Are offices a waste of space and time?


Resources are being wasted by restricting office hours, and workers prefer a virtual environment, research shows.


fx

Words by Cathy Hayward

Offices are a waste of space ... and time The office is a poorly-used asset, according to new research by management consultancy and workplace specialist AWA. It finds that although offices are available for occupancy 365 days a year, in practice they are only open 12 hours a day most days and are unused at weekends. Even when office workplaces are open, desks are only used on average 59 per cent of the time and meeting spaces 39 per cent of the time.

The research also reveals that drop-in desks are not widely used and that London offices work a bit harder than workplaces outside the capital.

AWA says that one reason for the poor use of office space is that the architectural and interior design professions tend to follow a 'data-less' approach. Too often briefing starts with what people want, as opposed to what is demonstrated to be needed through thorough analysis, says AWA managing director Andrew Mawson. 'We would implore architects and interior designers to adopt an evidence-based approach to briefing and design, so that a proper understanding of how people work and their use of and need for different spaces is considered,' he says.

Mawson says the first thing organisations should do to understand the use of their workplaces is to carry out regular (at least once a quarter) studies to assess the use of space through time. This will draw management attention to new opportunities and can support consolidation of space, or in a growth situation avoiding the need for more space.

The British Institute of Facilities Management has published the results of its survey, with the University of Reading, into sustainability issues in organizations
The British Institute of Facilities Management has published the results of its survey, with the University of Reading, into sustainability issues in organizations

The Utilisation of the Office report, based on AWA's work with organisations over recent years, sets out some frightening truths about the way in which the workplace is being used (or not) and points at ways underutilised capacity can be used to get a better deal for people and shareholders.

It recommends adopting an agile working regime (sometimes referred to as free seating, unassigned desking and hot desking) where people use available desks around their team's 'anchor point'. This way people still have access to their colleagues, papers, telephone calls, IT applications, electronic files and desktops.

The anchor points mark the central point of occupation for a unit, team or department, and instead of having allocated space, people sit close to their anchor point and use space on a first-come basis. This approach is entirely analogous to 'just-in-time' manufacturing.

'From a space utilisation standpoint the benefit of this approach is that all the unused "time slots" of capacity are now usable, and because "owned" areas are not being created for each department the ebbs and flows of each department's occupancy can be accommodated within the whole of the space,' says Mawson.

For a copy of The Utilisation of the Office report email info@advanced-workplace.com

Business benefits compromised by box-ticking approach to sustainability, says BIFM
UK businesses are missing out on a range of benefits by operating on the 'border' of compliancy when it comes to sustainable business practice, according to the annual sustainability survey from the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM).

Led by BIFM in collaboration with the University of Reading, the survey, investigates what aspects of the sustainability agenda organisations are engaging with and the drivers that bring issues to the forefront of business.

Despite 60 per cent of businesses reporting that sustainability policies are integrated into their business effectively, 78 per cent cited corporate image as the main driver for doing so, closely followed by an increase in regulation (77 per cent). This suggests a 'box-ticking' approach to sustainability instead of businesses embracing and investing in longer-term practices and the advantages of 'spending to save'.

Despite ambitious sustainability targets forecast over the coming years and increasing demands of regulation forcing energy and waste issues further up the corporate agenda, there also remains too much of a 'short-termist' view among senior and board-level executives who are choosing instead to focus on ROI of a few years versus the longer term.

Further, the findings reveal that reporting is not done effectively enough and that sustainability measurement tools that are available are not being used correctly, or utilised to their full extent, resulting in a lack of evidence-based ROI.

More positively, the increase in regulation is helping engagement between facilities managers (FMs) and senior individuals within their business, helping to improve communication between FMs and the boardroom where policies tend to get sign-off.

Gareth Tancred, chief executive of BIFM, commented: 'While it is encouraging to see that more than half of businesses we engaged with are imbedding sustainability into the heart of their business practices, it is clear that we need a firm commitment from businesses to "go beyond" the bare minimum and commit to long-term initiatives that will ultimately prove beneficial for their bottom line, and the wider society. Businesses can't afford to not be sustainable and in contrast to those who think investment in sustainability requires expensive technologies or significant capital expenditure, there are "lower key" operational and behaviour changes that would make a considerable difference.'

Download the full report at bifm.org.uk/bifm/news/7212

PWC predicts the end of the office
The traditional nine-to-five office environment could soon be a thing of the past according to a new report by PwC: The future of work: A journey to 2022. The research reveals that only 14 per cent of UK workers want to work in a traditional office environment in the future, whereas one in five people say they want to work in a 'virtual' place where they can log on from any location or use collaborative work spaces.

PwC's report reveals a number of projections for what the future of work might look like, based on a survey of 10,000 workers and 500 HR professionals worldwide.

People's desire to break free from the traditional office environment suggests that the way we work in the future could change dramatically and organisations need to prepare themselves for this shift.

AWA managing director Andrew Mawson
AWA managing director Andrew Mawson

The research found that a quarter of UK workers believe that traditional employment won't be around in the future. Instead, they believe that they will have their own brands and sell their skills to those who need them.

They will be working for themselves, where they choose. People's lack of interest in working in an office reflects the growing desire among many workers to have more flexibility and varied challenges by working freelance or as a contractor for a number of organisations.

The report reveals that many HR professionals are already preparing for this shift towards more portfolio careers, as they predict that at least 20 per cent of their workforce will be made up of contractors or temporary workers by 2022. Nearly a third of HR professionals are building their talent strategies around the rise of the portfolio career, hiring a mix of people on an affordable, ad-hoc basis.

'It's clear from our research that nine-to-five office working could soon become resigned to history for many workers,' said Jon Andrews, UK HR consulting leader at PwC. 'People feel strongly that they no longer want to work within the constraints of the typical office environment, and advances in technology mean that workers no longer have to be shackled to their desks.

"We could easily see the rise of organisations that have a core team that embodies the philosophy and values of the company, but the rest of the workforce is not fixed and come in and out on a project-by-project basis. These companies will make extensive use of technology to run their businesses, coordinate a largely external workforce and support their relationships with third parties.

Contact pwc.com/futureofwork for a copy of the report

New tool to measure workplace customer satisfaction
Two experienced facilities managers have launched a new web-based survey tool for workplace and facilities managers to understand user satisfaction with the workplace and facilities services. The Facilities Management Quality Index aims to improve the quality of workplace services, offering a robust, independent view of services and giving facilities managers the evidence on which to base decisions.

The tool, officially approved by the British Institute of Facilities Management, is the brainchild of BIFM's managing director Lucy Black and Chairman Gordon Ludlow.








Progressive Media International Limited. Registered Office: 40-42 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8EB, UK.Copyright 2024, All rights reserved.