While our current ideas about the role of the office may have served some of us pre-COVID, the role of offices as we once knew it no longer applies to all of us. As our needs continue to change in unexpected ways, we require true flexibility that transcends return to office strategies. It should not only address our current challenges, but also build resiliency to help us move confidently into the future.

“Workers will be drawn to in-person work only to the extent that the office addresses psychological needs that the pandemic undercut… Safety, belonging and autonomy are three of the primary drivers of an individual’s sense of well-being, and all three have been obliterated by the pandemic.” – NPR

People need a reason to come back to the office and that reason will vary person to person. Identifying requirements to support an unpredictable demand for office space will be challenging. The only way to achieve this is to consider several options for how we address in-office workspace demand. We must also remain open to the possibilities of implementing a unique blend of these options at any given time.

COVID has inadvertently decoupled workspace and office by proving that productive and purposeful work can happen anywhere. As we continue to explore how we adjust our workplace strategies, we must consider the role of all spaces where work happens and the ways we interact with those spaces. This helps narrow down how much office space will be required. We must be willing to recognize that our workplace strategies can – and should – change as needs and expectations evolve.

Flexible Workplace Strategies Through The –Ize of CRE

There are several CRE workplace strategy objectives, and each yields a different outcome.

Regardless of which approach is undertaken, it will impact every employee differently. Identifying the best approach to take happens when overarching corporate business drivers and objectives help shape which strategy is implemented. Office space is a tool – it is a means to an end.

On the other hand, key indicators of company success and objectives are presented as an organization’s mission and values – the ways in which a company communicates its purpose or its ‘why’. As we think about strategic objectives, we should be thinking about the stories we want to tell. We should be thinking about stories that explain an organization’s “why”. We should be thinking about those stories which inspire employees, customers, and stakeholders, alike.

Common CRE Efficiency Strategies

Maximize:

max·i·mize (v): Maximizing space, or densification, involves fitting as many people as possible into an office.

Maximizing space, or densification, involves fitting as many people as possible into an office. This approach typically offers little to no private office area. It is composed predominantly of workstations that are contained in a small footprint, e.g. benching and desk-sharing.

In our current circumstances, this is problematic because of the proximity it creates between people, but of course could become a possibility again as the vaccine becomes more widely available. In the future, if the economy takes a sharp downturn, the pressure will be on to reduce and save wherever we can.

Optimize:

op·ti·mize / (v): Optimizing space aims to improve the use of space, right-sizing space to suit demand.

Optimizing space aims to improve the use of space, right-sizing space to suit demand. It demands a re-think of the purpose of the office and a change of expectations by building owners, occupiers and users. Optimizing usually involves observing how the space is used and then adjusting allocation and provisioning to align with the demand of different space typologies.

In this case, technology plays a huge role in the future of the office. The collection and analysis of real-time occupancy and desk utilization data ensures that when people return to the office, they’re returning to work-appropriate, healthy and safe environments. Optimization of space is often followed by rationalization and modernization.

Rationalize:

ra·tion·al·ize / (v): Rationalizing space is the next step that follows optimization. Excess space, as a result of optimization efforts, is divested to yield desired savings.

Typically, rationalizing space is the next step that follows optimization. There will likely be excess space as a result of optimization efforts and this space can be divested to yield desired savings. Often, surplus space is off-loaded to coincide with optimized usage, in an attempt to reduce costs. The challenge is deciding how much to rid of and what to hold on to.

Making that decision is made more difficult in our current environment as we challenge traditional assumptions of what we think the office should look like. Companies may see this time as an opportunity to downsize, reduce operating costs and invest in technology to support work from anywhere, should it become our permanent reality.

Modernize:

mod·ern·ize / (v): The re-purposing of excess space to support wellness and socializing by creating spaces like cafes and open collaboration areas.

Modernizing space is the re-purposing of excess space. This usually involves provisioning spaces more social in nature and support wellness at work, such as lounges, games areas, open collaboration spaces, kitchens/cafes, fitness and meditation areas, etc. Modernization is essentially the redeployment of surplus space.

If modernization is the goal, organizations are typically looking for smart spaces, filled with services they can use to be more productive. Modernization often incorporates sustainability initiatives and wellness solutions in addition to any digital transformations needed to keep their talent safe and healthy in an office setting.

Revolutionize

rev·o·lu·tion·ize / (v): The idea of office space, not as a “single destination”, but as an ecosystem of places. Any space can be a workspace, depending on unique needs, at any time.

By revolutionizing the idea of office space, we begin to see the dissolution of the notion that we either work remotely or in an office. We redefine ‘office space’ (a single destination) as ‘workspaces’ (an ecosystem of places). Any space can be a workspace, depending on individual or team requirements at any given time.

Moving forward, this is a cost-effective alternative to modernization by outsourcing the need for flex space to co-working spaces. Through dedicated or on-demand co-working spaces, companies can maintain brand experience while decentralizing the office to support sustainability initiatives. Employees working from home can access space on-demand wherever they are via co-working suppliers around the globe.

Another aspect of revolutionizing office space is the continuing evolution of the office, as we know it:

“Successful offices of the future may have more in common with retail or entertainment venues that compete for every visit by offering a compelling, constantly evolving experience… Could an office ever inspire that most potent of 21st-century emotions, ‘fear of missing out’?” ~ WSP

By redefining the office space as a compelling destination with entertaining experiences that dynamically evolve, we begin to see how important it will be to have office environments that allow for, and embrace, change as it happens.

It’s Time To Tell New Stories

As the pandemic precipitated a global work from home experiment, we need to start thinking about the value of ‘work from anywhere’ culture and what it means for the role of traditional Corporate Real Estate teams. While we prepare for the dynamic flexibility our office environments will require moving forward, we also need to understand how to communicate the changes we make in a way that will resonate with employees, customers and stakeholders.

The key to implementing any new workplace strategy is surfacing unique and compelling stories to support change for the greater good. These unique stories – grounded in supporting data – will give meaning to organizational shifts. Use them as a roadmap for communication and implementation. If you’d like to learn more about creating your data story – a unique narrative that fits your organization during this time of change – register here for our Data Stories and Corporate Real Estate Seminar Series

While we may be starting to return to the office and students are now back at school, this is anything but a “return to normal”. In so many ways, our lives flipped upside down and going back to the way things were before the pandemic is impossible at this point. As our priorities, values, and perspectives change, we need to question if we even need to return to the way things were.

Understanding how to support the returning workforce with office space that meets the necessities of the day and can adapt quickly to change, will reside 100% with Corporate Real Estate.

Many of the predominant trends we see now in office behaviour are trends that were gaining traction before COVID-19. For example:

• Flexibility with where and when we work
• Growing preference for corporate cultures that revolve around brand equity
• Transparent communication and trust
• Emphasis on wellness in the workplace

These are not new. If anything, COVID accelerated their foothold into the fabric of our lives, with Corporate Real Estate as the hardest hit in the world of work. The challenges of figuring out who needs to be where, when, and how often, will be a concerted effort across individual organizations.

It is impossible to predict what the in-office experience will look and feel like. We could all return to work in the office one day or we could choose to continue to work from home. Both exist as equal possibilities. It is also possible that workplaces will become a hybrid of locations – an ecosystem of work settings that responds to our immediate needs.

Regardless, the demand for office space will continue but the challenge will be to address the disparities. We have engaged in a worldwide work from home experiment, including inequities based on income, where we live, how we get to and from work, gender, and age. To be successful in our ever-changing world, we need to account for the diversity, equity and inclusivity that will define business success moving forward.

“At the moment, we’re at home because we’re stuck there. But when we aren’t in the midst of a global health crisis, there are different reasons to want the ability to work remotely, or outside of standard hours.” – New York Times

In the past, companies approached flexibility from the standpoint of how they could make physical spaces allow for different activities. Now, our existing CRE environments need more than a change in furniture placement and shared amenity spaces. With the shift to remote work, we are seeing a corresponding shift in previous assumptions that working from home equates to lower engagement or productivity.

How we define productivity is changing, as is the belief that good work is the result of work done in the office. COVID is providing the opportunity to align the CRE portfolio with values that blend the best of remote work practices with physical spaces that reflect a new way of thinking about where, how and when we work.

In our present ambiguity, we need to prepare to respond as people’s expectations change by baking flexibility into our policies, processes, and frameworks today. We need to be open to the fact that one-size does not fit all. We need to dismantle what we believe to make way for reality. We need to aim at driving better outcomes through new ways of thinking and, most importantly, new ways of doing.

Even companies with the most office-centric cultures pre-pandemic will need to accept that the return to office will look different for everyone due to a growing need for flexibility that did not exist previously. Because flexibility means different things to different people, we need to keep the definition of “flexibility” flexible too.

What we need is the transformation of our CRE spaces through a shift in the way we define the purpose of our offices and our perception of what it means to have flexibility in how we work. As our values change, our workplaces need to change along with them.

Questioning Traditional Assumptions to Introduce New Thinking

In pre-COVID times, organizations believed that, “occupancy analytics for space utilization sought to maximize the number of people in a space ensuring occupant health, wellbeing, and productivity.” While one may argue that utilization analysis and insights gained popularity as foundational to informing workplace strategy, cramming people into a space has rarely been the goal of any of the global Fortune 500 clients I’ve worked with over the years.

Densification strategies do happen in organizations. Typically, it happens when organizations grow rapidly and/or merge with another company and need to be able to absorb the added headcount. Whether it is effective is questionable, but one thing is for certain: space utilization data is rarely observed in density driven exercises nor is it a consideration.

When organizations choose to densify their space, all they need to know is the maximum occupancy allowable by building code per floor. That’s it. From there on, it becomes a short-sighted furniture reconfiguration and planning exercise, with little to no long-term strategy involved.

Executed strategically, occupancy analytics maximizes the reduction of square footage and real estate costs. It aligns real estate requirements with the natural behaviours of employees, supporting on-going business growth without increasing the overall real estate portfolio. Identifying and quantifying the degree of flexibility demonstrated by employees is a significant ‘Aha’ moment in understanding the power of workspace occupancy and utilization analytics.

Flexibility is measured by combining insights on:

• Frequency and duration of meetings attended both in-person and in the office
• Frequency of inter-office visits
• Movement that happens between floors in a building.

This approach appreciates that people are not tethered to their desks. It presents an opportunity to explore how the office could better support the ways in which people individually shape their days as they work. Pre-COVID, many organizations considered assigning a proposed work style to employees to manage space reduction initiatives.

In a post-COVID world, I believe work styles as we’ve come to know them will become obsolete as most people will be mobile with varying degrees of dependency on the office we once knew.

As we respond to the changing needs of the workforce because of the pandemic, it is imperative that we examine why things need to change through a different lens. While it is important to address aspects of design, such as the physical distancing to keep people safe and healthy, we can also look at this as an opportunity. We can re-examine and re-define the needs of a changing workforce that proved that working remotely is possible. Since it’s inevitable that we will be working in offices and remotely, we can begin to make the cultural shifts our organizations require to address the workforce as individuals.

Stay tuned for my next post. We’ll explore how CRE professionals can navigate their way back to the office post-COVID through strategies that respond to current return to office challenges and identify ways we can build resiliency into our strategies for the indefinite future.

If you would like to learn more about creating a unique, data-based narrative that fits your organization – register for our Data Stories and Corporate Real Estate seminar series.