There are inventive, effective uses of space all around. Small stores carefully select the products they display near the entrance to draw in customers. Theme parks break up lines for rides with twists and turns to encourage people to wait just a little longer. And grocery chains carefully match colors and lighting to encourage shoppers to fill up their carts.
Workplace leaders can borrow some of these clever ideas as they consider how to make the most of the offices across their real-estate portfolios. The result: a solid space strategy that helps employees make the most of their time in the office.
Optimize space based on how employees usually use it
Developing a space management strategy that doesn’t consider future business needs might feel nearsighted, but it’s important to focus on the workforce’s current needs.
Many offices now have employees on different hybrid work model schedules. Some are there all the time, while others work remotely some days each week. You need to make the spaces work for everyone.
Start by looking at the daily operations of your company. Are there two or three departments that often work together? Are the sales and marketing departments in constant contact? Does the procurement team need to often meet with accounting? Think about who works together and then put those desks close. The workstations for certain teams should be in the same areas to make it easier for them to connect.
There should also be ample collaborative spaces nearby, too. Just as important are quieter spaces for employees who need to focus. Many find the workplace a welcome oasis of quiet and calm from all the action at home, and they need desks away from common areas or spots with a lot of traffic, like near the break room or by the elevators.
Are there teams that often have visitors, such as clients or vendors? It might be a good idea to place their workstations toward the front of the office so they can be there to greet their guests when they arrive.
And not every team uses the same spaces in the same ways. So, try to include some flexible layouts with spaces that can serve double duty. Look to convention or event centers, where something as simple as rearranging tables and chairs can change the space from a dining room to a dance hall.
For example, consider designing a kitchen that employees can also use as a meeting space. Or an employee lounge that doubles as a collaborative area. You can also focus on furniture that is easily rearranged and temporary walls you can move throughout the office as needed.
Create lobbies that set the right tone
Retailers often keep space in front of and just inside the entrance clear of clutter, so it acts as a sort of “landing strip.” That empty space is there to help ease you into the shopping mindset as you enter the store. It’s simply an open area that gives you just enough time to slow your steps and switch from “getting there” mode to “arrival mode.”
Workplace leaders should think of their lobbies in the same way: transitional spaces that set the tone and put people in the right frame of mind.
Start by making sure you don’t have too much furniture or too many people there. Here, automation can help streamline the sign-in/sign-out process, reducing the number of people in the lobby at any given time. The last thing you want is for people to walk through the door only to be greeted by a long line of people impatiently waiting to get through security.
Dimension Data is a case study in how modern visitor management systems deliver value.
The industry leader in information and communications technology had been using pen-and-paper logbooks at their front desks, but with up to 500 visitors per location, the inefficiencies were quickly compounding across their seven locations. They needed reliable, repeatable, enterprise-level front desk systems to meet the diverse needs of their visitors, including contractors, clients, and employment candidates, plus their over 28,000 employees.
With a modern solution, Dimension Data has more time to make a positive first impression. “We reduced the time for the receptionist to welcome each visitor by 50%. But the most important isn’t the time we save, it’s the time it gives us to better welcome our visitors, explains Eric Van Lint, Senior Alliance Manager.
Create decompression zones
With so much science backing up the benefits of office meditation rooms, it makes solid financial sense to set aside space for quiet introspection, personal reflection, and meditative contemplation. And the investment is minimal. Because people newer to meditation benefit from spaces with fewer distractions, often all you need is a quiet room with a door they can close and lights they can dim.
But space planners can include other types of spaces that support unwinding, in the same way a city planner makes sure to include plenty of parks and other green spaces.
In the office, a compression zone can be simply a wide, open space that’s free of clutter, easily accessible, and welcoming. Instead of a spot out of the way, you can think of them as an oasis, for example in the middle of clusters of workstations or other sections of the office. Make these areas more open and inviting with natural lighting, an exposed section of hardwood flooring and some greenery, such as a large potted plant or vertical garden.
Implement office hoteling and hot-desking
One of the most effective ways to efficiently manage space is by instituting reservation-based workspaces. In an office that uses hot-desking, there are a set number of unassigned workstations available to any member of the workforce on a first-come, first-served basis. When an employee comes into the workplace, he or she chooses any of the unoccupied desks and claims it as home base for the day. Better yet, with a modern workplace tech system, employees can reserve spots online, through their desktop or a smartphone app. They can even see who else is going to be in the desks or spaces around them, making it easier to match their times on the office with their teams.
Share space management among the FM, HR, and IT teams
Creating a powerful space management strategy is nearly impossible without collaboration between the facility management (FM), human resources (HR) and information technology (IT) departments. Each team is responsible for an integral part of how the workplace is designed and optimized.
- The FM department has the most visibility into space utilization, employee traffic patterns, and asset availability
- As the frontline of recruiting, onboarding, training and offboarding, HR has insight into the needs and wants of the workforce
- The IT team is the authority on how office space updates impact technology requirements
The FM, HR and IT departments must maintain open communication lines and share information quickly and easily.
Implement space management software
Space management software not only simplifies space optimization in general, but it can also be the backbone of each of these tricks. When used as part of an integrated workplace management system, space management software supports:
- Setting short-term and long-term space utilization and optimization goals
- Applying hot-desking or office hoteling in any size workplace
- Encouraging interdepartmental collaboration, especially between the FM, HR, and IT teams
Workplace leaders who use space management software don’t have to rely on Word documents, Excel spreadsheets or several siloed systems. They can make data-driven decisions about how best to use every inch of their available workspace.
With real-time information at their fingertips, they can easily forecast future needs and make changes see the strongest return on facility and office space investments across the enterprise.
By Erin Sevitz
Erin has 15 years of experience, including 10 years in thought leadership on workplace management and the built environment. In her current role she oversees teams responsible for worktech insights and engaging Eptura’s 16,000 customers worldwide. Previously she led communications for the International Facility Management Association, a global industry nonprofit dedicated to professional development for workplace strategists, building managers, and corporate real estate.
