So you want to take some solid steps towards making your workplace portfolio smarter, but there are so many products on the market, and you’ve got so many spaces, trying to work out where to start is daunting?
These approaches will help you cut through the noise, clearly identify what you need and create an actionable plan to start progressing toward your goals.
The very first thing you need to do before you start down this path is very clearly establish why you’re doing this in the first place. For you to be successful in your journey, having clarity on why you’re going on it, what you’re trying to accomplish and ultimately how you are going to measure value out of your investment up front, is in my option, the most important step you will take on this journey.
Getting this clarity now, before you deploy your first pilot or your first location, is going to be key to your longer-term success in deploying more than just 1–2 spaces. Failure to do this often leaves you with white elephants in your portfolio and may end up actually detracting from your ultimate goal.
Now defining what your goals are and what you are going to measure could be a whole range of things, depending on where you plan to start.
Tactical Transformations
It could be to measure power consumption in a specific building or floor to identify unnecessary power draw out of hours. Measuring this can enable you to make operational changes to shut those down and ultimately lower your utilities bill and reduce carbon footprint. Great!
It could also be to reinvent your guest sign in and access process so it’s easier for visitors and guests to get from the curb into the office space to meet whomever they are there to see. Measurement for success there could range from very tangible in large locations (we now need 1–2 less people at the security desk to check id’s) to the average time a visitor spends filling out paperwork in reception or the lobby.
One of the most common one’s I see right now is measuring space utilization. Are you looking to understand the entire building or workspace occupancy? The exact number of people on any given floor at any given point in the day? Or how many seats in an open plan work area are actually being used and for how long?
Getting real clarity on what your measurement of success is going to be for the program right now, before you even start, is one of the most important things you’ll do on this journey.
This doesn’t mean they can’t change or evolve over time to be bigger, broader or more complex, so do get stuck here, but make sure you have some clear direction on what you want to achieve now, before you pull the trigger on buying products and selecting vendors.
These very specific areas like I’ve listed above, these to me fall into the type of programs I consider to be Tactical transformations. You’re looking to solve or improve, in some measurable way, a specific aspect of the workplace. To either in how it operates, or in the experience of the people who consume or operate it.
They are designed to address a specific area or pain point in how the workplace operates today, with a very narrow focus.
Strategic Transformations
Now your initiative could alternatively be what I consider to be more strategic transformations.
Opportunities for strategic transformation typically are brought to the table in scenarios where you’re looking to build out an entirely new space or undergo a major renovation. These types of transformations typically aim to rethink the entire experience of the workplace.
These strategic transformations don’t look at just 1 system or workflow, they look at the space as a whole and how both the systems and processes that will be implemented, will force people to behave, to operate, the friction points they’ll create, and holistically addresses these in potentially new ways.
Regardless of the approach you take to start your journey, having clarity on exactly what you are expecting to get out of the initiative before you start entertaining the how and what (products and solutions) is paramount to your long-term success.
I go into this and so much more on the topic, including how to prove out Return on Investment (ROI) on Episode 1 of the podcast.
I hope you listen in!
