How Much Office Space Do I Need?

How Much Office Space Do I Need?

UK Standards suggest that the average person will require at least 5 square meters of space to work in comfortably. As commercial property is one of the biggest costs for a business, over and under estimating the required space can become expensive.

To accurately assess the amount of space a business needs to thrive; some variables you may need to consider are:

Amount and size of furniture

Staff Size and if all staff members work in house

Estimated company growth

The Layout of the space

Meeting room and break out space

Assessing your business for now and the future

The below questions will assist you in estimating how much space you currently need as well as how much you may estimate to need in the future.

1. How many employee’s do I have
2. How many workstations and office chairs do each person need?
3. Which areas can be shared or which are private
4. Will I need more employees in the next two years?
5. How long is the lease I am committing too?
6. Do I need meeting rooms, telephone booths, collaboration space such as break out areas

 

Three factors that influence how much space you will need.

Type of Work: Are you employee’s mainly forced to work at a singular computer or do they have the freedom to work outside or at home? If your employee’s can work where they want rather than where is needed; they may be able to share some space and hot desk, minimising on the space needed.

Employee Happiness: Big companies such as google and Facebook spend thousands of pounds per year to improve their work space; thus improving employee happiness and morale.  You spend 8-10 hours a day within the work space and therefor the quality of the environment has a major impact in our emotions.  

Employees are generally happier when their workspace is clean, pleasant and comfortable with an area for them to offload from their day to day tasks.

Company Culture:The size of individual office space is often associated with hierarchy, but company culture has changed and these days, it’s not uncommon for everyone to sit in a shared space. The amount of office space needed will differ depending on your company culture and management structure