4 Signs You’re Ready To Move Office

Throughout the pandemic, many businesses continued to upscale and expand their workforce — even on a remote basis — whether from organic growth or through mergers and acquisitions. This ability to thrive and grow in the face of adversity is admirable, but it does pose challenges when it comes to the workspace.

While many companies are happy to work on a hybrid basis by allowing employees to work wherever they’re most productive, your existing office location could have a major impact on your workforce’s health, happiness and productivity.

So, what are the tell-tale signs that your old office space is no longer fit for purpose? Here, we’ll explore how you can tell you’re ready to relocate to a new office space.

1. Too Much Desk Space

With the rise in hybrid working, it’s become more commonplace for managers to reduce their ratio of desks per employee from the traditional 1:1 to a more flexible, hot-desking model. So, if you employ 50 people, but half of them work from home on any given day, you can reduce your desk numbers by up to 50%, creating a scale of one desk per two employees. This way, you’ll still have enough desk space for the 25 employees are who in on any given day.

Desk sharing can help maximise workplace efficiencies by creating more space for storage, reducing required office footage and lowering rental costs. But it does require buy-in from employees and strong team communication to avoid any frustrations. You should ensure that you implement some forward planning processes — such as a rota or book-in system — to ensure that there are always enough desks for anyone planning to come in.

Optimising your hot-desking model will depend on both the working habits of your workforce and the growth of your business. If most of your employees prefer to work from home, you have the option to move to a smaller office space with fewer desks, allowing you to enjoy the cost-saving benefits.

But, if your workforce has grown in numbers and your staff prefers to commute to the office, you may need to switch to a larger workspace. Flexible office spaces are your best option in these cases, as short-term leases allow you to scale up or down depending on your workforce size — and where they choose to work from.

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2. Poor Acoustics and Disruptive Noise Levels

High-density occupation is efficient from a cost perspective but is not always best for productivity and collaboration as it often suffers from poor acoustics and higher noise levels. Different office layouts naturally lend themselves to different amounts of space and styles of working and this should be considered when working out how much office space you need.

Open-plan offices, for instance, typically work best with 100 sq ft per person, taking into account phone booths, meeting spaces, break-out spaces and workstations, but can rise to 200 sq ft per person if a greater emphasis is placed on the break-out and collaboration spaces.

You should also consider how much noise is in your office space, especially if you’re only working with the least amount of space you can get away with. The impacts of a noisy office range from a drop in concentration, a negative impact on collaboration, workplace dissatisfaction and even higher stress levels.

These travelling noises are often due to poor workplace acoustics. Offices are often full of hard, shiny surfaces including desks, windows, laminate flooring and, sometimes, large equipment and machinery. And, without the proper acoustic considerations in place, even meeting rooms won’t block out any loud noises.

You can remedy this with a new office space that takes acoustics into account, with soundproofing finishes such as wall panels and acoustic plasterboards to absorb and block excess noise.

To support your staff and business, it’s worth browsing considering an office move that has the space and acoustic requirements your business and team need.

3. Poor Connectivity and Transport Links

Choosing the right location for your business is crucial when it comes to attracting and retaining employees. Now that employees are increasingly given the option to work from home, they can be pickier about their commute — put simply, the better the transport links, the wider your talent catchment area. This is particularly important if you’re keen on getting your employees together on a regular basis.

Since the pandemic, it has also been reported that almost half (48%) of people returning to the office expected their mental health to improve, while 46% expected to enjoy a better work-life balance. By ensuring your office space is located near excellent public transport links and has generous parking spaces, you can help make the commute and work-life balance of your workforce even better.

Your public transport options are key considerations when it comes to planning an office move. You want to ensure that it’s easy as possible for your employees — especially those that may work predominantly remotely in a far-away town.

4. Your Brand or Culture Vision is No Longer Being Met

We’ve spoken a lot about outgrowing in the physical sense, but ‘growth’ also denotes development in terms of mentality, values and ambitions. Outgrowing a workplace isn’t just relative to the size of your workforce, but is also about the types of people you employ and the kind of organisation you’re building. You should be based in an office space that reflects and empowers your company.

Offices, and company HQs in particular, are cornerstones of an organisation’s identity and must match not only the branding, but its company culture, priorities and values. If your business has undergone a significant evolution, you may want to review your workspace accordingly.

As examples of this, your office design aesthetic can be adjusted to align with your brand colours. If you want to ensure the office is seen as a comfortable alternative to working from home, you may wish to invest in more homely, welcoming furniture solutions. Creating an attractive office space can do wonders for team morale and productivity. If your office culture prioritises teamwork and collaboration, providing spaces that speak to these cultural ambitions and provide for these needs must be a priority.

Office Relocation With Knight Frank

We know how difficult it can be to start the moving office process, which is why our dedicated team is more than happy to help. Get in touch and let us take the stress out of your growing business’s move, so all you need to focus on is your office relocation announcement.