Make key decisions, and effectively carry out a great office experience for your staff by looking into the right metrics.
As organizations settle into a hybrid work model, long-term decisions about the office can begin. Analytics are necessary to make data-driven decisions about the future. Leveraging this data can help you understand if the office is supporting the hybrid model, and how it is being used. Then, the necessary changes can be made, including potentially right-sizing your space.
Make key decisions, and effectively carry out a great office experience for your staff by looking into the right metrics.
Metrics such as office space utilization, cleaning resource allocation, peak occupancy, and surges in activity help keep a pulse on what’s happening at the office.
These key measurements are:
Understand who is coming into the office, when, and what space they are using. How frequently employees enter the office is also measured in utilization.
If the data indicates that employees are using collaboration space the most, the office space can be reorganized accordingly. Or, if some workdays have a higher occupancy rate, appropriate staffing of the team will help support these times. Access to this data allows the facilities team to anticipate what types of services will be required, and when.
For example, do staff attend an in-person meeting and leave directly afterward? Or do they book a desk and stay for the entire day? Office utilization also helps to make decisions, such as limiting workplace maintenance costs, or adding more collaboration spaces depending on the findings. Outfitting these areas for hybrid meetings can encourage productivity.
Organizations are rethinking the concept of their office – and how to best optimize their real estate portfolio.
When looking into occupancy data, there are two important components. The peak occupancy refers to the maximum number of individuals in the office space at one time. A related metric is average occupancy, meaning the daily average number of individuals in the space.
The peak and average office occupancy is particularly important when experiencing workspace constraints. Understanding the difference between these rates can offer insights such as an opportunity to reconfigure the office space to increase capacity.
Dig deeper to monitor activities such as collaboration patterns to differentiate between formal or informal collaboration. Then, optimize the space accordingly. The most strategic managers focus on giving their workplace a competitive advantage.
With access to the data and technology needed to support the hybrid office, you can make decisions for the future. For example, if a downsize is necessary. Once you understand employees’ primary trends of going to the office, their experiences can be better supported.
Understanding office utilization and occupancy also enables cross-functional collaboration, innovation, and creativity. A successful hybrid office depends on sharing timely insights with relevant teams, such as HR, facility management, and IT.
For example, if there is a decrease in average occupancy, alert the HR team. They can run a pulse survey to gather employee feedback for a comprehensive analysis. If the office is often at maximum capacity, it can signal a need to transition to a better-suited space.
A priority of the hybrid work model is to ensure the usability, reliability, and safety of the office. Using data supports the in-office employee experience by ensuring that the space functions optimally. Organizations will rely more than ever on workplace analytics to support the future of their office.
