The High Cost of Empty Offices: Corporate Challenges and Smart Tech Solutions
This article explores the top challenges in post-pandemic corporate space management and the technology to address these issues and drive success.
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The workplace has evolved. Socioeconomic factors continue to shape how and where we do business. Organisations are constantly pressured to increase productivity and reduce costs, while real estate portfolios are shrinking. In the UK, 58% of workers prefer to work in a hybrid model.
Now is the time for businesses to develop an intellectual approach to pace management. That starts with sophisticated, data-driven initiatives that allow organisations to control every aspect of their portfolio from a single, centralised platform.
While gathering data is easy, understanding it is the hard part. Here, we delve deeper into the importance of data in space management, including maximising efficiency, key data points to consider, benefits, challenges, and the advanced analytics needed to make the best decisions for your business.
To meet expectations and face external pressures head-on, companies must effectively manage and optimize the use of their office spaces. This includes facing key challenges like:
Research by CIPD in the UK shows that 60% of employees now have flexible working arrangements. Inefficient use of space leads to wasted resources and increased costs. Identifying and addressing areas of underutilisation is a common challenge.
Conversely, overcrowded spaces can also pose a problem, leading to decreased employee satisfaction and productivity.
Integrating smart tech for efficient space management can be challenging. Sensors, IoT devices, and smart building solutions require careful planning and investment due to various factors that contribute to the successful deployment and operation of these technologies.
Issues can arise, such as systems that are not well integrated, lack of communication between teams, and compliance concerns. Key considerations for successful implementation include:
Compliance with local building codes, safety regulations, and environmental standards can add complexity to space management. These standards can vary significantly depending on the region, country, and even local municipality.
Some common regulations and potential difficulties associated with meeting them include:
The second biggest cost of doing business is real estate. Space management often involves significant financial investment. A business must balance the need for quality spaces with budget constraints. Ongoing operational costs, like maintenance, utilities, and cleaning, can be challenging to manage efficiently.
Some of the issues regarding finance in space management include:
Effective space management involves a delicate balance between creating high-quality spaces and adhering to financial constraints.
To utilise data effectively, you must first understand how it’s collected, and which data points are worth analysing.
Technology plays a significant role in how a business manages its real estate portfolio. Consider investing in one or a few of these tools:
This type of technology involves the collection and analysis of data related to space management. Leveraging advanced analytics enables businesses to identify inefficiencies, track performance, and make data-driven decisions.
Data that is used for advanced analytics can include:
This is comprised of real-time data on space usage and environmental conditions.
It’s important to understand how meeting spaces are utilised. Scheduling data can be used to optimise room availability. Analysing this data involves:
Smart building technologies, including controls and sensors, can help monitor and regulate systems like lighting, HVAC, and other parameters, to maximise efficiency and manage spaces successfully. These tools help a business collect important data for better decision making. Data sets can include:
Analysing desk and workspace utilisation, while tracking trends in space usage, can help inform future planning. Some common metrics to track include:
Space density, booking lead time, and unoccupied space analysis are good figures to track too.
This involves integrating headcounts into space planning, and correlating headcount data with workspace needs. Some common metrics include:
Monitoring headcount can help a business determine how much space is required for a given number of employees, helping teams anticipate future needs. It also helps a company find the most cost-effective way to allocate space.
IoT devices can gather data on occupancy patterns and equipment performance. This information can then be used to optimise space utilisation and improve maintenance processes.
This data type is particularly important to analyse when purchasing a new property or entering a new lease. It helps to identify what a given property is worth. Lease-cost benchmarking shows if it makes sense to renew a lease, and whether you’re overpaying or underpaying based on the market rate.
Now, for most organisations, the technology section listed above is a “no brainer.” Instead, where they’re getting stuck is gleaning information from those systems and compiling the data for accurate, actionable insights. To solve this problem, you have to know which data points give the most insight.
And this is a significant pain point across the board. Most companies are still in the early stages of their CRE data journey. According to a recent study, only 13% of businesses put themselves among the most advanced for data analytics maturity, while 59% say they do not regularly capture and report data (or only do so intermittently).
According to a recent Forrester survey, 86% of respondents feel it’s important or extremely important to leverage portfolio data to optimize real estate investments, yet 81% say it’s challenging or extremely challenging to do so. How can companies utilise space management data more effectively?
Business intelligence solutions can be complex and expensive. Companies should stop trying to build their own systems and instead find the best technology to meet their needs. Proptech helps to facilitate data-driven decision-making.
Look for a dedicated space management platform that ingests and distills relevant data from as many sources as possible. The right tools will help you take control of your space utilisation with purpose-built analytics, forecasting, and move management.
Employ analytics and visualisation systems to help turn raw data into actionable insights. Tools like dashboards, graphs, and heatmaps can help identify trends, bottlenecks, and areas for improvement.
You can also use space management data to optimise office layouts and designs. This may involve rearranging workspaces, adjusting furniture configurations, and creative collaborative zones based on usage patterns.
Integrate space management data with other relevant sources like facility maintenance records, sensors, booking systems, employee schedules, and environmental data.
This helps to provide a more comprehensive view of space utilisation. It’s also important to implement automated systems for real-time data syncs.
Advanced analytics enables users to analyse their current real estate portfolio, plan for the future, and execute changes to make a positive impact.
A user-friendly, web-based CMMS system helps you reduce downtime, maximise effectiveness, and avoid costly failures before they happen.
The CMMS global market size, which reached $1.23 billion in 2023, is now forecasted to grow to $1.35 billion by 2024, so this trend is taking hold.
However, many computerised maintenance management systems (CMMS) make it easy to put data in but difficult to take it out.
The best solutions offer dashboards with real-time data and insights that are easy to access. This helps a business overcome its most pressing pain points, like the lack of transparency and disparate data sources. Utilise sensors and IoT devices to monitor space usage in real-time, allowing you to make stronger decisions based on current conditions.
Space utilisation patterns can evolve over time. It’s necessary to regularly review and update strategies based on the latest data. This allows companies to ensure they get the most out of real estate investments. You can avoid costly mistakes like leasing too much space or making expensive renovations that are not needed.
It’s also critical to monitor lease expirations and early out deadlines. This helps a business to plan better and identify opportunities to reduce costs. It enables more flexibility in a real estate portfolio and fosters greater agility. For example, when a lease is expiring soon, a business can start searching for a new location to ensure a smooth transition.
Additionally, keeping tabs on maintenance costs allows companies to identify areas where expenses can be reduced. A business stays informed on the condition of the building and can immediately address any safety issues.
Competently utilising data in space management is the key to unlocking insights that can drive productivity and lead to serious cost savings. You can’t fix what you don’t measure. The right technology will help with a myriad of issues, from space utilisation inefficiencies to compliance complexities.
To use space management data productively, businesses should:
Organisations that utilise space management data effectively will better navigate current challenges, positioning themselves for future success.
Accruent is a leading provider of innovative solutions that help a business navigate the complex landscape of business space management. Offering the latest in corporate space intelligence (CSI), an organisation can optimise space utilisation, track usage, increase efficiency, and improve space-related decision-making. Learn more with EMS, Accruent’s intelligent space management and room scheduling software.
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