Tips from Techspace's COO: A playbook on the modern workplace search

How should I plan my office space? ‍

Rob Stevenson, COO at Techspace, encourages founders to begin thinking about the purpose of their office before designing the space itself. Here are four elements to consider when planning your own office space.

Understand your core needs

It’s integral to have a clear understanding of the problems you’re trying to solve with an office space from the very start. Who's in your team? What is the team composition? What is the cross-functional work that teams need to do to drive your business forward?

The next thing to think about is company culture. How do you want your company culture to be manifested in the way that you work together? It's not about putting a logo on a wall – it's about thinking about the specific ways you want to try and encourage people to behave and any behaviours you want to reinforce.

“I'm a big believer that physical environments can help people to behave or change the way they behave,” says Stevenson. “It forces you to do certain things and guides you in certain ways. Equally, you can change those behaviours if you want by changing your environment.”

When it comes to office planning, it’s smart to think about not just today, but also where your company is going to be in the next two to three years. As your team, business, the market and problems evolve, your needs will change with that.

“For all of the above, you need to be engaging with your team,” says Stevenson. “That includes asking your team their thoughts and digging into it with problem-solving sessions. Make sure you don't forget to think about their overall wellbeing and what they're looking for from their working environment. That's not to say you'll be able to deliver all of that, but it's certainly important to consider it.”

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What is your budget?‍

When it comes to budgeting for your office space, there is lots to consider – rent rates, taxes, utilities, connectivity, maintenance, ongoing charges, cleaning, security, and much more. It's very easy to forget about particular costs or underestimate what those costs might be.

“What I always encourage people to do is think about those costs on a per head basis,” says Stevenson. “If you just think about it in terms of it being, for example, a space designed for 18 people and you take your cost and divide it by 18, you get a huge number.

“However, if you think broader and consider it’s a space that's notionally for 18 people, but 50 people could use it, it's a smart way to drive the productivity of the whole team rather than just those who are working in your physical space that day.”

Location location location

Location is one of the principal drivers of cost and there's always going to be a compromise. You need to choose a location that's going to match your budget, but it needs to ideally be accessible, safe, and have a good balance of amenities and transportation options.

“You need to reconcile yourself to the fact that if you are going for a physical workspace, there's no perfect solution,” says Stevenson. “There's always a compromise on location. It's always going to be a bit of a long commute for somebody, but it's about balancing all of those competing priorities.”

What is the timeframe you’re working towards?

How quickly do you need to move? How will your growth patterns impact your team, the term you can commit for, and the design of your space? Ask yourself, if we're growing quickly, should we really just think about the size of the office?

“You also need to think about a physical spaces’ inherent flexibility, such as furniture, choice of layouts and the amenities that are plugged into it,” adds Stevenson. “Every decision must come back to the question – how can this serve my team?”

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This interview was conducted as part of the 'ways of working' interviews with Techspace members exclusively for The Scaleup Culture Report 2023.

Get your copy of the report by Techspace here > https://www.techspace.co/scaleup-report

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