Using Workplace Analytics – 6 Inefficiencies to Look for in the Office

If you’re not using data to make your workplace more efficient, you’re missing out. With the right data and analytics tools, you can gain insights into how your employees are utilizing the office – which is especially important if you have a hybrid workforce. Learn more about how to use workplace analytics.

What is Workplace Analytics?

Most organizations are already collecting a wealth of data. Analytics simply means using that data to your advantage. Workplace analytics is the practice of using data-informed methods to improve an organization’s management systems and enhance the workplace experience.

Today’s enterprises recognize that human capital is perhaps their biggest asset. This subset of analytics seeks to evaluate your workplace – including the physical environment, technology and tools, and employees themselves – to become more effective.

There are a few broad categories of workplace analytics:

• Descriptive analytics: This type of analytics uses historical data to provide a point-in-time snapshot of your organization, but doesn’t establish cause and effect.
• Diagnostic analytics: This form of analytics also uses historical data, but seeks to establish causation.
• Predictive analytics: A more advanced form of analytics, this uses existing data to forecast what might happen in the future.
• Prescriptive analytics: Perhaps the most valuable type of analytics, prescriptive analytics combines existing data and predictive modeling to make recommendations for business decisions.

Workplace analytics might seem complicated in theory, but in practice, you are probably already using some form of analytics. For example, if you know that most of your staff prefers to work from home on Mondays, you might choose to keep your office closed on that day to reduce overhead. Utilizing analytics helps you identify patterns, trends, and challenges to make better decisions for your enterprise.

Understanding Workplace Inefficiencies

Inefficiencies in the workplace are more than an annoyance: they can affect your bottom line. When employees have to put up with inefficient processes or workspaces that don’t suit their needs, it is more difficult for them to be productive. Plus, they’re more likely to be frustrated and disengaged, which can negatively impact employee satisfaction and retention.

Common Workplace Inefficiencies Include:

• Over-utilized spaces: Do you have one conference room that everyone likes to use? If you have certain spaces that are consistently over-utilized, you need to adjust your layout, whether that means adding more meeting rooms or converting private offices to hot desks.
• Under-utilized spaces: Overhead is a major expense for many companies. Don’t waste money paying rent or utilities on under-utilized spaces. If all your team members previously worked onsite but are now hybrid, consider if you can reduce the square footage of your office.
• Shortage of workspaces in the office: With an increasing number of employees returning to the office, you may find that you don’t have enough space to accommodate everyone. Are employees having trouble finding open conference rooms or a place to work side-by-side with a teammate?
• Too many workspaces: On the flip side, you might have too many individual workspaces – and not enough room for collaborative work. Gone are the days when each employee had an assigned desk or office. Today’s hybrid teams are utilizing hot desking and desk hoteling to stay nimble and flexible. If you’ve switched to a hybrid model, you may need to adjust your layout to provide more spaces for meetings and collaboration.
• Abandoned meetings: We’ve all been guilty of it – you set up a recurring calendar invite and you forget to delete it once the meetings are no longer needed. Abandoned meetings clog up the calendar and make it harder for teams to find the workspace they need.
• Conflicting bookings: Another frustrating workplace scenario that can happen in your conference rooms and meeting areas: double bookings. This can happen if an ad-hoc meeting crashes a scheduled space, or it may indicate a lack of integration between the workplace tools you use to plan and book meetings.

How to Use Workplace Analytics 

Implementing analytics can help you address many of these common workplace problems. A workplace management platform can collect data on a variety of metrics, such as:

• Daily, weekly, or monthly office occupancy
• Office usage by department or team
• Meeting room usage
• Average meeting duration
• Meeting cancelation rates
• Meeting density
• Desk and office reservations
• Recaptured time

For example, if you have historical data on average office occupancy, you can make informed decisions about how to set up hybrid schedules for your employees. You can also use built-in tools to collect helpful data – for instance, making team members check in and out of a meeting room reduces inefficient space usage. 

Using a workplace management platform with analytics also means you can gain powerful insights without having to hire an expensive, third-party consultant to study and survey your employees.

Leverage Workplace Analytics 

Managing a hybrid workforce shouldn’t be stressful. At Robin, we provide workplace management tools to help everyone on your team do their best work. Our user-friendly workplace analytics tools make it easy to identify trends and share insights with colleagues. Built-in analytics include:

• Abandoned meeting protection: Robin will automatically remove abandoned meetings from your shared calendars so you can reclaim unused space.
• Office utilization: We provide insights into where and when employees are working onsite.
• Space planning: If you’re considering revamping your office, Robin’s insights on occupancy and utilization can help you maximize your existing square footage, rather than buying or renting additional space.
• Report generation: Robin’s automated, exportable charts and reports remove the need for manual data analysis, allowing you to easily present data-driven insights to your team.

With Robin’s platform, you can map out your space, reserve desks and conference rooms, and manage hybrid employees, contractors, and visitors. Featuring software integrations for leading workplace apps like Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams, Robin simplifies communication and meeting management. 

To learn more, start your free trial or schedule a demo today.

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