You see them in dusty corners of office supply stores everywhere. Maybe you’ve got one hanging in your office with birthday wishes scrawled in bright red ink dating back to 1992. At one point or another, we’ve probably all owned one. They’re underused, underrated and probably even unappreciated, but before you disregard them as just another too-common office product, take a look at some of these unique and completely uncommon white boards along with eight very good reasons to use one – or more – in your office today.
1. You’ll never misplace it
This uniquely shaped convex dry erase board will eliminate the glare often associated with white boards. Built-in trays make it easy to store - and find! - markers and magnetic accessories.
A good white board is one tool in the arsenal of good business managers and planners, and it’s a tool that you can’t accidentally leave on the train, toss in the garbage or file in the wrong folder. Whether you use it to brainstorm, diagram or track daily tasks, it’s always there right in front of you. Sound too simple to be a good reason to use one? Not if you’re one of those people who is constantly losing keys, umbrellas and daily planners. Busy project managers, executives and business owners can hang a white board on the wall and voila… instant calendar, reminder lists, assignments and goals that you never need to worry about losing.
2. It’s in-your-face
It’s not too hard on a busy day to shove your calendar in a drawer or slam your activity notebook shut and zone out to some Farmville. It’s a little harder to ignore the schedule you’ve written in large print on the wall in front of you. A white board can serve as a great visual reminder of things that need to be done, deadlines that loom or even sales forecasts that you want to hit. So keep a desk calendar if you must, but try using your own personal billboard for some real motivation.
3. It’s in-everyone’s-face
This pre-sectioned white board has 15 columns and 20 rows. Used with colored magnetic accessories, it makes a great option for tracking team activities.
If you manage a team, a white board can be a great place to delegate assignments, show progress, mark important dates or praise others for their efforts. A white board is a very public way of saying, “Hey, check out how close Jim is to his sales goal this month”, or quietly noticing that Jeff is not very close at all. A white board calendar makes sure everyone who walks into the room knows just when the project deadline is or makes note of the date and time of the next team meeting.
4. It saves trees
If you’re a doodler, thinker, planner or idea generator, you probably go through a ton of paper, whether it’s the back of a cocktail napkin or an oversized sheet of easel paper. Lots of that paper probably ends up in the garbage as your thoughts flow and your ideas evolve. Instead of capturing those thoughts and ideas on paper, try a white board. It’s instantly and infinitely reusable and won’t end up crumpled in a garbage pail. Worried that you’ll lose your great ideas? Here’s a tip: snap a photo with your camera or cell phone and file it digitally with a related project, client or just in your “idea” folder.
5. You can hold the next staff meeting in your office
Tired of being shoved into the standing-room-only corner of someone else’s office? If you’ve got the white board in yours, you can write the agenda, delegate the activities and capture the ideas of your team members. Since it’s so easy to jot and erase notes, a white board is the perfect tool for brainstorming and creative sessions. It’s not only a great visual medium for focusing attention, but it’s also a non-threatening experience. No need to obsess about getting the ideas or drawings just right. Just throw it all out there, erase, and do it again.
6. It’s multi-purpose
It may not be a bird or a plane but it's a white board... it's a magnetic board... and it's a pin board. This "silver" board is a real multitasker and the surface will reduce glare. Plus its clean, contemporary and sleek "European" design will look great on your wall.
It is if you get the right one, that is. A little bit of smart shopping will help you here. A white board is terrific but instead of taking up wall space with just a white board, why not make that space multi-functional? A magnetic white board will give you the option of writing directly on the board, or hanging notes, photos, designs or other materials up there, too. And if you’re really thinking ahead, you can get yourself a combination write-on/magnetic/pin board. Then your only problem will be deciding which great function to use first.
7. It’s cheaper than art
Draw a daisy today, a field of poppies tomorrow and never get bored looking at the same expensively framed piece of art… but seriously, a good white board has a certain elegance about it that says “office” without saying “blah”. We’re not talking about any old generic white board, though. You’ll want one with style, one with a contemporary design that looks good on the wall whether it’s covered in brilliant graffiti or just the month’s action items. Unlike chalkboards or cork boards, white boards reflect the light in the room and give it an open, airier and brighter look.
8. It’s versatile
This nifty white board also has a convex design to reduce glare, and pull-out trays to store supplies. And with 20 alternating rows of white and gray it's the perfect starting point to create your own customized layout. A roll of board tape will turn this into a date tracker, project organizer or team reminder board... it's up to you and your imagination!
When you buy a calendar, it’s a calendar. When you buy a lined notebook, it’s a lined notebook. Buy graph paper… yup, it’s graph paper. The nice thing about a white board is that it can be all those things and more, depending on what you use it for. A little bit of board tape and you can turn a blank white board surface just as easily into a calendar as you can into a grid, chart or graph. Divide it into spaces for projects, team members, dates… anything you can imagine. It works the way you do.
So stop ignoring your wall space and use it for a white board instead. It’ll help you stay on task, track your projects, time and schedule, and get organized like a pro.
Got a white board? Tell us what you use it for and round out our list to an even top ten!
For more information or to buy these products:
36″ x 24″ Convex All-Purpose White Board Planner
48″ x 36″ Combination Magnetic White Board and Pin Board
36″ x 24″ Convex “Design-Your-Own” White Board Planner
About Ultimate Office
Ultimate Office provides innovative organization and storage solutions for your business and home office. Our passion is for taking the ordinary and making it not just extraordinary, but Ultimate.
