Do You Have A Space Management Policy?
Among the more important tasks in facilities management is space management. The expenses associated with the utilization of the workspace are among the highest off all costs in modern organizations. Bearing this in mind, it’s easy to see how important the job of space management is to the facilities manager.
Before delving into space management policies, it’s helpful to understand the importance of space management itself. Basically, effectively managing an office ensures that there is enough physical space for all employees to be able to complete their daily tasks comfortably and efficiently. If the space is too tight, productivity can be severely impacted and limited. If the space is too large, you’re essentially paying for more space than you need, thereby hurting your bottom line.
In order to organize and manage a workspace in a cost-effective manner, more and more companies are looking to other initiatives to save money. In order to ensure that the right amount of space and equipment exists for each employee, organizations are investing in space management software – such as iOffice’s SaaS for space management – to accomplish these tasks much faster, more effectively, and more affordably.
Implementing a Space Management Policy
Essentially, the goal of space management is to make the use of a space much more efficient and effective. A space management policy helps in the planning, management, and control of the accommodations and utilization of a specific space. Ideally, a space management policy should start with the notion of thinking of a space as a whole entity rather than defining it by its units. Basically, the entire workspace can be reassigned at any time in order to stay up-date-date, and meet the current needs of the office.
Today’s Increasingly Evolving and Mobile Workplace
The modern office space of today is no longer about endless aisles of cubicles where each employee spends every moment within the confines of the office unit. These days employees are very mobile. Communication is no longer just limited to chatting face to face at someone’s desk, or picking up the landline and dialing out to a particular extension.
With the constant evolution and mobility of the workplace, it becomes more important than ever for facilities managers to adopt an enhanced way to manage their space through the use of space management software.
Third Party Work Spaces
With the mobile nature of our current workforce, employees can work anywhere with Wi-Fi and a laptop. This includes places like the local coffee shop, the library, on a park bench, or even at home. In cases where employees will be occupying third party workspaces, the space management policy should encompass this realm. In order for this to happen safely and effectively, the activity should both support core business while also generating a certain level of security for the business.
In any case, having a space management policy in place that covers any work area being occupied by employees can be managed more effectively with the use of user-friendly space management software.
Key Components of a Space Management Policy
Certain principles should ideally be included in a space management policy, including the following:
• All space is owned by the organization, and will be centrally controlled and subject to review.
• All units may require periodic adjustment as required.
• Space allocation is to be evaluated based on criteria such as effectiveness and efficiency of space usage.
• Occasional space reallocations will be necessary to meet changing priorities of the organization.
• Space allocations and re-designations of the type of existing space will be subject to the approval of the facilities manager.
• All efforts will be made to provide quality space for all staff that meets all workplace health and safety standards.
Making Use of Space Management Software
Using a helpful tool like iOffice’s SaaS for space management can help facilities managers monitor the processes of their building, access real-time data, and even make instant changes. Cloud-based applications are also available to make smarter use of asset management to reduce overall costs.
Not only will tools such as space management software make the job of the facilities manager much easier and less stressful, they can also significantly reduce costs and drive a companies revenues.
