Before you move your office, answer these questions

Thousands of companies every year move office locations. These include office expansions and cross-country relocations. Although the reasons might appear clear why a change in location or space is needed, there are a few questions you should ask yourself before committing to such an investment.

After all, companies can spend more than $1 million a year on office rent, furniture and supplies.

Know what works and what doesn’t

Before you make the big move, or even consider it, know what’s working and what isn’t in your office. Do you need more space because the team is growing? Are the meeting spaces big enough? Do they have the right amenities inside them?

“Offices are living, breathing spaces,” says Morgan Mosher, Director of Brand & Culture at T3 Advisors. “You need to be constantly thinking about ways to make the most out of your space. Even if you’re there for only two years, that could be an employee’s entire career with your company.”

‍Here are some questions you should ask:

   
• What rooms are being used most often and why?
   
• What’s most important to employees? Apple TVs? Natural light?
   
• Is it a scarcity problem or visibility problem? Little space or lack of communication of available ones?

Before clients move offices, T3 Advisors recommends they answer these questions so the space their clients build or move into next, have the right amenities in the right kinds of meeting spaces. It doesn’t hurt to use an office move checklist as well.

Office analytics are more than numbers

Historically, how many meetings an employee had or how often Call Room #2 was being used were all arbitrary stats, viewed as “micro-managing” a workplace. Now, the data inside an office has become just as important as the business itself operating inside of it. If you can know what rooms are most used and why, you can further optimize the space to only enhance what you know works, and ditch the things that don’t.Here’s an example of some sample office statistics in Robin:

Analytics are more than stats, they’re dollars saved or dollars well spent. Marketing teams report on a campaign, IT teams report on metrics based on a new product implementation -- the office is no different. If you’re interested in what kinds of analytics we report on, check it out here.

Feedback is everything

Above all else, talk to your employees. If you’re looking to make changes to a workplace they spent most of their week in, chances are they’ll appreciate being part of the process.

‍Want to read more? Here's our guide for moving offices