Square footage alone isn’t the key to an efficient workspace and productive employees. Smart, intentional layout and design choices can support or undermine both. And wasted space negatively affects your bottom line, too.

Even if it’s obvious to everyone that the office space feels underutilized, it is often unclear how to fix the problem. Here we’ll look at what it costs your workers and organization when space is not used to its fullest, how to assess your current use of space, and some ways to reclaim wasted square footage.

The Costs of Underused, Underplanned Space

Simply put, wasted or underused space costs your business money. Often this comes in the form of paying for space you are not using, such as rent, utilities, maintenance, or furnishings. But poor layout planning has indirect costs too.

Lower Productivity and Efficiency

The longer it takes to do the work, the more it costs, and the less teams accomplish over time. The environment and physical demands make a true difference. Even seemingly minor things compound to impede work, like:

• Dragging tables and chairs across the room for meetings or large projects
• Searching in multiple places for supplies
• Unproductive time hybrid workers spend finding an open workstation or table and setting up for work

Diminished Morale

Physical surroundings and the inefficiencies they cause make the work environment less pleasant. Over time, things like the following chip away at morale:

• Uncomfortable furniture and cramped desks
• Lack of quiet or private work spaces
• A spartan breakroom that doesn’t support food preparation or an actual break

Poor Impressions on Visitors

Your office quickly makes an impression on visitors, whether they are clients, vendors, or prospective employees. But beyond the decor, they may also tune into the feeling that they’re interrupting the flow of work by walking through non-public areas to reach a conference room. Mismatched furnishings, or offices and meeting spaces that feel more like storage closets, can also project a sense of disorganization or unpreparedness.

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Uncover Current Space Challenges with a Utilization Audit

You might think you have a sense of how a space is used each day, but without an accurate assessment, there is no certainty. A utilization audit can also show just how much a space’s setup helps or hinders your employees, and why. 

A Utilization Audit, Step By Step

A well-planned and carefully executed audit will make it easier to pinpoint effective solutions and avoid inadvertently disrupting what is working well. Start with these steps:

1. Define the scope of the assessment, whether that’s assessing the whole office or certain areas.
2. Appoint a couple of people to gather and assess the data.
3. Collect documentation such as floor plans and dimensions of furnishings and equipment.
4. Budget a couple of weeks to a month to gather data and review it. 
5. Make notes about how people use (or don’t use) the space, patterns, peak usage times, and continually underutilized zones. 
6. Document limitations on the space due to structural or other constraints (i.e., support pillars, window locations, electrical or plumbing fixtures). 

The Data That Shows How Spaces Are Really Used

The goal of an audit is to create a clear and accurate picture of how the space is used. This allows you to identify changes that will make a difference, not just rearrange furniture or redecorate. The following information is critical to gather:

Traffic flow and circulation paths. Notice how people and equipment move within and between core zones, and if the current zone locations make sense. For example, the distance between the copier and where paper is stored, or if the route from the conference room to the reception area passes through quiet office space. 

Fixed features. Sketch a simple floor plan that shows any features that cannot be moved or changed, like walls, doorways, structural pillars, or windows.

Meeting space use. Gather a few weeks’ worth of numbers to show how often meeting spaces are used and by whom. Most booking software programs track this data, but you can also use a written sign-in log or assign someone to monitor and write down the same information. 

Employee feedback. Create a simple survey or conduct discussion sessions with staff to get their input on the typical bottlenecks, flow issues, and types of space or layout they wish they had. This is especially important when there are many types of tasks and activities taking place throughout the office.

Key calculations and metrics. These numbers provide objective measures of space utilization as well as the dollar value of different spaces: 

• Number of desks vs number of people in the office
• Number of hours spaces are occupied vs given time period (i.e., hour, day, week)
• Total square footage vs number of on-site employees
• Total square footage vs number of seats/desks/workstations/meeting rooms
• How many seats go unoccupied regularly
• Overlap of hybrid worker desk use
• Peak occupancy times and days
• Cost (i.e., rent) per existing seat/desk/workstation
• Cost (i.e., rent) per square foot of space

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Define YOUR Space and Usage Benchmarks

While you probably can’t reach 100% occupancy and a perfect balance of solo to group work spaces at all times, setting a target to aim for makes it easier to see if changes are effective.

Industry research provides some starting numbers:

• 60–70% average desk and meeting room use per day
• Approximately 125–175 square feet allotted per employee
• Desk-sharing ratios between 1:1.5 and 1:2 for hybrid workers
• 25% of total square footage allotted to collaborative space
• About 15% of total square footage allotted to support and utility space 

The benchmarks you set should make sense for your organization, business goals, and budget. This will depend on a number of factors including:

• Number of employees 
• Ratio of full-time in-office vs hybrid or fully remote employees
• Types of work (i.e., mostly solo, mostly collaborative, a mix, frequency of small or large group meetings, etc.)
• Frequency of and square footage needed for visitors from outside the organization
• Length of your typical work day/week/month
• Whether you are focusing on data from peak vs average use times

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Top Tips to Reclaim Wasted Square Footage

Ensure your office has the features you need based on the activities and tasks that take place there regularly. Here are our recommendations for solving common problems and setting up an environment that’s productive and pleasant for all occupants:

Define zones. The purpose of each space should be obvious based on how it is arranged, who uses it, and what’s contained in it (and what isn’t). Don’t avoid multi-use areas entirely, but remember that places like breakrooms and reception areas function best as single-use spaces. 

Clear paths and aisles. Think through how workflows and foot traffic patterns track through the office and between spaces, then make sure there are no obstacles or pinchpoints. This includes the flow of employees as well as visitors to the office.  

Position panels or furnishings strategically. Remove furniture and other large items that block foot traffic, sightlines, or equipment. Arrange desks, chairs, modular walls, work pods, or plants to physically define spaces, control noise, and add privacy. However, avoid making any area feel too closed off or isolated.

Add surfaces that facilitate tasks. Use tables and counter-height surfaces that are sized to meet specific, regular needs, such as sorting or assembling packets of papers, or packing mailings. 

Use movable tables and chairs for flexibility. These make it easy to add seating, move tables together, or create open floor space as needed. Models with locking casters maximize flexibility, but too many movable pieces may feel transitory. Mixing fixed and wheeled furniture makes the space feel more grounded. 

Optimize the breakroom. Breakrooms go unused if they are difficult to clean, overtaken by storage, turn into staging areas, or double as meeting space. Read our simple ideas for a better breakroom here.

Minimize clutter, cords, and random decor. Not only do these reduce usable space on desks, tables, counters, they add to feelings of unfinished work and disorganization that add stress. Find homes for items that always seem to end up in the wrong place or don’t have a clear home. 

Try vertical storage. Options like sturdy shelves, hanging shelves, cabinets, or pegboards take advantage of wall space and keep surfaces available for active use. Clearly label shelves, drawers, and other storage spots to make it easy for anyone to find and put away supplies and equipment.

Prioritize ergonomics and comfort. Despite your best efforts, uncomfortable chairs, tables that are too high or too low, and desks that feel exposed don’t solve the problem of wasted space. Choose ergonomic furnishings that keep employees comfortable throughout the workday, and place desks and tables carefully to avoid drafts, glaring afternoon sunlight, or a sense of exposure. 

It’s Time to Get More From Your Office Space

Resolving the challenges of underutilized and wasted square footage is complex, but it pays off in terms of productivity and value. As the primary occupants and users, you and your employees know better than anyone what works and what doesn’t in your current layout, but finding the right solutions can be challenging.

When you know it’s time for reconfiguration, working with the team at Office Basics is a smart next step. We have over 35 years of experience helping businesses define and improve their workspaces, and we can help you reclaim and maximize space from hybrid office layouts, to ergonomic workspace design, to small office space planning, and beyond. 

Contact us for a consultation and learn more about our office space planning services.