As more workers return to the office, facility teams are busy adapting or upgrading existing workspaces to meet changing workforce demands. According to a recent IFMA article1, the flexible office market is expected to grow by over $28 billion between 2024 and 2028. As a result, flexible office space is no longer a luxury but is essential to attract the best tenants and employee talent pool available.
Many companies use today’s borderless talent pool to source skills across geographic locations and build globally diverse and distributed teams. Today’s flexible workspace must be responsive and technologically integrated to allow for individual work and seamless collaboration as needed. “Moreover, flexible work is not just a matter of convenience — it is a business imperative. Research by Factorial HR highlights that flexible and remote work has been shown to reduce attrition by 35 percent while significantly improving employee satisfaction. For organizations, this means that investments in flexible office solutions can directly impact retention and performance outcomes.” 1
Effective office planning involves 3 universal steps to help facility teams determine the best use of space, improve workflows, and ensure health and safety compliance.
Step 1: Conduct a Needs Analysis
A needs analysis has two distinct parts. The first assesses the tenant’s current space utilization to determine which company needs are being met and which need improvement. This conversation should include potential future company growth and scaling requirements.
The second part involves conducting employee surveys or interviews to gain insight into workflows, collaboration requirements, and employee health and well-being concerns, such as lighting and worker ergonomics.
With the needs analysis complete, facility teams can establish specific goals or outcomes to ensure that the new design will align with employee and company needs today and well into the future.
Step 2: Evaluating Current Workspace
A workspace audit analyzes the current office layout and technology to identify strengths and weaknesses. Flexible workspaces should reduce unused or underutilized office space to a minimum to better serve in-person and hybrid workers.
Facility teams can utilize data from occupancy sensors or scheduling apps (where applicable) to gain insights into peak usage times for different areas to improve meetings, brainstorming sessions, and client presentations.
A balance between private and communal work areas allows the workspace to adapt efficiently to different employee work styles and workflows.
Step 3: Designing an Efficient Workspace
Using the collected data, facility teams can begin the design process to address the concerns from the space utilization and needs analysis. Integrating demountable partitions and modular furniture, which can be quickly added, deleted, or modified to meet changing space needs, can dramatically improve the flexibility of any workspace, regardless of size.
- The new office layout should feature a mix of areas that provide:
- Privacy and focus for individual work assignments
- Larger areas for brainstorming and team collaboration
- Quiet areas for reading, research, and employee relaxation
Once the new floor plan is complete, it’s time to address the technology infrastructure. Connectivity remains a priority for many companies that employ in-person and remote workers. However, with the widespread adoption of new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), and Building Management Systems (BMS), many buildings in the built environment don’t have the flexibility and adaptability needed to make data cabling changes or upgrades quickly. For example, adding or deleting workstations requires traditional construction processes to access the data cable trays above the ceiling system. As a result, technology upgrades are expensive and time-consuming for the property owner, and inconvenient for employees and customers alike.
Many facility teams are now incorporating raised access flooring systems into their efficient office designs to reduce future technology upgrade costs. These systems use modular panels to create a new space (less than 3” high) above the existing floor. The data and power cables are relocated to this more accessible space to make future changes as fast as removing the modular floor finish, typically carpet tiles or Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT), to add or delete connection points as the company’s needs change.
Unlike other systems that use plastic components, the Gridd® Adaptive Cabling Distribution System® is made from 100% U.S. Steel for superior strength and durability. The Gridd system complies with the intent of the provisions of the following codes and regulations certified by an IAPMO UES Evaluation:
- 2021, 2018, 2015, 2012, and 2009 International Building Code® (IBC)
- 2013 Abu Dhabi International Building Code (ADIBC)
- 2023 City of Los Angeles Building Code (LABC)
- 2022 California Building Code (CBC)
- Health Product Declaration (HPD v2.2)
- Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) System for objective third-party data verification
- Greenly LIfe Cycle Assessment (LCA) for reducing green house emissions
- Gridd is also GreenSpec-listed and BuildingGreen-approved for properties looking to improve LEED scores or circular economy principles.
Today, a flexible and adaptable data cabling system is paramount for property owners and facility teams. In addition to handling your data cabling needs, Gridd offers two additional solutions to improve the digital experience for employees, visitors, and customers.
Gridd Power® provides power management flexibility through an integrated 50-amp modular bus system. Currently, Gridd Power is available in three different configurations to meet a company’s budget while incorporating flexibility for future growth and expansion.
Field Wired – home run circuits must still connect to the primary or central panel with this option. However, the MC cabling is now installed within the raised flooring system, not in the walls or attic (plenum) space above the finished ceiling.
Modular Branch Circuit – typically, the power tracks are installed at a maximum of 48’ on center and rely on the, up to, 24′ whip of the power and data enclosures to easily reach the desired service location.
50 Amp Modular Power Distribution – This option provides 50-amp, 3-phase power connectivity throughout the area at 20-24′ intervals. Ideal for large open offices and shared and multi-use spaces, it offers the most significant design flexibility for architects, builders, and property owners.
Gridd® Mobile is an AR technology app that allows you to test, upgrade, isolate, or modify your cable networks to meet property owners’ and tenants’ changing technology needs. Gridd Mobile also provides a centralized data location for all your cable and power management files, which can be accessed via a smartphone or tablet.
As facility teams and property owners continue to improve office efficiency, the three steps outlined above can help transform outdated office designs by improving employee collaboration and productivity. Flexibility and efficiency across a facility and campus are critical for properties to succeed in a highly competitive market. Systems like Gridd enable the power and cabling flexibility required in this next season of dynamic in-person and remote end-user environments today and well into the future. Contact a Gridd Advisor to learn more about the benefits of raised access flooring systems and efficient office design through effective space planning.
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