10 Big Benefits of Space Management Software

If your organization is like most, real estate is your second-largest expense—and one of your greatest opportunities for reducing costs.

The only way you’re going to do that is to improve your space utilization. But first, you need visibility into how your buildings, offices and meeting rooms are being used. That means it’s absolutely essential to have space management software.

Here are ten reasons why you can’t afford to wait any longer to invest in it. 

Space Management Software: 10 Big Benefits

1. Real-Time Space Utilization Data

You may think you have a good handle on occupancy rates for your buildings, but what you don’t know could be costing you tens of thousands of dollars.

Considering the average office has about 40 percent of its space vacant at any given time, taking a look at true, real-time space utilization data may shock you. But once you get over that shock, that information is empowering. You can use it to make smarter decisions about building utilities and maintenance, for instance. You may even discover you don’t actually need to lease a new building to accommodate growth—you can just make better use of your existing space.

2. See Your Entire Real Estate Portfolio At A Glance

When you can see both the granular and the 10,000-foot view of your company’s real estate, you’ll have a much clearer picture of whether your organization is achieving its targets.

Space management software allows you to see everything in one place, rather than having to compile volumes of data from disparate systems at various buildings. 

3. Custom Dashboards And Reporting

How many times have you been asked to put together a presentation for your boss at a moment’s notice? Once you have all the data you need, you have to put it into format that’s easy to understand and, well, presentable. 

With space management software, the majority of the work is already done for you. Just export the data into a presentation-ready format, add some context and it’s ready to go. 

You can also create customized dashboards your executive team can view at any time, which could greatly reduce those last-minute requests. 

4. Forecast And Plan

Once you’re monitoring space utilization trends, you’ll be able to better plan for mid and long-term growth. You’ll have a better idea of how much space each employee actually uses and how much more space you’ll need to accommodate, say, 20 percent growth in a particular area.

5. Easily Find Any Person, Place Or Asset

Let’s face it—many of us are hardly ever at our desks anymore (if we still have assigned seats at all.)

In today’s agile work environment, it can be more difficult to locate rooms, buildings, assets or individual people. And if you’re a facilities manager trying to fix an equipment malfunction in a new building you’re unfamiliar with, that’s a problem. iOFFICE’s space management software has a Google-style interface so you can not only see your entire real estate portfolio, but also interact with it. 

6. Manage Office Moves In A Lot Less Time

Growth is exciting, but preparing for a big office move can be stressful. You have to roll out those old floor plans, spend days or weeks just updating them to make them current, and then sketch out dozens of scenarios. That’s before you move a single desk.

With space and move management software, planning a move is as easy as dragging and dropping desks into place. You can also create digital move tickets and service requests to make sure everything (and everyone) stays on task. 

7. Data Mobility 

If you’re still using spreadsheets to manage your space, you’re doing yourself and your company a huge disservice. Not only is the data likely out of date, but it’s not easy for anyone to access on the go.

For modern-day facility management teams, this is essential.

8. Improve The Functionality Of Your Space

As you increase the efficiency of your space and are able to track what changes are making the biggest impact, it becomes easier to approach upper management with data supporting large-scale office re-designs or moves.

If your space management software shows you the conference rooms are always full, you might need to close off a few more areas so employees have more places to meet or work quietly. 

9. Easy to Track Chargebacks and Expenditures

With the space monitored, there should rarely be instances of chargeback disputes. Real-time data supports usage and can even be set to automatically report to bookkeeping daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Space monitoring will also encourage focused usage of time, which will promote more effective meetings and overall improved processes.

10. Improve Your Employee Experience

The size, quality and functionality of your space impacts the way employees work, and ultimately, how they feel about their workplace. Is it easy for them to find people? Reserve rooms? Request service?

For employees, navigating the workplace should be as simple as tapping an app. But for a workplace app to be useful and truly responsive, it needs to be connected to space management software. Only then can facility managers and workplace leaders see which spaces employees are using and make adjustments to better meet their needs.  

For instance, they can adjust things like temperature, lighting and cleaning schedules based on occupancy or replace outdated equipment if they see numerous people are experiencing issues with it. 

Choosing the Right Space Management Software

Investing in space management software is big decision. That’s why it’s important to ensure that the solution you choose aligns with your company’s strategy and goals.

Here are six questions to consider as you explore your options:

• Does it integrate with other technology you plan to use, (such as move management, asset tracking or facility maintenance software?)

• Does it have robust reporting?

• Does it have mobile capabilities?

• Is the software hosted, on-premise or a true SaaS solution?

• Is there downtime when updates are released?

• What level of implementation support and ongoing support is included? 

Ready to see what space management software can do for your organization? Watch this short demo video.