7 steps to master the process of office space planning

How we work has evolved drastically over the last few years with the rise of work flexibility and technology. To smoothly and successfully embrace these changes, office space planning must create a workplace meeting employees' and employers’ requirements.Employee experience and satisfaction must be central to your strategy when reshuffling work policies and workspace planning. Is your seating arrangement plan tailored to boost teamwork and collaboration? Can your hybrid team members have their own assigned desks when they need them? Does the layout and design enhance a feeling of calm and focus rather than stress?Here are seven steps to master office space planning in today’s world of work. But before digging into creating an agile, thriving, and functional workspace, let’s quickly remember why getting your office planning right is crucial and what positive outcomes it can bring to your business.

Office space planning explained

Definition of office space planning

Office space planning is designing a workspace that fulfills the needs of both the company and the employees. It is used to maximize space efficiency and improve creativity and productivity among the workforce. Team members should enjoy coming to the office, knowing they can work and collaborate in the best conditions. This includes having access to the right equipment and technology while getting a motivation boost from their working environment.

But rethinking your office design and layout is not just about having the most beautiful workspace and the best seating setups. It also includes the atmosphere you want to create. Your choice of furniture, office building floor plans, and decoration generate a certain vibe and reflect your values. On the one hand, opting for a biophilic office and incorporating areas for relaxation boosts employees’ well-being, leading to more creativity, engagement, and productivity. On the other hand, failing to anticipate the need for individual desks and quiet zones for people who require a place to concentrate on specific tasks can cause frustration and stress.

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The core benefits of workspace planning

Successful workspace planning considers the organization’s and teams’ expectations. If you’ve also implemented flexible work arrangements over the last few years, you might have noticed that you can downsize your office. Not everyone will come in daily. Therefore, the needs of employees have shifted, allowing for cost savings and more sustainable, energy-efficient practices. Moreover, your staff is more likely to focus on group projects when coming on-site and on individual tasks when working from home. This changes the role of the physical workplace entirely. For instance, you might add more meeting rooms and other collective spaces.

Creating a well-designed office space benefits your business and its bottom line just as much as it uplifts your team. Among the most apparent advantages, workspace planning helps you in the following areas:

• optimizing space;
• reducing costs;
• fostering employee experience;
• improving collaboration and teamwork;
• reinforcing organizational culture;
• supporting workers’ physical and mental health;
• boosting productivity and performance;
• increasing talent attraction and retention.

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7 steps to plan your office space successfully

1. Analyze data about your workspace’s current use

Before starting to plan anything, you must know how your office space is currently used. For example, how many people are allowed to come on-site each day? What type of workspaces do they prefer? Can they quickly access the desks and meeting rooms they need, or are there scheduling conflicts?  Analyzing how your staff utilizes the workspace is also crucial. For instance, if your team members are working on their computers while sitting on the sofas rather than at a table, ask them why. They might feel more productive in this space than in a single workstation with a simple desk and a hard chair. To understand your office use and occupancy, we highly recommend checking your workplace analytics to make data-driven decisions and getting your workers’ feedback to create an employee-centric work environment.

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2. Include your employees in the process

How you design your office space must match your company’s requirements, but it should also support environments that enhance your team members’ productivity and well-being. Always remember that employees are the backbone of your business. They can make it grow or collapse. Therefore, understanding their preferences and needs is essential to satisfy them and boost their performance. 

A great place to start is by discussing with your team and creating an environment for open and honest communication. The best office space planning reflects your employees’ needs. Understanding what is working and what is not is key to smarter decision-making. You can ask them in person how they feel regarding the current use of the space and what they believe is missing. 

Employee satisfaction questionnaires are also an easy solution to get honest and constructive feedback. This way, your team has time to think about their answers and write down the most important aspects they expect to find when coming on-site.

3. Consider your workplace culture and values

Your office building layout should also mirror your organizational culture and your values.

For example, is your culture employee-centric? Then, your office should prioritize employee well-being through resting spaces and biophilic office design. Or, if you want to foster teamwork, different types of collective areas should be included in your office space planning. Is having a positive impact on our planet one of your key objectives? Great! Then, you must make a genuine effort to consider sustainability practices when recreating your office layout. 

Building an office space that echoes your workplace culture is fundamental as it drives loyalty and feelings of connection. This is even more crucial in hybrid settings as less time is spent in the office interacting with others in person.

4. Prioritize a floor plan configuration based on space variety and flexibility

Everyone talks about flexibility, but it goes beyond flexible work arrangements. To meet your employees' requirements and needs, you must create an agile, dynamic, and functional workspace. 

For example, individual desks are no longer helpful workspace layouts, as people come to the office to connect with their colleagues. However, an office space composed only of collaborative workspaces does not serve specific jobs that also need quiet workstations for concentrated work. 

You can’t have the perfect number of desks, meeting rooms, etc., as your workforce’s needs can change from one day to another according to the tasks they have to accomplish. Yet, offering various office layouts and flexible seating arrangements is the closest you can get to creating a thriving and people-centric workspace.

This is when the outcomes of your workplace analytics and your employees’ feedback become very useful. You also have to consider other factors, such as whether your floor plan structure will be built on an activity-based working setup or not.‍

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💜 Discover 9 types of office layouts to create an agile and dynamic workplace!

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5. Design a safe and healthy work environment

Creating a safe and healthy work environment includes following the standard Occupational Health and Safety guidelines and enhancing physical and mental health.

Your office layout and design play a crucial role here. They can trigger stress and anxiety as much as they can foster well-being and creativity. For example, artificial light has a psychological impact that is different from natural light. The same goes for employees exposed to a biophilic environment compared to those evolving in a lean workspace. 

Therefore, according to your budget and what matters the most for you, you might want to:

• implement office ergonomic practices;
• dedicate a room to sports activities;
• focus on the air quality of your office;
• plan a workplace design that boosts mental health;
• create more spaces to promote social interactions and community feelings.

6. Assess your future needs in your office space planning strategy

Like any business, you are probably willing to develop and expand your operations. If set up correctly, your office layout and the steps we’ve shared with you can help create the right environment to boost company growth. Remember, one of the reasons why focusing on office space planning is crucial is that it plays a key role in enhancing employee satisfaction and productivity. With happier and more engaged team members, the chances for them to thrive and expand your business increase.

Looking into the future and adapting to how people work, the technology they engage with, and the emerging workspace management trends should be a significant step in your office space planning. This also relies on monitoring utilization data and how it changes over time within your organization. You don’t want to end up with obsolete seating arrangements in a few months or years that don’t meet your capacity needs and your employees’ requirements. Therefore, you must remember your goals and adjust your office space planning strategy accordingly.

7. Use an office space planner to test different options

At some point, you will have to put all your ideas “on paper” to see if they work. That is when office space planning tools like SmartDraw come into play. It is an excellent solution for digitally designing each workplace area and testing multiple layout options. You can rearrange spaces and furniture according to your office space planning objectives and your employee's needs.

Its sharing and collaboration features allow you to brainstorm and plan your office space transformation with your colleagues. It is convenient for flexible teams working from various locations and sometimes at different times. 

From functionality to accessibility and inclusivity, this online tool enables you to assemble the best office layout before spending money and trying it in reality.‍‍

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👋 Use our hybrid office calculator to find out what’s the best employee/desk ratio for your office!

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deskbird: the best workplace management app for running and planning office spaces

deskbird supports all companies that embrace a hybrid work model. Our workplace management app helps you successfully run your workspace, meet your employees’ needs, and avoid the office space planning issues that can occur in a hybrid setup.

Office analytics to understand your office use and occupancy

For example, our office analytics feature helps you understand how your staff uses the office and identify their needs. You can see the number of people in the office daily, which areas are booked the most, and for how long. Based on your observations and analysis, you can arrange your office space. However, remember that even if our tool gives you a clear idea about where to improve, your employees' feedback is equally important.

People-centric features to boost employee satisfaction and experience

Moreover, the deskbird app has been created to make everybody’s lives easier and improve employee experience. For instance, we realized that although the future of work is all about flexibility, this doesn’t mean all people enjoy working from a different desk each time they come on-site. Therefore, we designed the assigned spaces feature, which enables administrators to allocate specific workspaces for a certain amount of time upon employees’ requests.

Collaboration and team-bonding features to meet the hybrid teams’ needs

The deskbird app helps you boost collaboration among your hybrid team in various ways. The week planning feature lets managers and coworkers see each other's timetables. Consequently, you can schedule your office days according to when your colleagues indicate they’ll be on-site. Our room booking functionality ensures you have the meeting space you need when working on a collective project. The interactive floor plan is great when people decide to work in the office at the last minute and haven’t reserved a workspace yet. Within seconds, they can see where the available spots and their teammates are in the office. As our working methods change and become more flexible, office space planning has become a crucial topic for every organization. Today’s facilities have to adapt to the workforce’s new needs and embrace the trends of the office of the future.

The benefits of well-thought-out workspace planning go beyond design and good-looking furniture. It fosters workers’ satisfaction, productivity, and well-being, leading to higher performance and business growth. Office data, employee feedback, and trends analysis are great starting points for a better understanding of how to create a dynamic and functional workspace. Lastly, consider how the office design makes your team members feel and the key role of workplace technology in enhancing the perks of your brand-new layout!

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Request a free demo of the deskbird app to discover how we can help you level up your workplace and improve your hybrid employees’ experience!