Office Space Management Software Tips and Guidelines

By Jeff Revoy
Chief Operations Officer
SpaceIQ

Integrated workplace management software (IWMS) programs are supposed to make life easier for facility management professionals, but they aren’t always set up to deliver on this promise. That’s where SpaceIQ comes in. This next-generation office space management software is a powerful ally in the way facility managers organize and plan the physical assets, office space, and a floor plan in an office environment. To make the most of SpaceIQ, you’ll want to explore its capabilities from all angles. Use these office space management software tips and guidelines as part of your initial exploration of the platform to make the most of its various features.

Expand Your Idea of What an IWMS and Office Space Software Can Do

The right space management software program can do more than just help you plan and use your space more efficiently. It can also serve as a vital collaboration tool that provides an essential foundation for employee communications. SpaceIQ functions as a single sign-on (SSO) platform through which team members can access not only space management tools but also communication and collaboration tools. Integrate Slack into your SpaceIQ configuration so your team members can chat with each other about the info they see on their IWMS dashboards, future collaboration plans, projects, after-work happy hours and anything else that’s on their minds.

Work With Possibility, Not Reality

While SpaceIQ is an excellent tool for managing the current layout of your office and keeping track of all the people currently on your various teams, it can also help you think outside the box and get abstract with your space planning capabilities. Scenario planning is just the tip of the iceberg. The automated data analysis reports that our platform creates allows management to assess when to move into a larger facility or even whether a different type of workspace might better serve the group as a whole. You can shuffle different teams to different locations and see how it all shakes out without having to actually lift a single chair. Digitizing your office space management tasks (through office space management software) makes the realm of possibility much less abstract and you can use this to your advantage in configuring a highly effective office environment.

Go Cold Turkey on Old Space Management Techniques

Old habits die hard but, in this case, you’ll feel glad you left them where they belong: in the past. SpaceIQ has a range of cutting-edge features that will save you so much time and effort. Think about how much time you spent poly lining floor plans or making exhaustive and complex lists of all the various items that need to come with you in a move. That’s all in the past. No more spreadsheets, no more hand-drawn diagrams, no more lost pieces of paper containing vital information that isn’t backed up. Our IWMS platform is cloud-based and ultra powerful and implementation is a breeze.

Delegate Facility Management Minutiae

Facility management has been labor intensive for far too long. Move trivial tasks like seat assignments and move management notifications off your desk by either delegating through the IWMS or allowing SpaceIQ’s powerful collaboration features to take charge. When it comes to seat assignments, you can appoint space captains within SpaceIQ or simply let team leaders take over seat assignments. This power can also go into the hands of the employees themselves so they can find the best possible seating arrangements for their work style and to-do list.

Facilitate an Agile Environment

Most modern companies aren’t too concerned with the way things have always been done. The agile workplace philosophy is much more prominent than any corporate cultural tradition and that means that flexibility is key. This applies to the physical space in an office as well as the attitudes and approaches team members are willing to take to get the job done. The more flexible your environment, the better you can optimize to bring out the best in your workforce. SpaceIQ’s easy interface makes it possible for seating arrangements and space utilization to stay fluid based on the needs of individuals and the organization as a whole. Experiment with different seating charts and furniture configurations to find the setup that works best for your office and boosts productivity to new heights.

Make it Easier to Use All Available Space in the Office

Unused office space is a huge waste of money for businesses and other organizations. Sure, you need room to expand, but that doesn’t mean you should leave empty corners to gather dust. Use the analytics that SpaceIQ generates to find out how your space utilization numbers are looking, then use scenario planning tools to envision new floor plans or expanded collaboration spaces that turn the underutilized into the highly useful. Learn how how to make every space count with space management software.

Reduce Confusion

Whether your office has a completely open floor plan with no assigned seats or a few shared spaces such as conference rooms or equipment storage, ambiguity can lead to confusion and a lack of confidence. There’s something about an empty conference room that can feel a bit off-limits, like the formal living room your parents never let you go into as a kid. Incorporating these spaces into your IWMS seating chart makes it much clearer that these spaces are for everyone and not just for manager meetings with important clients. Give your employees the freedom to move around and use all the available collaborative or closed-door solo workspaces available to them in your office. It’s just another way that proper space management can lead to higher productivity and less waste through the maintenance of unused square footage.

Use Your IWMS for New Employee Onboarding

New hires have a lot on their plate. They’ve got to hit the ground running and contribute to their new team. On top of that, there’s a whole lot of adjustment and an often unexpectedly steep learning curve when it comes to the ways of the new workplace. Adding new employee profiles to the IWMS can be part of the formal onboarding process with HR. Training these new workers in the use of the IWMS helps boost adoption through the office and also allows quick reference for where to find important people, plus a visual guide to where the bathroom is (that’s always an important piece of info on the first day). SpaceIQ can serve as an anchor to help new hires feel better supported and more informed as they acclimate to their surroundings. Seamless integration of new recruits is valuable both for the individual and for the team as a whole.

De-Politicize Sharing

Make the process of reserving communal spaces more egalitarian by leaving room checkouts and desk reservations in the hands of a completely neutral software program. Sign-up sheets are a thing of the past. SpaceIQ’s cloud-connected visual display updates in real time and makes it clear when spaces are and aren’t occupied or reserved. This same approach can help smooth out potential conflicts in a 100% open seating plan. While this is effective in a traditional office, it’s also a great idea for co-working spaces or shared workspaces in which multiple independent organizations share the same facilities. No need to negotiate who gets to use what and when. Anyone in the office can just consult the IWMS and see if the desired space is free.

Look to the Future

SpaceIQ can help you plan for the future. Use features such as data automation and space utilization analytics to predict when a move to a larger office will become an absolute necessity. What seems like ample space today could end up feeling quite claustrophobic and hectic within a few years. If your main focus is driving growth and building out teams, you’ll want to keep tabs on the way you use your space as more and more new team members come aboard.

Facilitate Widespread Adoption in the Office

While some IWMS platforms are really designed mostly for facilities management professionals, modern tools in this category make themselves useful to the organization as a whole. That means it’s important to ensure that all of your various team members, from interns and assistants to managers and executives, are adopting the system and using it to the best of its abilities. If only half of your team uses the system as intended, no one you will get the full benefit, so you need to make adoption as painless and efficient as possible for your employees. Proper instruction plays a big part in adoption.

Tailor the Program to Your Unique Needs

These tips will make SpaceIQ work even better for you and everyone on your teams. While this general advice can be useful, it’s important to keep in mind that SpaceIQ is flexible enough to adapt to the needs of unique organizations. Some of these strategies may be more effective than others. Experiment and see what works best in your office. You may find that space management software has a much broader reach in day-to-day operations than you’d previously thought possible.