn’t that big of a deal in most cases as long as you stay on top of the mess. However, you should ensure your employees still take a break to stretch their legs and get some light exercise.

Dinner time isn’t just a chance to get some food and refresh yourself but also time to actually take a break from work and move about for a bit. So, getting into the habit of eating at your desk every day could potentially be harmful. So, as the office manager make sure your employees still take regular breaks to move about.

Consider Changing Your Office Layout 

Finally, my last tip you need to take into consideration is your office layout. If your office simply doesn’t have enough room to accommodate a lot of people to eat away from their desks, then you may want to think about altering the layout. You don’t always have to move to a bigger office to make more room, do you?

You could move some desks around to make the break room bigger, go for an open plan layout instead and much more. Now changing the layout of your office might sound quite complicated so don’t worry you don’t have to do it alone. A professional office clearance company like us can be a big help!

We’ll remove all the old equipment you don’t need giving you the room you need to change the layout. Whether you’re moving offices to a bigger site or just want to get rid of some old equipment to free up some room our office clearance service is something you can count on. Offices can build up a lot old equipment over that years, but we can help you downsize by removing it all for you.  

So, that clears up everything you need to think about when it comes to office eating. Your employees eating at their desks isn’t a huge issue, but you need to ensure people still actually take a break and that the mess is cleared up. But if you want to see more people leaving their desks at dinner consider changing the layout of the office to make more room.