4 min read

Want to Banish Commute Regret Forever? Manage Office Occupancy

If you’ve ever experienced instant and crippling commute regret after coming into the office, you understand why it’s critical to manage office occupancy.

Most of us have experienced commute regret triggered by either of these two scenarios:

The office is packed to the brim because everyone’s come in on the same day. It’s impossible to find a decent desk and sit near your colleagues. All the background noise and personal space invasions make it an unproductive day.

No one comes in at all on the day you do. The office feels like a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and it’s so quiet you can virtually hear the fluorescent lights humming overhead. Sure, you can pick any desk you want and work in complete silence, but the entire reason for coming in – collaboration – is now null and void.

In both cases, you have a terrible workplace experience. And in both cases, you immediately decide your morning commute was a waste of time. You won’t be repeating it anytime soon and you’ll probably be venting about it to your closest colleagues.

Managing office occupancy is the antidote to commute regret.

The last three years have proven that the majority of tasks can be done just as productively working remotely. That means the biggest reason people come into the office is other people.

The challenge facing workplace leaders is figuring out how to alter the working environment to facilitate social connection and collaboration without sacrificing comfort and productivity. This is what people are after when they jump in the car or board the train in the morning.

Managing office occupancy is one way to improve the workplace experience and make that morning commute worth it.

But why is better management office occupancy the secret to making the workplace experience worthwhile? That’s what we’ll be diving into in this post.

What does it mean to manage office occupancy?

Managing office occupancy is the optimization of the volume of people versus space, so each workspace delivers the best possible employee experience.

When office occupancy is managed properly, quiet areas are quiet and collaborative areas have just the right level of buzz to get connections and ideas flowing.

What’s more, it’s effortless for employees to access and plan their time in the workplace with certainty that what they get out of the office will be far greater than the effort they put into getting there.

Some companies are attempting to control rather than manage office occupancy via strict mandates ordering people to be in the office for a designated amount of time.

But as we can see from the reaction to Amazon’s recent return-to-office announcement, controlling occupancy risks revolt and damages employer credibility if people don’t think there’s a good enough reason for them to be there.

A far better way to boost occupancy is to encourage people to come in when they feel they’d benefit from it and then consistently delivering an employee experience that’s worth the commute.

Managing office occupancy is a process of understanding how people are already working in the office, identifying areas of friction standing in the way of a better employee experience, and then removing those frictions.

The benefits of managing office occupancy

A better workplace experience

Managing office occupancy prevents under and overcrowding. Everyone should have the right spaces and resources they need at the right times, so they can work comfortably and productively. In the long run, this improves your employer brand for both existing and prospective employees.

In an age where everyone is telling their employees to come back into the office, focusing on the workplace experience before the mandate is a massive differentiator.

Reduced workplace operating costs

Shaping the workplace around work habits and preferences might lead to discovering that floors, zones and even entire buildings aren’t being used. Adjusting the use of heating, AC, lighting and facilities management services in proportion with how employees are occupying the space is a big cost-cutter.

Reduced office carbon footprint

Reducing energy usage reduces carbon footprint. Managing office occupancy can also be a way to further reduce environmental costs. For example, by making meeting rooms on the east side of the building available in the morning to make use of natural light, then switching to meeting rooms on the left side in the afternoon. What’s more, a commitment to reducing daily environmental costs can help your business be more energy efficiency and also boosts your employer brand.

Managing office occupancy well means that your office becomes the place to be while also putting a satisfied smile on your CFO’s face.

But what are the steps workplace leaders can take to manage office occupancy, improve the workplace experience and banish commute regret forever?

Watch this space for part two of everything you need to know about managing office occupancy, coming next week!

Smartway2’s intelligent workplace scheduling can help you manage office occupancy by personalizing employee experience. With Smartway2, it’s easy to book the right desks, meeting rooms and services employees need for a productive, collaborative day in the office that keeps them coming back.