How Much Office Space Do I Need?

Are you currently questioning how much office space your company is going to need?

It is a tricky one with the current climate; however, at Office Insight, we get this question every day. We have helped many clients post and pre-COVID-19 with their office fit-outs. Many clients come to us with the need for help with regards to company space and design. We help them to design an area they need now and anticipate their future space needs based on their projected growth.

This blog will help you to understand how much space you will need per employee. First off, let us visualise it. Picture yourself in your current office space now and ask yourself:

–         Do you want to declutter your current office space?

–         Does your office space currently serve its purpose?

–         Do you use every facility in your current office space? 

–         Do you have specific spaces for each department?

–         Do you vision yourself working in this space as your company grows?

–         Do you have PPE and social distancing measures in place?

–         Do you have more employees that will continue remote working?

Once you have identified the critical issues within these questions, you can begin to think about how much office space you need.

As explained in the most recent blog, COVID-19 has affected not only just our daily lives but also our office lives too. Now is the most critical time to think about space and how your office fit out will be utilised after the pandemic.

Proactive, communal area designs are essential, as it can influence the flow of traffic through an office. It can also affect the sense of teamwork and unity in the office, help remain a safe distance, and ever alter employee performance.

It is essential to think about what value you would like to get out of your office space and whether it provides a layout for socially distanced work and socialisation. If your company has limited space for common areas over a small footprint, mixed-use areas can be planned so you can get the most functionality from your square footage. However, suppose your office space is already relatively small design and needs room for employee expansion. In that case, it may be work looking at relocating to a location where larger conference rooms and communal workspaces can be added to the fit out.

You may not be ready for employee expansion just yet, but it is always vital to plan for growth. If you do not plan for future growth, you could potentially find yourself out of space after hiring new employees and moving offices can be expensive. When thinking about your office's future, it is important to consider how employees work styles are evolving in your design.

COVID-19 has put us all to the test of working at home. It is important to consider employee welfare and identify whether your employees will come back into the office and, if not, how you can get them back into the office.