Amidst Omicron: a checklist for the physical office environment

As we head into the holidays, many companies’ entire return-to-office strategies have been shelved as the new Omicron variant looms and governments ask business leaders to reassess whether employees truly need to be in the office right now.

While it’s easy to feel like throwing in the towel amidst this seemingly infinite pandemic loop, the reality is that office space is a commodity that needs to be managed properly – even if your return to work strategy is still in flux. To ensure they’re ready when the moment comes, savvy occupancy planners are leveraging data to build the best possible plan. 

Office space on your mind? Consider these must-dos...

In our latest guide, we provide key insights into how you can find opportunity in every square foot to ensure your office is efficient, functional and purposeful. Here’s our checklist for what’s a must when it comes to your physical space:

• Put flexibility at the forefront across the office – because things will evolve
• Go beyond people counting measures to answer questions like:  'which team, when, how often, where' 
• Don’t skimp on the research  – ensure solid metrics are informing decisions
• Make informed changes to the office layout to enhance productivity
• Consider your full office in the context of: “how can I make this best suitable for hybrid work by understanding the behaviors and preferences of our employees”
• Stay focused on the fact that different teams have different needs – including individuals within the same teams
• Build safety and physical distancing into the strategy 
• Flag any areas you already know are underperforming or, the opposite, overly taxed
• Empower employees to make personal decisions on how they’d prefer to work 
• Build meeting room and desk reservation systems that respond in real time
• Consider whether idle contact tracing is a worthwhile solution to incorporate

We feel it is critical to keep these considerations top of mind as the calendar turns into 2022 – and the uncertainty turns with it. Minor, cost-effective changes are often all that’s needed to manage an efficient hybrid working model. 

With InnerSpace, it’s now possible to evolve a physical corporate space in lockstep with any changing needs. Download our guide for more.

With InnerSpace, employers know:   

• How many people are not only in the office, but how often they come and how long they stay
• How specific teams function within a space, including individual time in-office, in team zones, meetings, or off the floor
• Whether collaboration spaces or specific meeting rooms are under- or over-utilized     – and what times of day, or days of the week are most popular to use those spaces
• How hot-desking density compares to assigned seating density  
• Where employees tend to congregate by floor and by key zones  
• How many interactions are happening between employees, visitors and customers 
• Where people move throughout the building and how often they do so – a key consideration for resource utilization, movement patterns, bottlenecks and more.