Management of office space isn’t a recent practice. Recently, however, it’s been getting an increasing amount of focus. The reason is that workplaces are evolving to accommodate the needs of employees. A lot of companies have implemented more flexible working arrangements from the beginning of the pandemic, and require employees to work less than five days per week. If you choose to adopt the hybrid model or not, managing space is crucial to creating the best workplace experience as well as ensuring that your space is used effectively. Being able to manage your space effectively isn’t a burden. To be successful, you’ll need the right procedures and tools. We’ll cover everything in the next section. But first, let’s define space management.
What does space management mean?
Space management is about the process of auditing, tracking, and managing the physical space used by your company. Think about floor planning and meeting room design, and desk arrangements. While this might sound easy in the abstract, it can be a bit more complicated in reality. For instance, you could manage multiple locations for your business, including different buildings, floors, a parking lot, or other areas. These areas may serve different needs and may have specific needs.
There are plenty of things to consider when managing all your spaces, which can become overwhelming. However, you don’t have to do it all on your own! Through understanding the advantages in space planning, using efficient tools for managing space, and following our step-by-step guide, you will be able to create the perfect space that the efficient of your company and will be a place that employees enjoy.
The benefits of space management
It is not a pleasant experience to work in an office that is unorganized, crowded, or designed in a way that is not thought-through. Employees have high standards for the workplace. They expect a workspace that’s productive, collaborative, and warm. The management of your office space is crucial in ensuring that employees return to their workplaces and feel content when they arrive. Let’s look at some additional benefits of space management.
1. Considerable cost savings
Office furniture and rent could be an expensive expense for businesses when the space isn’t properly designed. Space management can assist you in creating a space that’s appropriate in size and includes sufficient furniture to accommodate your employees. With less space wasted and fewer desks, you’ll lower your overhead expenses.
2. Increased output
A messy desk translates to the result of a mind that is cluttered. This is also true for the office. A well-managed office, free of unnecessary clutter and wasted spaces, can allow employees to come into the office and work more efficiently.
3. Ongoing enhancements
An unintentionally beneficial aspect of managing office space is the possibility of continuous improvement. Instead of planning your office only once, space management plans make you explore ways to enhance your office space to meet the needs of your employees’ evolving requirements. Space management tools for offices will be useful in the event that you’re seeking data on how your space gets utilized (more about that later).
4. Increased adaptability
Policies and regulations for workplaces change constantly. On one day, you could have an all-hands meeting in your workplace, but the next day, just 10 people can be allowed inside the space. A space management strategy will assist you in keeping up with the latest developments and being prepared to adapt your workplace if you have to.
5. Work less for office administrators
With the right tools for managing space, you can reduce your team’s time as well as energy. They won’t have to assign desks manually or shift furniture at the last second. With more predictability and better office space scheduling tools, they’ll be able to concentrate on the safety and experience at work.
6. A thriving corporate culture
Corporate culture is comprised of the interactions that take place at work. The workplace is the place for team bonding activities, as well as happy hours and collaboration. These kinds of interactions are essential to creating a vibrant and connected workplace. The right place to host these important interactions can go a long way in making your employees feel more connected to the company’s values.
4 practical space management tools
In order to create an environment that is suitable for the requirements of your employees and businesses, it is essential to have the right tools. Space management software will assist you in gathering data to ensure that your space is being utilized and is assisting your employees. It can assist you in identifying trends and patterns in the way users use your workplace. For instance, is it the case that your pods for one person are always full, but your 8-person meeting rooms are never empty? It is possible that you have to purchase additional pods or convert your large meeting rooms into smaller rooms. Once you are aware of how people use your space, you could modify it to fit your needs. Here is a list of four different tools that you can utilize to better understand the way people use your office:
1. A mechanism for employees and guests to sign in.
To design your space, you’ll first need to determine who’s visiting as well as how frequently. Perhaps your sales teams are arriving the most frequently and require quiet rooms for conducting calls. Maybe your marketing department is the most popular and requires larger meeting rooms that have lots of whiteboards and seating. How many employees visit the office every day? By knowing this, you’ll know how to determine if there are enough appropriate workplaces for your employees. It is also important to determine which groups are the most likely to see frequent visitors at work. By using a visitor management system, you will be able to collect data about the number of visitors visiting your workplace and the frequency at which they enter. Think about whether your workplace allows guests to check in comfortably throughout the day, and also how employees can welcome visitors and lead them through the office.
2. Meeting room reservation software
The most frequent issue faced by employees at work is finding the ideal meeting space for their requirements. Room booking software will help your employees locate and book rooms that can be used for the type of work they’re involved in. Plus, with room booking software, you’ll be able to analyze the usage of rooms, for example, the frequency at which each room is booked. Additionally, you’ll be able to find out how many rooms booked are not used and also free the space for another to utilize.
3. Software for booking hot desks
The second most sought-after workplace equipment is workstations and desks. Manually assigning desks can be difficult. Additionally, a lot of companies are embracing more flexible seating arrangements, including hot desking as well as office hoteling. To maximize your seating options and know what desks employees like, you can use desk scheduling software (also called hoteling software for offices). This allows employees to view all desks available and book their desks during the times they’ll be in the office. Also, think about what types of desks and other amenities your employees require to achieve their goals. Some employees like standing desks, while others prefer a corner desk that has two monitors. If you’re planning your office, you may want to think about how you can integrate desk furniture throughout your office.
4. Software for space planning
Last but not least, you’ll require the space-planning tool. The tools available can be anything from simple “drag and drop” floor planning to sophisticated 3D modeling. Floorplanner, along with Sketchu, are two excellent alternatives to think about. A space planning tool can provide a bird’s-eye perspective of your workspace to allow you to explore the layout options prior to making any modifications to your workspace. Also, you should look into density tracking sensors to try out new options for space. They will give you a comprehensive picture of who’s using your area and the way they are using it. You’ll discover patterns of foot traffic and the areas where people congregate, and the places where people like to work.
The step-by-step procedure for managing space
After you’ve had an overview of important tools for managing office spaces, we’ll take you through the steps to start managing your space.
1. Examine your surroundings
Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. While you’re doing this, take note of the following questions:
- How many square feet do you own in all?
- What’s the total capacity of your office? What is the capacity of each space? For instance, the total capacity of your kitchen could be 200 people, and the kitchen’s capacity could be 45 people.
- What’s the purpose of each space in the present? Does your cafeteria double as your all-hands space?
- What technology is in each space?
Look closely at the space and think about what’s feasible. Although you may have to remove several walls during the initial year of planning space but you may be able to add tables that roll into your kitchen so that they can easily be removed and moved into the space, or switch out lighting fixtures to suit certain moods.
2. Invest in the best equipment.
You’ve learned about a few essential tools in the article above. Consider how you can combine space management tools with other workplace tools to create an easy, flexible working experience for the employees you employ. When you are planning the physical space for your office, consider how the tools can improve the work workspace for employees and increase your understanding of the use of space.
3. Conduct employee surveys
Are you unsure of how to create a workplace, a place where employees are happy to be? Talk to them! Before you make any decisions, you should make sure you send out a survey in order to learn about the preferences of your employees. Here are some issues to think about:
- What motivates you to be on location?
- What kind of space are you required for your work?
- What areas do you use the most? What about the most?
- What are the things you love most about working in your job? Least?
Survey results will show the kinds of spaces employees require and would like. You should conduct surveys with employees regularly, at a minimum once per quarter, to make sure you are aware of the most current knowledge of their requirements.
4. Define and monitor your goals.
If you’re ready to begin designing your space, make specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess your accomplishment. As an example, your aim could be to eliminate closed offices and instead create additional meeting rooms with a unique design to improve collaboration and attendance. What are you going to measure to evaluate the effectiveness of your efforts? Through gauging employee attendance or gauging the level of collaboration among employees.
5. Track and strive for improvement
A great workspace takes regular maintenance. After you’ve established your workspace, make certain to utilize all your tools to collect information and improve. Get regular feedback from employees on how the changes have affected their working experience and then cross-check their comments against your KPIs. Effective and efficient workplace design is a dynamic, evolving process.