Going paperless is a great idea. It’s environmentally-friendly, it helps cut costs and it helps limit clutter in the workplace. In fact, it’s not just a great idea – making more of your processes paper-free is a necessity when thinking about sustainability.
That said, there is still a significant place for tangible tools and resource in the modern working environment. One of the most obvious (and colourful) examples of this is the good old sticky note, which brings benefits including:
- Interactive collaboration and idea-sharing
- An effective way to accommodate those who prefer hands-on creativity
- They’re easily moved around or disposed of – plenty of room for a change of plan or updates
- They can be recycled once they’ve been used
Different ways to use sticky notes in the office
As an office supplies company, we do champion any way – no matter how big or small – to make your office stationery supplies mores sustainable. However, we do also acknowledge that the sticky note will still be sticking around for a little while yet so they might as well be put to good use by…
Using them as a tool to encourage collaboration
Gone are the days of dedicated desks and being anchored to one assigned workstation. These days, employees are far more mobile, nomadic and free to move around an ecosystem of microenvironments and different work settings as they see fit.
As workers become more mobile, collaborative co-creation has become a more popular way of working and sticky notes are a great way to facilitate this collaboration. Incorporate them as a resource in your collaboration spaces and meeting rooms as an effective brainstorming tool.
Facilitating both digital and analogue creativity
We’ve spoken before about how important it is to ensure equal participation opportunities for people with different learning styles and personalities. While some people prefer interactive SMART boards and screen sharing, other prefer more traditional means like paper, pens and yep, you guessed it – sticky notes.
Click for more on how you can facilitate digital and analogue creativity.
Utilise colour as a way to streamline organisation and idea-sharing
Sticky notes come in all shapes, sizes and colours – use this variety to your time management and creative advantage. Using colours to categorise information within a flow to make project planning, processing and the collection of ideas more streamline and adaptable.
Don’t be afraid to use them on the desktop – not just the wall
That’s the great thing about sticky notes – they can be adhered to almost any surface with minimal damage. From your lunch in the fridge and your colleagues back to wall space, screens, write-on walls and any work surface.
When brainstorming or mapping out timelines, don’t just limit yourself to walls or whiteboards though. Get more hands on by sticking them to your work surface for more interactive and tactile time management and project planning.
Similarly, if you are in a meeting space or conference room, using sticky notes on the desk rather than the wall will encourage more introverted people to get involved. Employees with this type of personality might feel more comfortable participating at hand-level, rather than standing up at the front of the room.
However you decide to use your sticky notes, don’t forget to recycle them once you’re done with them so what paper your workplace does consume is disposed of responsibly.