How To Manage Workspace Usage In A Hybrid Workplace

At Gable, we speak to company leaders, People Ops and HR departments and Workplace professionals every day. When we discuss their needs, there is one main point that we hear from virtually every company: the need to bring employee needs together with a streamlined, more insightful People Operations department.

Workplace management is an integral part of designing and implementing hybrid and remote work in a way that benefits employee satisfaction, the company’s retention strategy, and the overall business results.

The time of a singular workspace - the 9-5 office - has gone, and the needs of employees are evolving. Some of them prefer working from home, while others want to remain remote but still have access to workspaces when they need them. Some teams need spaces to meet and work together, while others want a quiet area to do focused work twice a week. Meanwhile, it’s up to the People teams to implement, manage, and monitor these options.

So where should you start? Here is an overview of our guide:

Understanding what employees need

Before you begin implementing any workspace strategy, it’s critical to understand the needs of your employees. Here’s how you can do that:

Ask the right questions

Create a workspace-focused survey or questionnaire and ask your employees about what they need to focus, collaborate, and do their best work.

Assess different employee needs

The results of the workspace survey will shine a light on some important distinctions you need to make in your workplace strategy. For example, employees from different departments will likely have different workspace needs.

Start building a workplace strategy

Use the analyzed and synthesized data from your survey to inform your workplace strategy.

Managing space utilization

People professionals are looking for hybrid workplace models that enable them to cater to what employees want while getting insights and using all the benefits of HR technology to say ahead of the curve and optimize their operations. How they manage their workspaces is a critical piece of the workplace puzzle that can help companies design the best experiences for their employees.

Here’s how to perfect your space utilization management:

Decide on models to offer to employees

Before anything else, decide on whether you want to stick to your offices, combine them with flex spaces in a hybrid work model, or go fully remote and offer flex space access to employees.

Set usage and budget limits for employees

Do some research to find a workplace management system that enables you to set usage limits and privilege levels for different employees and departments.

Track and monitor usage to inform decision-making

When you implement a hybrid workplace strategy and offer workspace options to employees, your job with managing the hybrid workforce is just beginning. The feedback and insights you get from when, how, and why employees use spaces help you build a deep understanding of your workforce and whether what you’re offering them works.

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