Michael Bleasby
Michael Bleasby leads our client side division, placing talented Facilities Management professionals into some of the UK's exciting brands and organisations. He has a particular interest in workspace design.
Workspace design has taken centre stage in many boardroom conversations over the past 6 months, as executives begin to navigate a hybrid workforce, while finding ways to entice their employees back to the office.
While the design and set up of office space hasn’t traditionally been a function of facilities management, we’re seeing far more FM projects focusing on this. And utilising the expertise within FM for this is a smart move.
Your facilities manager has expertise far beyond managing cleaning and engineering. Their knowledge of how workplaces are used, the data they collect on space efficiency, and their experience of how strategy plays out on the ground makes their point of view invaluable to workspace design projects.
Here are 5 key areas that your facilities manager can input into your workspace design project:
1) Understanding employee needs
FMs have good insight into what each area of an office is used for, and how often it is used. It’s crucial when beginning a workplace design project to understand what employees need to carry out their work and achieve their goals to best effect.
You need to create an environment that inspires them to be present and is safe, and comfortable. Comfort can mean different things: temperature, lighting or an ergonomic desk.
As a data expert, your facilities manager is perfectly placed to gather this information directly from your employees and make recommendations on how to support those needs.
2) Technology and data collection
Having the data to inform and back up the decisions being made about workspace design is the only way to ensure long term success. With the technology available to track building and room usage, facilities managers are perfectly placed to offer this insight, and track data over time.
3) Sustainability
Sustainability goals are getting more stringent, and your employees care about them more than ever. That’s why a workspace design project should make sure that sustainability is a priority, from building materials to energy usage, pollution prevention to waste reduction and recycling. Any new workspace design should consider the carbon footprint and energy efficiency of the space, as even small adjustments can make a big difference.
4) Agile space
Now that flexible working is one of the top priorities for almost all employees, space needs to be more agile and configurable to accommodate the different requirements of teams on different days, as well as to ensure the company’s ability to react to changes in the market.
5) Troubleshooting
Good workspace design doesn’t start and finish with the project itself. The bedding process is just as important, with initial niggles and longer-term issues all a possibility.
Your FM is there to make sure the transition is smooth and settling into a new space works for everyone involved. And they’ll continue be there to troubleshoot any problems that might arise in the weeks and months afterwards.
The key to getting this right is having an openness for innovation and a deep understanding of the goals of the project:
Innovative workspace design
To create workspaces that incorporate agility, sustainability and employee wellbeing, companies need to embrace innovative workspace design.
Supporting a hybrid workforce means finding ways to connect people no matter where they are, and that means building technology into the foundation of the way the company communicates and interacts. Utilising collaborative software, the Internet of Things and video conferencing can all help to make sure that regular touch points and information sharing is easier for your team.
With mental health and employee wellbeing a growing concern for employers, innovative workspace design can also help to bring new wellbeing initiatives to the workforce – virtual yoga sessions, meditative outdoor space, wellbeing rooms and breakout spaces with access to counselling resources.
goals for workspace design
The goals driving the workspace design project are ultimately the crux of making sure the project is successful. If the driver of the new space is to bring people back to the office to increase face to face interaction and casual, unplanned conversations, it’s important that the workspace design facilitates that. If the workforce returns to cubicles and offices, they’re likely to question the authenticity behind the stated goal.
If the goal is to better support hybrid working while reducing square footage, then integrating the right technology to make sure that meetings can occur with people in different locations, and to enable collaboration for people both onsite and those working remotely needs to be the priority.
What’s important is acknowledging that business as usual isn’t going to cut it anymore. When such a huge portion of the workforce has successfully worked from home without companies seeing a dive in revenue or productivity, there needs to be a driving factor to bring people back. This might be an enhanced cultural offering, luxurious surroundings, guaranteed inter-hierarchical collaboration, or opportunities for socialisation.
Whatever that driving factor needs to be embedded into the plan for the workspace design. This is where your facilities manager can be an invaluable asset. They’ll be able to show you what is possible, and the ways it can be achieved.
Employee Wellbeing
FMs should be at the heart of conversations about employee wellbeing. One of the assurances staff want when returning to the office is that they’ll be kept safe and healthy.
From air filtration systems that remove bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms from the air to germ repellent furniture coating, facilities managers have a finger on the pulse of the innovations that keep people safe.
Noise reduction can also have a massive impact on employee wellbeing and productivity. Using acoustic devices in any new workspace design could see a 27% increase in office based productivity!
Flexibility
Workplaces are in flux at the moment. It may be that we begin to see this settle over the next year, but with many workers refusing to give up their newfound flexibility and improved work life balance, there’s a good chance that there will be a continued need for flexibility in the future.
Facilities managers have the knowledge and data to inform this flexibility. They have a better understanding of building usage than anyone else. This makes them well equipped to advice on which spaces might be better used for collaborative space, which for meeting space, and if traditional office space could be better arranged using flexible furniture to make it a healthier and more productive environment for employees.
Facilities managers and workspace design
The workplace is evolving – it has to, to keep up with employee needs in a world that has been changed by a global pandemic. Facilities Managers are perfectly placed to lead on this change for your organisation, based on data, innovation, and company strategy.
If you’re on the look out for a talented FM who could help you to create a workspace design that fits a modern workforce, get in touch. I’d love to talk to you about some of the fantastic professionals I’ve spoken to recently.
