When you only have one office and a handful of employees, managing your space is pretty straightforward. Need to coordinate time in a meeting room? A sign-up sheet can do the trick. Want to know if you have the right mix of space? Just ask. Not sure how well your space is being used? Take a walk and see for yourself. Want to switch to hybrid work, or have everyone return-to-office full time? Count the desks, count the people, and you’re probably fine.
But at scale, these manual processes quickly fall apart, and the limited insights they provide make a poor foundation for space planning. Even with just a few locations, office-based organizations need space management software that ensures optimal use of their corporate real estate.
Modern organizations need capabilities that give them more precise visibility and control over how their office space is used—especially when implementing a hybrid work model, where occupants and demand for space fluctuate more rapidly. And with the widespread availability of software integrations, compatibility is largely an issue of the past, giving corporate leaders the freedom to focus on the capabilities they want, rather than a specific piece of software.
Space management software typically provides solutions in three key areas:
- Occupancy analytics
- Space planning
- Reservations
This checklist will cover the must-have capabilities from each of these areas. So as you compare space management solutions, you can ensure you have the right combination of capabilities to keep up with the modern workplace.
Occupancy analytics capabilities
Occupancy analytics is key to aligning your space with your operations, rightsizing your portfolio, and finding ideal office configurations. And your space management software’s capabilities will determine what data you have to work with, how easy it is to incorporate, and what you can do with it.
1. Robust data integrations
Your space management system should be the definitive source of truth for understanding space utilization. But that can only happen if your system integrates all of your occupancy data sources into a single dashboard, from badge scans and manual walkthroughs to reservation data, space utilization sensors, building management system (BMS), and/or network-based monitoring solutions.
As you compare solutions, consider the occupancy data sources you currently have, as well as the technologies you may adopt in the future. If a space management solution doesn’t have comprehensive integration capabilities, it limits your options for getting different data types in the future, which could become important as your organization matures in its understanding of occupancy monitoring.
Key Questions:
- Does this space management system integrate with all of the occupancy data sources you currently have or plan to have in the future?
- Does the system support manual data entry for processes like walkthroughs?
- If a space management software vendor doesn’t currently integrate with a specific occupancy tracking product you have or want, will they build new integrations for you?
2. Built-in utilization data
A quality space management system isn’t just a hub for centralizing occupancy data. It should come with occupancy tracking technology as well—whether that be sensors, network monitoring, reservation tracking, or something else. Ideally, you should look for a solution that provides greater granularity than your current tracking capabilities, giving more specific insights into how your space is being used.
Key Questions:
- Does this space management software function as an occupancy data source, or is it reliant on other data sources?
- If it does collect its own occupancy data, what level of specificity does it provide? Can it track occupants in a room or at a workstation?
- Does this built-in utilization data require additional hardware or ongoing maintenance?
3. Historical and real-time analysis
Generally, you want to plan your space around utilization patterns, which you can only see using historical data collected over time. Just because a room is unoccupied on a given day, doesn’t mean it’s underutilized space you can afford to remove. Long-term space management decisions should be made on the foundation of historical data.
For short-term and immediate decisions, your space management system becomes useful in new ways when you have real-time occupancy data—particularly for hybrid workplaces. In any workplace, there are special events that don’t fit typical usage patterns, like conferences, product launches, hackathons, family visitation days, or internship programs. And in a hybrid workplace, occupancy levels can have dozens, hundreds, or thousands of variables depending on how much autonomy employees have to choose when and where they work. In these situations, real-time data becomes helpful for in-the-moment problem solving.
Real-time analysis capabilities reveal space-related problems before they cause significant disruptions, giving you time to redirect traffic flows or temporarily repurpose space. When spaces become overcrowded, you can identify alternative options or help people find alternative times to use the space they want.
Key Questions:
- Does this space management software solution enable you to analyze historical patterns in occupancy data?
- Does it also support real-time occupancy monitoring? How does it present this data?
- Does the solution transform occupancy data into relevant space utilization metrics, or do you have to explore these metrics outside of the system?
Space planning capabilities
Space planning is at the heart of space management, giving you strategic tools to explore your options and find solutions to space-related challenges. While occupancy analytics lets you see how much space your operations need, your space management system’s planning capabilities govern how quickly and thoroughly you can find the best opportunities to downsize, expand, reallocate, and optimize your space.
4. Advanced scenario planning
Scenario planning is a basic space management capability, but there are some major differences between a premium and run-of-the-mill solution. Ideally, you should be able to present multiple “what if scenarios” alongside your current floor plan, making it easier for stakeholders to compare options. Basic solutions may limit the number of scenarios you can compare, or complicate the comparison process by making it difficult to present options together.
You should also have control over who can even see a scenario plan in the system—so the only people who have access are the people who need to know. In a basic system, you may not be able to separate what space planning leaders, executives, and managers have visibility into, forcing you to create private plans elsewhere or else create information bottlenecks by not giving some stakeholders access to the system.
As you produce scenario plans, your system should gradually build up an organized archive, recording past plans so it’s easy to see what’s been tried or discussed in the past. A more limited solution may not save past floor plans or organize them in ways you can easily search and access.
Key Questions:
- How does this space management software facilitate comparing and presenting scenario plans? How many scenarios can you create and compare at once?
- What kind of access control does it give you? Can you make parts of your system inaccessible or invisible to particular roles or users?
- What happens to past scenarios you’re no longer using? Will you be able to easily find scenarios that have been tried or considered before?
5. Scenario-based stack planning
Stacking and blocking, or stack planning, is another common tool for visually exploring possibilities with your space. While most solutions should enable you to color code types of space and visually represent different buildings and locations, a more sophisticated space management solution should directly connect stack plans to scenario plans, making it easier to follow and present your vision.
Key Questions:
- Does the solution create stack plans based on your scenario plans?
- If scenarios and stack plans aren’t connected within the system, how will you track which plans map to which scenarios?
- When you modify a scenario, does it change the corresponding stack plan?
6. Streamlined move management
As you implement transitions in the workplace or reconfigure space, move management, also referred to as moves, adds, and changes (MAC), is another staple of space management with varying degrees of sophistication.
Space management software with robust move management support helps you transition straight from strategy to execution by automatically generating MAC requests in the background when you choose to move forward with a scenario plan.
Ideally, your space management system should also give you the flexibility to decentralize move management, letting you give individual users or roles permission to monitor, review, assign, schedule, or even approve MAC requests.
Key Questions:
- Can the solution automatically generate MAC requests when you finalize scenario plans?
- What kind of access control will you have when it comes to move management? Can you fine-tune permissions so that certain roles can take more responsibility without creating other issues for space planners?
7. AI-powered layout optimization
No matter how much experience you have with office layouts, you can only envision so many possibilities for your space. Even if you come up with a great idea that uses your space more efficiently or effectively, it may not be the most efficient or effective. With the best space management solutions, you know your chosen layout will yield the best results—because you can test every possibility.
Top tier solutions let you use AI to test every configuration that meets your parameters, then see the layouts with the best outcomes. While there could be many options that satisfy your needs, there may be possibilities you wouldn’t have thought of that greatly exceed your goals.
Key Questions:
- Can the space management solution automatically generate office layout configurations?
- What kinds of parameters can you establish to ensure these configurations meet your needs and goals?
- How many layout possibilities will the system show you after it generates options?
8. Separate CAD changes and data changes
Some space management solutions only let you change CAD files in your current floor plan. This makes it difficult to fully explore and prepare scenarios before you’re sure you want to move forward with them—or before they’ve been approved. Your space management system should let you separate CAD files and scenario data, so you’re free to make changes and experiment without compromising your current files.
Key Questions:
- Does the solution separate CAD files and scenario plans?
- Will you be able to modify the CAD files associated with a scenario you’re considering, or can you only change the files connected to your current plan?
Reservation capabilities
While desk booking software has traditionally been considered separate from space management software, overseeing and facilitating the use of shared office resources is a daily space management process, and it yields important insights for space planning and office optimization.
9. Single system for all reservation types
There are many shared resources in today’s workplace, from desks and meeting rooms to lockers, parking spaces, amenities, and special equipment. The more separate tools you need to make these resources reservable, the more difficult (and frustrating) it is for employees to access the things they need on a daily basis. Some desk-booking or conference-booking solutions are too rudimentary to satisfy all of your workplace’s reservation needs, forcing you to add-on other tools and increase complexity.
Your space management tool should facilitate reservations for every resource employees need to coordinate access to, from rooms and workstations to parking spaces, lockers, amenities, and equipment.
Key Questions:
- What types of office resources do employees need to reserve throughout the day? Does the space management system support reservations for all of these, or will you need additional tools?
- Can employees reserve everything they need from their calendar app, or do they need to use a separate app for planning and scheduling time in the office?
10. Interactive floor plans
A good office reservation system should be designed to make it as easy as possible for employees to find and access available resources. While calendar integrations are a basic, straightforward way to schedule reservations, interactive maps offer another user-friendly pathway to finding what’s available. Ideally, your solution should let people navigate a clear, visual, drag-and-drop interface with color-coding to indicate what’s available at a given time, with simple tap or click to book functionality.
The best solutions go even further, letting employees share their reservation schedule with coworkers, so they can easily see when and where their team plans to be in the office, then find a space nearby.
Key Questions:
- Can employees visually explore available space to ensure their reservations will meet their needs?
- Does the system give employees a way to share reservations with colleagues, or will teams and groups need to coordinate time in the office through other channels?
11. User-based access control
Some office resources are restricted to certain groups, like private offices, designated parking, department-specific conference rooms, or specialized equipment. Or, in a hybrid workplace, you may need to govern what days and times resources are available to various departments.
A quality space management system should give you configurable control over who can access what—and when. Alternatively, you may want to make specific office resources “requestable,” so that reservations have to be manually approved by the role that oversees them. Depending on your locations and policies, you may have some hybrid roles that need the ability to make reservations at multiple locations. Not every system offers that level of control, especially out-of-the-box. Some may require substantial customization and consultation to get there, and you should know before you commit.
Key Questions:
- Can you change permissions for particular office resources, so that only certain roles or employees can reserve them?
- Can you control when people are allowed to schedule reservations, so that they only book time when they’re supposed to be in the office?
- Can you make office resources requestable, so that reservations must be approved or denied?
12. Support for multiple workplace models
A decade ago, many of today’s common workplace models and reservation processes were outliers. Hot desking, hoteling, team zones, and neighborhoods were niche situations a lot of desk booking solutions didn’t typically need to support. Even if a space management system supports the reservation process you’re currently using, it’s important to consider whether your tools will restrict workplace models you can use in the future. You want to choose a reservation process based on how you intend your space to be used, not based on a tool’s limitations.
Key Questions:
- What types of workplace models does the system support?
- Is it easy to change how the reservation process works if you implement a different workplace model in the future?
13. Check-in system via app or kiosk
Without a check-in system, some offices experience a frustrating space management issue: the space people need is booked, but no one is actually using it. “No show” reservations are a common occurrence that make it more difficult for employees to access office resources, and it can make your reservation data misleading when it comes time for space planning. When no shows are prevalent, it may look like you need more meeting rooms, workstations, and resources, when the resources you have go unused for hours each day.
A configurable check-in system lets you require people to sign-in from the locations they’ve reserved within a certain time, or else their reservation will be cancelled and the space will become available for someone else to reserve.
Key Questions:
- Does the solution support a check-in process that requires people to be physically present for their reservations? If so, how does it work?
- Can you control how long the window is before a reserved resource becomes available after someone fails to check in?
Check every box with Tango Workplace
Tango Workplace is a suite of interconnected space management solutions that empower your organization with all 13 of these capabilities and more. Learn how we combine occupancy analytics, space planning, and office reservation in a single platform to keep your space, people, and goals in sync—and why 250 of organizations like Centene and Deloitte trust us to help them get the most from their space.
