Do We Have Enough Space? The Data Gap Behind Workplace Decisions

As organizations continue navigating return-to-office (RTO) mandates and hybrid work, many leaders are being asked to make major workplace decisions without fully understanding how their offices are actually being used.

In the latest episode of the InnPact Podcast by InnerSpace, host Jennifer Shannon sits down with workplace strategy and real property leader Sonia Powell to explore the real challenges organizations face as they rethink workplace strategy, office utilization, and employee experience.

While many organizations focus on how many people are in the office, Sonia explains that the bigger question is whether the office is actually helping people do their work better. Today’s workforce is dealing with higher workloads, changing expectations, and the ongoing shift to hybrid work. Simply bringing employees back into the office without reconsidering how work happens can add friction rather than improve collaboration.

Many companies rely on metrics like badge swipes, building entry counts, or overall occupancy levels to understand workplace usage. While these metrics can show whether employees came into the office, they don’t explain what actually happens once people arrive.

Understanding the workplace requires deeper insights. Leaders need to look at how different spaces are used, whether employees can easily move between focused work and collaboration, and whether the environment supports the types of work people are trying to accomplish.

Workplace strategy, Sonia notes, is not just about furniture or layouts, it reflects how an organization operates. When companies say they value collaboration, innovation, and trust, the workplace should make those behaviors easier, not harder.

To better understand how a workplace is performing, Sonia highlights several important signals leaders should pay attention to:

• Space utilization: Which spaces are consistently used, avoided, or misused
  
  
• Employee experience: Whether the workplace supports productivity, connection, and focus
  
  
• Purpose of the office: Ensuring employees come in for meaningful in-person work, not just virtual meetings
  
  

Another important part of the conversation is trust. As organizations adopt workplace analytics and data-driven tools, transparency around privacy becomes essential.

When employees understand that workplace data is being used to improve the environment, not monitor individuals, they are far more likely to support it.

Ultimately, the discussion highlights a common issue many organizations face today: they don’t necessarily have a space problem, they have a visibility problem.

With better insight into how employees actually use the workplace, leaders can make more informed decisions about office design, hybrid work policies, and real estate strategy, creating workplaces that truly support how people work today.