Corporate C Suites around the world are wrestling with a fundamental and conceptual rethinking of their office strategy, ranging from “do we eliminate them altogether?” to “do we need more space to allow for social distancing?” No wonder they are confused about which way to turn.
Now more than ever, businesses leasing office space need an advocate who is well versed in workplace planning and local real estate market conditions who can help direct the conversation. There are good, executable strategies for every company but no two are exactly alike. Here are some of the topics that need to be carefully examined:
· Which of our staff positions can work from home full time or part time?
· How does a work from home policy affect the corporate culture and productivity?
· Does a downtown or suburban location best fit our business objectives?
· What business functions should our office space serve?
That last question is the big one. The traditional concept of the office is “the place where everyone does their job.” But with every firm making a concerted effort to allow at lease some of their staff work from home, other functions come to the fore: training, company-wide meetings, client presentations, and corporate functions, to name a few. Unlike any time before, decision makers are planning their office strategy on a clean slate. It is an exciting time and the decisions you make over the next couple of years will impact your business for many years after.
Remember when we all wanted the teacher to pick us to be the blackboard monitor and hand us the eraser? As a real estate tenant rep broker with 40 years in the business, it’s finally my turn!