Join Hanna Graziano and Robert Norin from FM:Systems as they discuss and which workplace technologies organizations are expected to invest in 2023. Discover how organizations are turning to certain technologies more now in their effort to make a better use of their workplaces.
Join Hanna Graziano and Robert Norin from FM:Systems as they discuss and which workplace technologies organizations are expected to invest in 2023. Discover how organizations are turning to certain technologies more now in their effort to make a better use of their workplaces. In this episode, they cover...
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Rob: [00:00:00] My name is Rob Noran. I've been in the industry you know, over 20 years, joined by Anna Graziano. And we're gonna be talking through what we expect to see in the in the future workplace today. So Hannah, you and I have worked together a long time, and you in particular have the opportunity to speak with a lot of a lot of people in our industry, facilities and space management real estate professionals on a daily basis.
One thing we've been hearing again and again is the back to the office or companies wanting to have either a few days a week for employees or maybe at certain employees certain locations. I've heard a bunch of challenges, but I'm really interested to hear, if. What kind of top challenges or big challenges are you hearing about or roadblocks and what are you seeing often?
Hanna: Yeah, great question, Rob. It's really evolved over the past few years, right? The world has changed a lot in [00:01:00] the last three years. The way that we interact with our workspaces has really Kind of just been turned upside down. So I think if I had to pick out one thing that kind of stands out the most, while it seems simple, I think it's really a lack of understanding of what space a company has and how it's being used by their employees.
They may have an idea of how it was used three years ago, prior to the pandemic when employees were in office much more frequently. But now as they're coming back to the office, understanding. What employees are in which locations what needs they have as far as when they come into the office.
And without kind of that critical space data, understanding that it's really hard for organizations to make strategic decisions let alone on their portfolio, the technology they use to enable it. So yeah, I think that's what sticks out the most. Curious what what you've been hearing, Rob.
Rob: A lot of the same. I think, people had an idea of what they were gonna try and do as a result of people coming back to the office. And [00:02:00] a lot of times that shifts as we've seen people and getting used to working from home and things like that, not wanting to come back.
We had a great resignation. My Big question is, are you seeing a trend in technology that's lacking for the companies and folks you're talking to? Are they missing something or do they generally have things in place that's just not the right setup? Or what are you seeing there?
Hanna: That's a great point because really when you think about some of these global, large organizations down to your medium or smaller businesses, a lot of them may have had technology in place, that was maybe segmented but not giving them a holistic picture of the portfolio. Or maybe they had a great system in place.
But as the landscape has evolved and organizations are really coming back into the office, I think the use of those systems or how they need the systems to function may not be up to par as it was previously. And I think that's something that we'll continue to see, changing technological [00:03:00] needs and as we uncover, how individuals will come back to the office.
Curious if you're seeing any differences.
Rob: I'm seeing a lot of trial and error, seeing what works and it's, picking up bits and pieces and also, people looking for what is working across, different areas of their portfolio. Right? One size doesn't fit all, even within a company.
I've seen a lot of changes in the way people find in reserve space. I feel like three years ago we were always in the office. You and I were in the same office, right? And what we would do is book an outlook, room or a room, an outlook, and more or less, most people were there with us, and if not, then we could add in, virtual meeting.
So I think that's gonna continue to evolve because it's not the same anymore. People may or may not be in the office, right? They may be at a different location. It could be remote or Different time zones, so on and so forth. I think we've done a lot of hiring, or a lot [00:04:00] of companies have done a lot of hiring that the virtual, experience is expected.
The virtual, work life is expected. So I think we're going to continue to see that just change and fit the needs as they come up. I do see a huge increase in the demand for. What I would say is pretty traditional space management and also a lot more focus on assets these days.
And you can consider space an asset for a company, but assets as far as, equipment for individuals, or building, supporting building equipment, for instance. Do they have the right, set up for workspaces or touchdown spaces in conference rooms because, What I've heard is, chairs are disappearing, docking stations, monitors, things like that.
And it's really hard to keep track. So one of the, one of the trends I'm seeing I'm curious, so[00:05:00] what are you seeing people focusing on when they're looking for software now? Are they making a change? Are they looking to enhance? What's your take? Yeah.
I think if you think J piggybacking on what you were just speaking about, you mentioned previously when we were in the office, it was typically that, if you're in the office, you're gonna have an in-person meeting or you're gonna have a virtual meeting.
I think now really every meeting is expected that there may be some people in person, there may be some people remote. So it is really critical, being able to support a holistic, technological environment where maybe we have some employees who are using PCs, others are using Max. So having a, an environment or the setup in the office where they could all use, or know which conference rooms, workstations they would be able to leverage with their technology.
So I think that's a big thing is the employee experience and I think we're gonna get further into that. But the other primary focus that I think that was starting to become relevant [00:06:00] within the past five, 10 years, but really has taken off in recent years is a focus on sustainability.
And whether that means, tracking the organization's own emissions and waste, and making sure that they're making decisions that are responsible. For the environment but also in how they prov or how organizations provide safe workspaces for their employees. Coming off of the pandemic, we really saw a really close focus on making sure rooms and our workspaces are sanitized.
And I think everyone's had enough talk about that, but I think another unique use case, and actually a client that I was speaking to in California recently, they're Starting to roll out environmental sensors that, track their air quality, their noise levels, the light levels, all of the above.
And the reason that they started to down this path is due to their recent California wildfires and. Some employees have apprehension to come into the office if the air quality is poor, [00:07:00] or, they're, they say that it's better at their own home. So as a way of making employees feel safe, enticing them back to the office, they're starting to roll out live dashboards that any employee could access and see, what is the air quality.
So I think that's, and I could go on and on about this, but I think that's one of the biggest shifts is that sustainability and kind of the cleanliness of our buildings and how we impacts the environment is definitely more so at the forefront than an afterthought at this point.
I, I agree.
I've heard a lot of interest in the environmental sensors, we provide those sensors and we all, we have air things, who does a really great job at that as well. And I actually heard a funny story recently that a company was trying to push to have employees install them at their homes, right?
So they could give peace of mind. I don't think that was ever really viable. But it is taking the idea that, hey, this is [00:08:00] important. People do care. And just that, that, hey, do we have do we have the right environmentals or oxygen levels? People work better. It makes a lot of sense.
So I'm certainly seeing that. I guess that kind of goes into the employee experience. You mentioned that before. And, enabling people to, to, thrive in a hybrid workforce. I'm also seeing, ease of use, few clicks, intu, intuitive solutions, and I think of a hotel.
And the modern, work office work environment, right? When you go to a hotel, you expect that you can check in and you also expect a certain amount or can count on a certain amount of standardization, right? And accommodation. I can book the room the same way. I can expect when I get there, there'll be internet that there'll be coffee, hopefully.
There's some cutbacks. Talk about that another time. But also if I'm missing something right, I know who to call. [00:09:00] And I think that's what people are really looking for now, when as they're starting to move back into the office and in what they'll expect going forward. And would you agree?
Hanna: Yeah, most definitely. The hotel analogy immediately brought to mind some recent conversations we've had with clients. It's actually come up, we wanna provide that holistic employee experience and. Things like a way for them to orders from Uber Eats or GrubHub, things that I would've never dreamed about being a part of a workplace or space manage, workplace management conversation.
But it's really shifting the focus onto How can we get people excited to come into the office and what tools and solutions can we provide so that it's a superior experience? I think, gone are the days of, having a stocked, stocked kitchen and a ping pong table as what entices you into the office.
But yeah, I would say most definitely that need for a seamless employee experience is definitely at the forefront. And I think, on top of that, the. [00:10:00] Enabling employees with these tools can not only provide them with a better experience and provide, employee delight, but it also provides the organization very rich data and insights, such as who's coming into the office, who's reserving space trends in different utilization across departments or locations.
Getting back to, that, that rich data that you need to make strategic portfolio decisions.
Rob: I completely agree. And one thing, if people always get caught up in what I call fancy dashboards, right? And you can you can have a lot of really looking reports and dashboards, but I think a lot of people are challenged with the really understanding what that data means.
The, we've seen companies take a or I've seen companies wanting to have a more. Consultative, approach when it comes to their solutions because they just haven't had to use this type of data before. And, with their evolving landscape [00:11:00] and how things are shaping up.
They're turning to experts, right? There's a lot of companies out there. We're obviously in one of them. But really leaning on the experts, which is a good thing because I think you and I could both agree we've seen when people don't do that and how it may not end up exactly how they like.
Hanna: That's a great point. And it is, it's been very interesting. I think there, there's different themes that we're seeing in how different organizations do it, but I would 100% agree that Now more than ever, companies are leaning into each other, into the consultants or, experts leaning on that.
What is the most recent, the trends that are going on because it is ever evolving and merely more quickly than ever. I think if you're okay with it. Rob, I'm gonna switch gears a little bit because I think this kind of plays well into the office experience that we've been discussing. Another trend that I've been seeing my team has been seeing is the renewed focus on facility management.
Things such as your work request, so that employee [00:12:00] experience side of it of how can I submit a break fix ticket. But then also more of a focus on how our equipment is performing now that we have. More people back in the office. Is that something that you've
Rob: seen at all? Yes. And I love that you brought that up.
I've been paying attention to this for quite some time now, and obviously I'm not the only one. If you think about it for for, three years now, basically facilities, teams in a lot of cases have been operating in skeleton crews. And in, in some cases, they've had to reduce the facility staff the people who are actually operating buildings.
Now that people are coming back in and in, working in the offices and using supplies and requesting certain things, looking for different space that need for facilities professionals is coming back. In a pretty pretty steep demand.[00:13:00] And it's not just, the facilities tickets, but it's the overall maintenance.
You think that these buildings really haven't been used in a couple years, so the critical systems, maybe they didn't pay as much attention to, cleaning, it's probably a, it was a lighter schedule than it is now. So having to ramp pretty quick and get people, if you did have to downsize, facilities, teams is important.
In, same goes for preventative maintenance. Having the right tracking in place, making sure everything works when people show up. And it also just goes back to the technology that's being used. If you think about if you think about it this way, laptops, monitors, cameras everything we use in our daily work life, whether it's at home or at at the office is now if it's in the office, probably three years old.
So I've also seen companies struggle with, hey what do we actually need to upgrade and to update? And that's not just [00:14:00] technology, it's also furniture, right? Things like that people don't think about, but can be really daunting. And that's why, going back to the asset piece, making sure you understand.
For what companies understand what they have and where it is and what condition it's becomes important. Cause that kinda drives what they might invest in, right? To make it a better work experience when they're in the office. But outta that, do you have any examples you've seen?
Hanna: Yeah, so I think, a few, the deriving the data from the buildings and using that to make strategic decisions I'm trying to think of a good example off of the facility side, but I think really The holistically, having a better understanding of your equipment and who it's assigned to when it may retire, not only helps you, the organizations forecast better financially, but also understanding, how to outfit offices for our employees.
From the space planning, kind of real estate planning [00:15:00] side of things, I think a big thing that we've been seeing is the use of different modeling or strategic planning tools to either phase reentry as employees came back over the past year and now restocking or reclassifying some of our space to accommodate hybrid employees.
We may just be shifting departments around. But using those different strategic tools to then say, okay, this is the best option for us. This is the route we should go as far as, the types of space we should have. There's one large banking client that we've been working with recently, and they are doing a big study right now using occupancy sensors.
So they are tracking, different types of furniture across one floor of one of their buildings, and taking that data to. Understand what types of seating, what types of workstation should be provided for employees. And then using that rich data to roll out and, investing in office furniture is not cheap.
So going about it in [00:16:00] a way that they know will not only make employees happy, but they're making sound financial decisions. I think those are two examples that really
Rob: come to mind. I hear the strategic planning or, stacking and what do we have and where all the time. And that's where I started myself.
So it's near and dear to my heart. It's challenging though, right? Because there's a lot of things that go into it. I'm actually working with a client right now. And they're pretty sophisticated. They're very sophisticated in the way they're approaching their, people getting back into the office and also their real estate portfolio as a whole and looking down the road.
It's a financial institution. I will say that they're painfully understaffed. It's a couple people who are tasked with really maintaining day-to-day facilities and real estate operations, which you can imagine is a huge undertaking. One thing that they've done to help understand is taking the different approach on [00:17:00] what we might think of historically as a chargeback report and an allocation report, based on cost center.
So what they're doing is using our system, our solutions to to gather the information around who is assigned to what spaces so on and so forth. But then bringing in data from a badging system and overlaying that, right? So it's a very granular way to look at, say again, kinda that traditional chargeback report, so it's not just month by month, but how much are you actually using?
And when, which is just as important. But that's compounded by a few things, right? They have ever-changing space. And keeping up with floor plans and changes can be difficult. But they've been pretty successful. And it's one of the more interesting use cases and more successful, I think, applications I've seen of the data.
And technology they have available. Have you seen anything [00:18:00] like that, obviously it's not exactly sensors that's come up quite a bit, but any other stories that you may have come across using newer technology?
Hanna: Yeah I think you hit the nail on the head with the aggregating the data from different sources.
I think that's really the biggest thing, or biggest trend that I've been seeing is how can we leverage and how can we. Link our different solutions together to alleviate the time and efforts spent by the facilities and real estate team, but also to make it easier for our employees to interact with the solutions.
I think there's a variety of different center technologies that are out there. It's definitely not a one size fits all landscape. And I think those have very unique and great applications depending on what the organization is trying to achieve. I don't know if I exactly answered your question, Rob, but I think the greater need for interconnected systems is definitely a big trend.
Rob: I think you're dead on Hannah. Every that's part of every conversation I've been having, at least for the past year, is being able [00:19:00] to connect different systems. Let me ask you this. Looking forward what is. In area or a solution in a particular area that every company of any size needs to have in place.
Or maybe there's a top three as it relates to real estate and facilities. What's your opinion?
Hanna: That is a hard one. I think I can do a top three. We've spent a lot of time talking today about employee engagement and employee wellness, providing tools that make the employee feel engaged with the organization.
A part of the organization's mis mission. And I think there's a large part that facilities plays in that, in the culture of the office and how the. The office is used by those employees, so I think that's definitely a big one. Employee engagement. I may be biased, but I think that without a solid real estate and space planning solution, it's very hard for an organization to make [00:20:00] financially sound decisions around their space and around, acquiring or getting rid of space.
And then I think if I had one fringe one, we're hearing a lot about AI and how it's starting to play into a variety of industries. Your, everyday life even. And I expect to see much more done there in the facilities realm as well, but, Curious what your top three would be if they would be
Rob: different.
I I think if somebody if a company doesn't have a way to track track their space and keep it updated in a sustainable way today, that's something I would go out and get. I would make sure that the employee experience apps being able to find the right contact, submit tickets, be reserve rooms.
I'm thinking about my personal experiences showing up in our own office and having to try and find batteries for my mouse or something like that. I didn't even know who to contact and or Brenda out, right? Or how to reserve a [00:21:00] room, which obviously I know how to do that. In our office.
But I think you're right. The ai component of this is gonna be critical. We expect it, right? Just in, in our everyday lives. I think it's becoming so common that we get suggestions on here's what you should do, let it be from, an online ordering platform or anything else.
We do expect a certain level of intelligence behind our technology. And I think we're gonna see, especially in the United States who's been slow to adopt, sensors and actually tracking of folks and how they move throughout a facility is gonna pick up a lot. I think that's gonna continue to pick up.
I will say there is one thing that, that kind of came top of mind as we were going through that one thing I see people struggling with a lot. It was simply floor plan management, whether it be AutoCAD or, Penley or Revit.[00:22:00] Keeping those things up to date, knowing where they are, keeping 'em up to date, general management, and then actually applying them and making use of the data.
Therefore we've seen a big increase in, requests for. Our company or others, to actually take on that task for folks because a lot, in a lot of cases, they don't have that in-house experience. And we're seeing a lot of changes in, in layouts and, how space is set up right than we did three years ago.
So
Hanna: the one thing that I'll add there, thinking about the floor plans definitely agree with everything you've mentioned. I think another thing that, we hadn't necessarily seen before, but are definitely seeing more recently is making the floor plans. I don't know if more user friendly is the best way to say it, but more of the end users.
So thinking about how can we add icons to show where different amenities are provided or can we color code by department so employees know where they should go, what neighborhood or zone they should go [00:23:00] into at the office. I think that came up. Occasionally, before, but I think that, that, again, just thinking about the employee experience.
I would definitely agree with that. And I think, my biggest takeaway from our conversation today is really the. And I think we say this all the time, the ever evolving landscape of managing our building space facilities. And it's changing every day, but I think that having the right technology in place to scale as changes occur is one of my biggest takeaways.
Rob, what about you?
Rob: That's a good question, Hannah. And that's a tough one, which is what I, when I usually say it's a good question. I think my biggest takeaway is coming back to the realization that this is not a new, a new topic or a new challenge or a new problem. We've had this problem, or how do we, make the best use of our space and make it most appealing for our people has existed since offices have existed.
It's [00:24:00] just the challenge of adopting the best sustainable technology. And I think we've talked a lot about those different options during this call, but the fact that it hasn't changed, I think past three years, pandemic Downset of Covid definitely shifted things and maybe propelled us forward much faster than we expected, but it was gonna go that way.
So it's just that trend we've seen over many years may be a little bit accelerated, but it's still there and that's why you and I are here,
Hanna: flexibility is king, that's for sure. Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time today, Rob. It was great chatting with you.
Rob: Thank you.