How Much Office Space Does my Team Needs?

Whether you have your own office or planning to get one for your team, the main thing you have to consider is the office space. This is because how much space there is can make an impact on a variety of things you and your team needs to be successful. Some of these factors that can be affected are productivity, motivation or drive to work, and even their creativity. Due to this, you have to ensure that you get an accurate margin of space necessary for your team.

According to Sven Moller, the Workplace Advisory Director of real estate professional services company Colliers International, you have to consider two factors when determining the right office space. These two factors are the following:

• How many members your team currently has
• Settings, equipment, and other things that your team would need to work.

Following this, Tina Raftopoulous, the NSW Office Leasing Director of global real estate consultant Knight Frank, indicated that the projected growth of the team should also be considered. Moreover, the estimated business growth in the span of three to five years should be a factor in determining the office space so the business is prepared for an influx of employees.

Other factors to consider are the following:

• Private office → Does your team need private offices for all members or only for some?
• Flexible work setup → Does your team need individual desks to work or do they have other flexible work setup in the office? For example, a long desk that they share or a lounge they can work in.
• Floor plan →  Consider the floor plan if there are columns or other barriers that can impede maximizing office space. Additionally, assess if an open floor plan would fit your team or a segmented office plan would work better? Once this is considered, you also have to include other office equipment if it can be accommodated in the space remaining.
• Shared space → Does your team need a shared coworking space? For example, meeting rooms, lounges, and more.
• Additional space → Once you’ve considered the above factors, determine if the office space can accommodate potential additional members to your team. If it can’t, then you would need a bigger office space.

Colliers’ Workplace Advisory Director Moller indicated that the previous regular ratio in business is 8 to 12 square metres of space per employee. This already considers the shared spaces for staff for an office with an open floor plan. However, most companies are finding offices that fit a square metre ratio of 1:8 per staff in some areas of the office due to most buildings offering dense spaces.

Due to this, according to the research conducted by Knight Frank, the best ratio to consider per staff is 8 to 15 square metres. Furthermore, the following dimensions are necessary per office type:

• Standard office → 10 to 12 square metres

• Large office → 12 to 15 square metres

• Standard workstation → 4 to 6 square metres

• Supervisor workstation → 6 to 10 square metres

Considering all the factors necessary to ensure your team has enough space for current team members and projected business growth, then you can determine how large the office space your team needs. Make sure you get the right office size to guarantee business success!