Tag: Flexible Work

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How to Design an Office for Space Utilization

3D rendering of a hand draw architecture project with a tablet showing the finished house

By Devon Maresco
Marketing Coordinator
SpaceIQ

The workplace is in the throes of another period of upheaval. As work-from-home becomes a mainstay and flex work the new norm for physical workplaces, the office itself needs to change to accommodate employees better. Specifically, facilities managers need to optimize the workplace for usefulness. The question at-hand is how to design an office for space utilization.

A well-utilized workspace means it’s meeting employee demands. To shape the environment around those demands, facility managers need to understand them. This is easier said than done. It’s not enough to look at what did work or what appears to work. Reinventing the office in a major way means relying on clear and present insights that are data-driven and verifiable.

Here’s how to understand workplace utilization and design around it, to shape a new office that supports employees through the current period of change and beyond.

What is space utilization?

Space utilization is best defined in conjunction with space occupancy. If occupancy is the capacity of a space to accommodate certain people or objects, space utilization is a measure of the degree of use within that space.

For example, if a conference room has occupancy for 10 and only eight people are in it right now, it’s at 80% utilization. A more practical example would be utilization over time. If a hotel desk is available 40 hours per week and is only occupied for 20 hours per week, its utilization rate is 50%. There’s also relative utilization to consider. If Conference Rooms A, B, and C are all available 40 hours per week and see utilization rates of 75%, 80%, and 20% respectively, it’s reasonable to say that Conference Room C’s utilization rate is much lower than the average.

The bottom line on space utilization is that it’s a measure of how much use a space gets. It’s often a reflection of demand, which makes it conducive to observe which spaces see high utilization and model the workplace after them accordingly.

The role of space utilization software

Monitoring and measuring utilization are largely functions of software. Most workplaces have different types of spaces: individual desks, breakout spaces, conference rooms, etc. Utilization software will track how often employees occupy these spaces, for how long, and when. The result is a clear picture of utilization trends. Examples include:

  • Conference rooms see the most use on Thursdays and Fridays
  • Three-person breakout spaces are the most popular flex spaces
  • Hotel desk utilization averages 68% utilization week over week
  • The hours of 10am-1pm see the most room booking activity

Data from room booking software, the IoT, and manual inputs come together to paint a picture of the office as an ecosystem. With information about how employees interact with it, facility managers can better-shape it to their needs, wants, and expectations.

Tips for office space design

The golden rule of office space design is to leverage the data you have. Anecdotal evidence alone won’t tell the whole story. You might think there’s strong demand for hot desks because you see people using them, but what you see might only represent a small percentage of demand. In fact, people may prefer a different type of space altogether—one they don’t have access to because there isn’t enough optionality in the office.

Data provides great insight, but it requires critical thinking to make it actionable. Facility managers need to take insights and put them into practice with context. For example, if there’s demand for more breakout space, you can’t plop it in the middle of a hotel desk cluster—you might risk disrupting a desking concept that works. Instead, use a critical eye to assess space availability and deploy new concepts without disrupting ones that work.

Finally, consider micro and macro scale when making changes to the workplace. For large changes, view the stack plan to better-understand available space and occupancy levels. For space-specific changes, understand the effect on the immediate area of the office. There’s ample opportunity to make change at both levels, but you need to know how your changes affect access to the office and how this will impact utilization rates.

Keep utilization at the forefront of a redesign

The old way of designing offices focused primarily on making use of the space available to you. It was about finding the best way fit people within a space, maximize productivity and minimize friction. Now, the approach has changed to a people-first mindset. It’s not about fitting people into space; it’s about conforming space to fit the people who need it.

Designing with utilization in mind means understanding how employees interact with space and what they expect from it. Then, it’s about using data to shape and allocate space based on those needs. It’s a process that’s more and more data-driven as the workplace becomes more intelligent. Facility managers should use all data available to them to understand utilization and make a concerted effort to create space that aligns with how employees will use it—whether they’re in-office full-time, flexing in and out of spaces, or working remote 90% of the time.

Keep reading: 5 Space Utilization Metrics Every FM Needs to Know

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Seven Considerations for Returning to the Office

By Devon Maresco
Marketing Coordinator
SpaceIQ

Bringing employees back into the office post-pandemic is a strange experience for everyone. For employees who haven’t seen their workplace in a year or more, the return can seem both familiar and foreign. For employers, there’s a slew of new considerations for returning to the office, and there’s not always a plan for how to address them. Without a well-thought-out approach an abrupt move-back isn’t benefitting anyone. Instead, take a moment to consider how to facilitate a smooth return.

Bringing people back into the office safely and comfortably starts with a review of what’s changed. In some cases, it means reviewing new workplace guidelines from the CDC, OSHA, and other government entities. In other cases, it’s about taking into consideration best-practices and methodologies from experts and thought leaders. And, of course, it’s vital to listen to the concerns and expectations of employees.

The workplace may look familiar, but from here on out, it’s going to operate differently. It needs to, to accommodate an agile workforce in a post-pandemic work environment. Here’s how to make the return to office work smooth and comfortable, even in spite of the changes.

Return to work considerations for employers

When approaching an unfamiliar situation like a return to the office after an extended hiatus, the first and biggest consideration is all of the new variables involved. With perspective, a smooth return becomes a matter of building these new considerations into a viable plan. From social distancing to health and safety, here’s a look at the seven chief considerations for a return to the office.

  1. Infrastructure. Post-pandemic workplaces need to strongly reconsider the physical limitations of the space they operate within. Everything from desking concepts to distancing guidelines will change the dynamic of the space, and adapting means being able to look at available space through a new lens. How much square footage do you operate and what’s the new value of that space?
  2. Sanitization. Employees need to feel safe in their workplace. Beyond supplying hand sanitizer and cleaning products, companies need to develop systems for sterilizing and sanitizing workstations and shared environments between uses. Ask yourself if your CMMS or IWMS platform offers the ability to create booking buffers and automate cleaning tickets to expedite the time between uses in a safe way.
  3. Flexibility. The workforce has become more agile since the pandemic, which means supporting flex schedules, distributed teams, and modern concepts like hoteling. Aside from acclimating employees to more dynamic desking concepts, companies also need to make investments in software and systems to facilitate increased flexibility within the workplace. A smooth back-end system translates to an easier, more familiar experience for employees.
  4. Exposure. How can you structure the workplace to mitigate unnecessary exposure between employees—and to create contract tracing in the event of illness? Companies need to consider the logistics of their workplace environment before they bring people back, to anticipate and eliminate unchecked exposure situations. This requires consideration for everything from desking concepts, to office flow, to sanitization guidelines.
  5. Distancing. Distancing guidelines won’t disappear after COVID-19. Now’s the time to reassess office floor plans to create distance and comfort for employees. It’s also prudent to create new distancing policies and familiarize employees with them before they come back into the office. Distancing will give employees a sense of personal space and comfort, which can ease the return to a physical workplace and expedite the transition back to a normal work routine.
  6. Local conditions. Companies need to be cognizant of the local climate beyond their own workplace. While the U.S. is vaccinating at a rapid pace, vaccination rollout around the globe isn’t as quick. Companies with offices around the world need to take a return to the office on a case-by-case basis. It might be safe for a fully vaccinated office in Atlanta to come back to the workplace, but a partially vaccinated staff in Seoul might still be several weeks away from a return.
  7. Employee sentiment. Forcing employees back into the office is a recipe for frustration and low morale. For many organizations, flex work is a great compromise. For businesses where interoffice work is imperative, it’s vital to listen to employee concerns and make concerted efforts to address them.

Bringing employees back into the office takes more effort than putting up partitions and moving desks apart. In many cases, it means reassessing the way the office operates—both physically and procedurally. Consider these seven variables and use them to influence your decision-making process as you re-shape the workplace for a post-COVID-19 world.

Returning to work after COVID-19

Don’t get trapped in the mindset that these considerations are temporary. COVID-19 spurred new focus on workplace safety and utilization, and its effects are ongoing. From distributed teams to flex work policies, the workplace doesn’t play the same role it once did for companies. This isn’t to say it’s less valuable in any way—in fact, it’s even more valuable to the people relying on it to regain a sense of normalcy in their work habits. It’s up to companies to provide this normalcy via a smooth transition into a safer, more thoughtfully designed workplace.

Keep reading: Post-COVID Return to Work

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Long-Term Remote Working: Six Must-Have Keys to Success

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Remote Working Trends and Options: Eliminating DesksBy Devon Maresco
Marketing Coordinator
SpaceIQ

Remote work is here to stay. The prospect of long-term remote working is yet another chapter in the long history of workplace evolution, and companies need to adapt. That doesn’t mean pivoting to accommodate this change temporarily—it means setting up for flex work, distributed teams, and remote employees as the new standard.

Is working remotely effective? All signs point to yes, which is all the more reason for companies to get behind the trend and start adapting. It’s not as simple as allowing employees to log in and work from home. Embracing remote work means companies need to reestablish expectations, create new processes, and give employees new opportunities to be productive.

Here’s a look at six must-have keys to success and the role they play in a sustainable shift to remote work and distributed teams.

1. Remote accessibility

Remote work demands remote accessibility. Employees need access to the same digital resources they would use in-office. This goes beyond access to an email server or the company cloud. It needs to encompass the complete suite of apps, programs, and tools they need to do their job. For many companies, this means looking into licensing and cloud-based platforms, to ensure everyone has access no matter where they’re working from.

Companies moving to remote work permanently need to also consider cybersecurity. Opening up access to a wide array of applications, data, and systems means shoring up practices and protocols that might leave the company and employees vulnerable. Make cybersecurity a priority to enable safe accessibility for all.

2. Collaborative tools

Remote work often means working alone, but it doesn’t need to command isolation. There are a plethora of collaborative tools out there, and companies need to leverage as many as needed to enable distributed teams. From file repositories like Dropbox to collaboration through Google Docs, give teams the tools they need to be productive as one.

Among the most important collaborative tools are project management platforms. From keeping people on-task to delegating amongst the team, these apps serve as a home-base for bringing teams together. As an added bonus, there’s opportunities for management to communicate with staff, track progress, and weigh in on problems.

3. Seamless communication

Communication goes hand-in-hand with collaboration. Thankfully, there are so many applications out there that combine them. Microsoft Teams, Slack, Discord, and Facebook Messenger all help employees maintain communication in a broad capacity. Whether it’s weighing in or asking questions, a trusted means of communication is the backbone to any successful remote work migration.

While it’s vital for working together, good communication also plays a role in helping employees adapt to a new remote work norm. They need to be able to chat with employees in the same way they would in-office, with opportunities for banter and off-task chatting. Even something as simple as the #random Slack thread serves an important purpose.

4. Engaged leadership

Managing a remote team successfully comes from learning to balance a hands-on approach with a trusting one. Leaders need to position themselves as accessible and available to solve problems, while maintaining the role of authority. While the tendency might be to hold the reins tighter, it’s actually smarter to give them some slack. Employees need to adjust and feel like they have room to adjust. Bearing down on them can taint the allure of remote work.

The most important trait of remote managers? Empathy. Emotional intelligence and the ability to empathize with each individual’s unique situation creates mutual trust between leaders and subordinates. “I give you the freedom and understanding to do a good job; you prove to me that you can do it your way.”

5. Flex work solutions

Remote work doesn’t signal a death knell for the office. Many employees like the office and the familiarity of going to work. Whether they choose to come back to the office full time, split their schedule, or show up at random, there need to be desking options available to them. This is why hoteling is so popular in the age of flex work. Like remote work, it gives employees the power to choose their own work style and provides a framework for support around that optionality.

6. Patience and flexibility

Even the best digital resources and agile strategies aren’t enough to make a remote work situation successful if they’re not backed by patience and flexibility. Companies need to show clear support for their employees and provide them with peace of mind as they transition remote. That means easing the transition, checking in on the adjustment process, and putting emphasis on trust. Employees need to feel excited about the transition and feel comfortable reestablishing their own habits in their own way. If they feel supported, they’ll adapt quickly.

These six keys add up to a remote work approach that’s designed to foster success. Remote work solutions need to enable employees, support teams, and benefit the business. The above focus items do exactly that. Most companies have some semblance of a remote work system in-place. Use this roadmap to fill in the blanks, to make it more effective and, most important, sustainable.

Keep reading: Remote Working Trends and Options: Eliminating Desks

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Hybrid Workplaces are the Future of Work

By Devon Maresco
Marketing Coordinator
SpaceIQ

More people than ever before are working remotely. But not everyone is logging in from a home office. Some people still prefer the structure of a physical workplace, and will gladly get up and go to one each day. The result of this duality is a hybrid workplace: one that supports both remote and on-site employees. It’s a concept that pre-dated COVID-19, but came to fruition largely because of it. Now, hybrid workplaces are here to stay.

Forced to make it work during the pandemic, companies and their employees have begun to get their bearings and figure things out. Patchwork fixes, stopgaps, and workarounds have congealed into new processes and permanent solutions that allow remote workers to be as productive as their in-office counterparts. Better still, the adoption of a hybrid work model has given time for distributed teams to learn to work together.

Hybrid workplaces are still in flux, but they’re becoming a much more permanent reality. What’s certain is their staying power. Now that people can work the way that is best for them, there’s no going back.

What is the hybrid workplace?

A hybrid office supports both in-house and remote employees at the same time, and offers flexibility for ebb and flow between these two work styles. It’s a concept that encompasses both physical and digital workspaces, as well.

The goal of the hybrid workplace is to support every work style and every employee—especially when these variables are inconsistent. Can Sanjay work effectively in-house today and continue his work tomorrow from home? If Marsha usually works from home and needs to come back in-house for a week, will she find the work environment she needs? These questions—and dozens more like them—are what facility managers ask as they plan for the new norm of flex work.

Hybrid workplaces can take many forms and feature many systems of governance. Hoteling is the most popular because it offers checks and balances companies can use to manage their workers, yet still offers employees optionality. Other hybrid examples include hot desks, desk neighborhoods, flex spaces, and more. No matter how it’s comprised, the hybrid workspace is one that’s wholly supportive of every employee’s work style.

Why are hybrid workspaces quickly becoming the new norm for companies big and small? It’s because there are benefits for employees and businesses alike.

How does the hybrid office affect employees?

For employees, the hybrid office offers a seamless experience that’s conducive to flex work styles. In-house or remote, single work or group work, no matter the variables, the hybrid office delivers.

  • Employees have the option to choose their workspace or desk type
  • Freedom of movement in the office makes transitioning between tasks easier
  • Mobility makes it easier for employees to work independent or as a group
  • More autonomy for employees can result in better work habits and practices
  • Employees feel empowered to make decisions about how or when they work
  • The transition between in-office and at-home work is more fluid and simpler

The bottom line on hybrid office benefits for employees is more freedom and the ability to work comfortably. Whether they work at home, in-office, or split their time, they’ll have the support they need to do their best work at all times.

How does the hybrid work model affect businesses?

On the business side, a hybrid work model offers an abundance of cost-saving benefits, as well as management opportunities that improve workspace utilization. Some of the core benefits of a well-run hybrid workplace include:

  • Better space utilization and reclamation of unused space from traditional desking
  • More productive workforce that feels supported and trusted in their work style
  • Improved workplace safety during times of disruption (illness, renovations, etc.)
  • Fewer disruptions to work caused by an inflexible workplace concept
  • Saved costs associated with less strain on or demand for unnecessary facilities
  • Opportunities to cultivate a more modern, inclusive culture and workforce

The practical benefits of hybrid workplaces for businesses become evident in gains to productivity, the bottom line, and the company culture. Less rigidity in the business model opens the door for more flexible avenues of growth.

Hybrid workplaces will continue to evolve

We haven’t figured out hybrid workplaces completely yet, but we’re further along than we were at the outset of the pandemic. As new processes connect remote workers to on-site staff, the hybrid workplace will continue to evolve. Hybrid workplaces offer plenty of opportunity for adaptation, which is a boon to businesses and employees alike. Embracing a hybrid concept may well be what enables businesses to remain nimble in the face of future hardship or—perish the thought—another pandemic.

Keep reading: 8 Apps for Remote Workers Productivity and Success

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Six Workplace Portal Functions That Are Essential in the Era of Flex Work

Business partnership coworkers using a tablet to analysis graph company financial budget report and cost work progress and planning for future in office room. (Business partnership coworkers using a tablet to analysis graph company financial budget re

By Devon Maresco
Marketing Coordinator
SpaceIQ

Called the “workplace intranet” in a past technological era, the concept of a workplace portal has been around as long as workplace computers. Today, many companies still host intranet sites and work portals, and for good reason. They’re highly useful means for bringing together employee resources in a single destination.

Like all things that involve workplace tech, the employee portal has evolved with time. Namely, it’s evolved on the heels of better integrations and business clouds, which have given portals much more than simple hyperlink and static text capabilities. The modern capabilities of a work portal demand businesses take a second look at theirs, to make sure it delivers real utility to employees.

What is a work portal?

A work portal is a hosted repository for information and resources that’s accessible only to employees on the business’ network. It features oft-used resources that might include:

  • Payroll information and time-off request forms
  • Access to the company directory or site map
  • An announcement board for company-wide information
  • Submission forms for IT requests or equipment check-out

Anything employees routinely need access to is best put in a portal. It’s something employees can get familiar with as soon as they start with the company and something they’ll likely interact with every day in some capacity.

Now, as facilities become more complex and flex work entrenches itself as a mode of operation, companies have found new utility from their work portals. Here’s a look at six portal functions that can and should become standard in companies with evolving workplaces.

1. Support ticketing and requests

The more sophisticated workplaces become, the quicker maintenance and repairs need to occur. For example, if the motion sensor for the lights in the lobby stops working, visitors could find themselves greeted by darkness. Getting problems like these fixed needs to be as easy as submitting an urgent ticket to maintenance through the work portal.

Non-urgent requests should be just as simple. Need to take out an AV cart? Want to request an extra recycling bin for your department? The work portal is the place to make these requests a one-minute, no hassle task.

2. Space reservation and seat booking

For companies that explore hoteling and other reservation-based seating arrangements, the work portal is an ideal place to encourage scheduling. While an ideal reservation system will have multiple methods of seat booking (Slack, email, dashboard, etc.), the employee portal should be the most accessible and robust. Employees already in the habit of checking the portal daily will quickly attune themselves to desk booking through this channel. It’s a great way to get employees on board with a reservation system.

3. Real-time updates and announcements

In the era of COVID-19 (and beyond), company-wide announcements are important. Employees deserve to be kept apprised of everything from scheduling changes to new company policies. While memos and email announcements are still standard, scrolling them in a portal or posting them on a company bulletin board is still a great reminder. Moreover, executives can control who sees what message by targeting different departments via their login credentials. With an employee portal, vital announcements are front-and-center every day.

4. Employee directory access

The employee directory has become a critical tool with the rise of remote work and flex work. Without static desks or schedules, employees may have difficulty finding each other at any given time. And while the company directory has long been a part of many employee portals, new integrations have made it more robust and useful.

Companies can tie directory information to wayfinding and the desk booking system, to show employees where someone is at any given time and how to get there. They can also tie in apps like Slack or Calendly, so that clicking on a person gives you their messaging information or access to their calendar. There are limitless integrations, amounting to infinite possibilities for how useful an in-portal employee directory can be.

5. Wayfinding features and integrations

Like the employee directory, a company’s wayfinding system is highly useful as part of the employee portal. As employees use more of the workplace, they need to feel comfortable navigating it. Access to wayfinding tools through a portal they’re already used to using can make them more amiable to using the workplace in new and effective ways. And, as mentioned, wayfinding features are a great tie-in with a newer, more robust employee directory.

6. Facility information

Simple additions to the workplace portal can be some of the best—especially when they concern facilities. Companies are wise to build out a section for facility information that includes information such as cleaning schedules, a common contacts list, asset locations, and anything else important or specific to the workplace. When employees have questions, this should be the first place they look—and the last place they need to look.

The beauty of a work portal is that it’s a single, simple point of action for employees—one that empowers them to interact with the workplace in a meaningful way. With the correct integrations and a little organization, a workplace portal can become something employees use every day, to great benefit.

Keep reading: What is Employee Experience?