Space Management

Real Estate and Facilities Managers need to track buildings, workspaces, personnel and assets to gain an understanding of the financial impact of occupancy, cost allocations, and charge backs.  They also need to forecast real estate needs for strategic planning and decision making.

The Old Traditional Approach to Space Management

A Traditional Approach to Space Management

Most organizations track their inventory of office space and the allocation of that space.  Chargebacks to departments and business units are then based on the number of desks allocated to each. When it comes time to project how much space will be needed in the future, organizations use current allocations as the basis for forecasts. 

Some of the challenges with this approach are -
  • Manual surveys are performed to determine actual use, but they measure only a sample of workspaces over a short period of time.
  • The survey process is labor intensive.
  • Many surveys are required for analyses.
  • Space Planners are not aware of self moves or all new hires or vacancies.
  • Infrastructure systems (HR, CAFM, Financial, etc.) are not integrated resulting in redundant, out-of-synch data.
The New Approach to Space Management and the Agile Work Environment
Business man checking in to Agile workplace The AgilQuest solution adds two additional layers of space information to the Inventory and Allocation model.  This four layer stack is now made up with  -
your total space INVENTORY,
how your space is ALLOCATED,
how your space is SCHEDULED or ASSIGNED, and
how your space is ACTUALLY USED.
The Inventory Layer shows you the size of each building, floor and workspace; basic information contained in all leases; building locations; and building capacities.
The Allocation Layer shows your departmental workspace allocations, space vacancies, and information regarding space charge backs.
The Scheduled/Assigned Layer shows how every workspace is scheduled to be used on a day to day basis, including who is scheduled to use each space, where the vacancies are located, and a systematic approach to how people can find a workspace when and where they need one.
The Actual Use Layer tracks the actual use of all assigned, collaborative, and shared workspaces, and who used each space.

Armed with this information, organizations can determine how to add more people without adding more space - or how to identify the workspaces that are grossly underutilized. Tens of millions of dollars can be saved or avoided by divesting unused space, or by adding employees to existing facilities.

The Scheduled and Actual Use layers give employees what they really want: a choice in workplace settings and a means to locate colleagues. These two layers also provide management with the business intelligence needed to optimize the real estate portfolio, cut the number of buildings required to support the workforce – and dramatically reduce your organization’s carbon footprint.  In short, the addition of the Scheduled and Actual Use layers to the Space Management Stack is the way to make the workplace as flexible as the workforce.

 Tracking space used with AgilQuest

 Space Management in an Agile Work Environment
Business man checking in to Agile workplace
The AgilQuest solution adds two additional layers of space information to the Inventory and Allocation model, making it a four layer stack consisting of -
  • your total space INVENTORY,
  • how your space is ALLOCATED,
  • how your space is SCHEDULED or ASSIGNED,
  • how your space is ACTUALLY USED.

 The Inventory Layer shows you the size of each building, floor and workspace; basic information contained in all leases; building locations; and building capacities.

 The Allocation Layer shows your departmental workspace allocations, space vacancies, and information regarding space charge backs.
 
The Scheduled/Assigned Layer shows how every workspace is scheduled to be used on a day to day basis, including who is scheduled to use each space, where the vacancies are located, and a systematic approach to how people can find a workspace when and where they need one.
 
The Actual Use Layer tracks the actual use of all assigned, collaborative, and shared workspaces, and who used each space.

In an Agile Work Environment, actual use of space is measured continually, and for all workspaces. Armed with this information, organizations can determine how to add more people without adding more space - or how to identify the workspaces that are grossly underutilized. Tens of millions of dollars can be saved or avoided by divesting unused space, or by adding employees to existing facilities.

The Scheduled and Actual Use layers give employees what they really want: a choice in workplace settings and a means to locate colleagues. These two layers also provide management with the business intelligence needed to optimize the real estate portfolio, cut the number of buildings required to support the workforce – and dramatically reduce your organization’s carbon footprint.  In short, the addition of the Scheduled and Actual Use layers to the Space Management Stack is the way to make the workplace as flexible as the workforce.

 Tracking space used with AgilQuest

The AgilQuest Solution would:

  • Eliminate the need and the costs of manual field surveys
  • Provide accurate business intelligence information to top management
  • Shorten the time to answer questions about the existing state of facilities
  • Improve the ability to perform predictive analyses and forecasts
  • Provide corporate-wide access of Space-related data by all business units
  • Improve space management reporting capabilities
  • Improve the general confidence in data and analysis results
    See Agilquest in action with our overview video!
    Watch the new AgilQuest video!
    Contact AgilQuest via email or phone Ready for more?
    Contact us
    via email or phone
    Sign up for the AgilQuest newsletter and keep up with the latest news in mobile workforce and agile workplaces Keep up with mobile workforce news
    Sign up for our newsletter