What Is Office Space Management?
With agile working, for many companies, being here to stay, office space management has never been more important for office spaces. As offices adapt to these hybrid ways of working office space management has never been more important and beneficial to helping ensure they are optimising and utilising the space as best they can, all whilst reducing costs. Facility managers and those in charge of any office space have a bigger responsibility than ever before to ensure that offices are used effectively and efficiently in order to provide employees with a productive working space.
Effective management of physical space is vital to every organisation, and it’s vital that your office space is both agile and flexible in order to adapt to changing working and patterns, allowing for the smooth running of daily business. The benefits of office space management and planning often facilitate the ability to achieve overall company objectives, and ensure a satisfied and motivational working environment for employees.
What Do We Mean By Office Space Management?
Office space management refers to the process of managing and controlling the physical spaces of your office. Space utilisation and management of your workplace involves strategic planning to provide cost-effective solutions with the aim to optimise work environments so employees are able to work at maximum efficiency.
Office managers often use space management tools to enable strategic planning that provides cost-effective solutions and allows the inventory of space you have available to be optimised for employees to perform their work more efficiently. The key to effective space management is understanding how the office space is used and what improvements can be made. Getting feedback and opinions from staff will help to create a plan that works and adapts to their working patterns.
Utilising The Space You Have
The multi-step project works to ensure your existing space is being utilised effectively. Effective management of your existing space will optimise it and enable you to keep up with hybrid working behaviours. A clear floor plan will help to identify which spaces are regularly being used, and those that aren’t, identifying where costs should be focused.
Ensuring The Office Layout Allows For A Productive Workspace
Office layout should compliment the work habits of your employees and aid them in carrying out their daily tasks. There are a variety of space management necessities that can ensure your office space allows for a productive workspace. These include desk positioning, access to natural light and through improving the organisation of your space, such as working areas, breakout areas, storage space and meeting rooms you can increase the productivity of staff and maintain a satisfied and motivated workforce.
Managing All Furniture And Equipment Within An Office
Furniture and equipment play a vital role in office space management. Knowing how your employees are using their desk area, storage spaces, break out spaces and so on, will allow you to ensure individual rooms are equipped with adequate furniture and equipment. The furniture and equipment chosen should fit their purpose whilst also fitting in the space around them, all whilst aiding employee productivity and their day to day tasks.
Selecting furniture that fits its purpose and the space, whilst staying inline with your corporate style will help to boost productivity and assist employees in their day to day tasks. Hot desking is a great way to make the most of the space and furniture you have and allows for your office to adapt to hybrid working patterns. Incorporating this into your office space will also encourage interaction between a mixture of employees.
Comfort is also key when it comes to selecting furniture. Hours spent sitting in an uncomfortable chair will hinder productivity and damage employee satisfaction. Likewise if seating in breakout areas is not comfortable and relaxing employees may not bother using them, making them a poorly utilised space.
Browse through our range of modular and bespoke office furniture.
Why Is Office Space Management Important?
Office space management is extremely important in order to ensure your physical office space is aiding, and evolving, with the demands and needs of your workforce. With many working from home, it’s important that the office space is utilised in a way that compliments this, ensuring spaces are fully equipped and time and resources aren’t wasted on rooms that are rarely used. The benefits of office management are numerous, a few of the main ones include:
Efficiency Within The Office
Every business wants an efficient workforce that goes about their business with ease and purpose. Office space management works to create spaces that are designed with the specific purpose of different rooms in mind. Implementing hot desking is a great way to improve collaboration and social interaction between employees.
Helps Keeps A Working Office Organised
Organisation is key! An organised office will most certainly contribute to a more productive and happy office environment. Keeping areas organised and tidy will avoid clutter and workspaces becoming overwhelming and unproductive. Having the right storage and equipment will enable employees to get on with their work uninterrupted.
Can Reduce Costs
Effective office space management can help to reduce costs in the long term. By identifying rooms and areas that are regularly used, and those that aren’t, and adjusting them accordingly will allow your business to save on energy and heating costs. Reducing this consumption will also help to improve businesses sustainability.
Creating an office space that is adaptable will work to avoid costly changes and additional costs in the long run. An office that can adapt to both a growing and shrinking team, in response to hybrid working patterns, is a great asset to have, and allows for minimal disruption.
Need Help Managing Your Office Space?
Our workspace consultancy approach can work with you to plan your optimise your office space to ensure optimised efficiency and utilisation. Our flexibility allows us to evolve with your business in a changing work environment.
If you’re ready to start the process, get in touch with the team today.