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Why data is key to your post-pandemic real estate strategy

Businesses are rethinking their strategies for a COVID era. Critical to this, will be knowing how to harness data to make better informed decisions about their real estate needs.

October 08, 2020

The role of the workplace is shifting. The way businesses plan for the future must change too. Once reactive to the pandemic environment, organisations now need informed ways to plan and design for the demands of tomorrow and beyond. Data from workplace technology solutions can help. 

The workplace data you may already have, but aren’t leveraging

You may already be collecting valuable data about your workplace, which is sitting unnoticed. Many devices in the office are data-enabled and provide insightful utilisation metrics – including reservation platforms, access control systems, wireless networks and smart lockers.

Data from Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) and other workplace management tools can also provide valuable insights into what a typical workday might look like.

The importance of real-time utilisation data

The post-pandemic operating environment can change at a moment’s notice – and therefore ‘point in time’ data collection methods will no longer be sufficient.

There’s now a shift towards real-time data collection to deliver the agility decision-makers need to manage employee safety and optimise space usage in the short term, as well as rationalise and define space requirements in the long term. 

IoT devices like sensors allow for the collection of real-time utilisation and occupancy data, providing the opportunity to aggregate and mine for insights. 

Building a strong foundation with workplace technology

With the right data, organisations can make decisions on what to do right now and also scenario plan for the future.  This might include:

  • Identifying trends and patterns by space type which can help inform future space design
  • Tracking KPIs like COVID-safe utilisation averages
  • Aligning facilities to actual utilisation, such as closing off certain floors to save on energy and cleaning costs
  • Forecasting for the future and make evidence-based location and design decisions, offering significant savings on real estate spend

Although there’s still a lot of uncertainty around what the next normal will look like, data can provide a pragmatic and evidence-based approach to decision-making. While COVID-19 may have been a catalyst for data collection, the benefits will reach into the future.

Learn more about the importance of data in our webinar, The Smart Office of the Post-Pandemic World: How to use workplace technology to right-size your workplace, ensure employee safety and optimise wellbeing.  

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