In an ideal world, your office and everything in it will always function perfectly and allow you and your employees to do your jobs.
Unfortunately, though, things break, which means that something in your office is bound to break at some point. Sometimes, this is a minor issue that can easily be fixed – such as a faulty office chair. Other times, however, the issue is more serious. If you’re not sure how to react if something in your office breaks, you’ve come to the right place, as we’re going to be walking you through four steps you should take.
- Get a professional out
The first step you need to take is to get a professional out. Of course, this won’t always be necessary – again, it will depend on how severe the issue is.
But if you’ve gone through the user manual for whatever is broken and you still can’t troubleshoot the issue, you may need help. Ideally, you should get someone out as soon as possible. And keep in mind that, while a general handyman can be a great help, you should opt for an expert where you can. For example, if your printer is broken, get out an expert company like Regiment of Repair.
- Inform the necessary people
If you have people that you report to, you need to inform them of the situation so that they know what’s happening. We get that it can be difficult to tell your boss that something has gone wrong, but you can’t hide it from them, either.
Things can also get a lot more complicated if the reason for something breaking is your fault. If you’ve made a mistake at work and you’re not sure how to handle it, this post has some helpful tips. You may also need to inform the business’s financial department of the fees involved in the repair.
- Consult your budget
As mentioned, you will likely need to speak to the people in charge of the business’s finances to ensure that you have enough money to cover the repair or replacement costs.
Since no one plans for something to break, you likely haven’t included this in your budget, but that’s okay; most businesses have some type of plan in place when it comes to unplanned business expenses. For some tips on managing these unplanned expenses, click here.
- Come up with a plan of action
Finally, you need to have some type of action plan in place. The first step is to figure out why the item broke, and whether this is something that can be avoided in the future.
Next, you need to figure out if this breakage affects your office’s work capacity, and if it does, you need to figure out what to do. For example, if a water pipe has burst and you can’t work at the office, you may need to have your employees work remotely for a bit, or alternatively offer flexible working arrangements.
