Space Management in traditional business has been broken down to a science. One so traditional that a handful of operators today still swear by doing it on paper and pencil and/or a spreadsheet. However, with the rise of Coworking and the new methods being applied by the modern workforce, operators are missing the many benefits being offered by the new advancements in space management. Space management is becoming more complex as new models and demands have risen to the forefront. The purpose of good space management is still the same however: to cut expenses and increase efficiency. To have a strong management system you must have the following three principles in place:
- An Understanding of Your Space Usage
- Knowledge of How to Improve Space Usage
- Process for Regular Space Changes
- A Forecast for Future Space Usage
To best understand this process, here are three signs that you need to improve your space management process. Applying these changes will cut time in the management process, increasing your productivity.
Too Much Time Processing
Manual processing could hardly keep up with the methods of space management decades ago. Today’s challenges have made this even more of an uphill climb. It’s not just coordination that is the challenge, but precision and efficiency as well. Operators with outdated practices for processing have little to no resources for future planning.
Given the average churn rate of a shared space, if you can’t keep up with processing the transient movement of your members, the onboarding process of new members will become a nightmare in time-consumption as well as exhaustion of your resources. Furthermore, if you’re operating your space through a series of mutually-exclusive methods that are not interconnected, you run the risk of having scheduling and management conflicts. A Coworking software system that runs in real time, can keep your processes interconnected, and provide a seamless process for members coming and going will go a long way in optimizing for efficiency and accuracy.
Underutilized Office Space
With your eyes and ears alone, or an excel spreadsheet rather, there is no way to see how your space is meeting the demand and potential of its members. Without a better management system in place you’ll seldom have the answers to even the most basic questions such as:
- What spaces are occupied?
- Where are certain businesses located?
- Where are the primary occupants of each area?
- What spaces are most underutilized?
- How much extra am I paying for this empty space?
There is much more to understanding your space usage that goes beyond meeting membership demands. Understanding the hours of peak occupancy as well as meeting room usage within your workspace can help you optimize your resources and streamline your costs. By not understanding the utilization of your space, you’ll never know if you’re paying more than what you need.
Poor Space Management Communication and Infrastructure
Are you and your members on the same page, not just between you and them but also amongst themselves? Is there a conflict between two parties and the availability of resources they both need? With poor communication, you have a community that is not engaged or willing to help you tailor your offerings for better business. Over time the needs of your members will change. Great workspaces have systems in place to anticipate these changes and meet them head on.
With no system for data and analytics in place as well as no knowing of whether your members have outgrown their existing plan, your management is operating blindly. This pain is further exacerbated when trying to plan for future occupants, provide for remote/virtual members, as well as address reservations through various systems. This is a one-way ticket to losing business to the competitors who can forecast these events and plan.
The demand for space management is growing and evolving to account for the new changes in the modern workforce. If the system you have in place is not sufficient in processing and onboarding your members, giving you a clear picture of your space utilization, and providing a foundation for communicating with your members about their demands and needs then it’s time to adapt. For more information on how WUN can help to improve your space management, please click the button below.