Workplace strategy and decision support

WeOffice helps you make informed decisions about your workplace. We combine workplace strategy, attendance and occupancy data, and employee insights to guide office moves, refurbishments, lease renegotiations and new ways of working.

What's included
Key terms
The evidence
The process
Deliverables
FAQ

From workplace analysis to decision support

A clear workplace strategy connects your business goals with the needs of your people and the way they work. We combine evidence, employee insights and practical experience to develop a strategy your organisation can support and put into practice.

Do you need to decide whether to renew your lease or move? Has hybrid working left the office quiet on some days and crowded on others? Or do you need to explain a workplace decision in terms that go beyond cost? We help you assess your needs, compare options and agree on the next steps.

Clarify your goals and scope

We start by clarifying direction, goals and boundaries: what you want to achieve, which requirements apply and what constraints and resources need to be considered. Early on, we agree which decisions the analysis needs to support – relocation, renegotiation, refurbishment, less space, new ways of working or a combination of these.
Understand the organisation and its needs

We map how work is done today – roles, activities, collaboration patterns and needs – and what support the organisation needs to adopt new ways of working. The evidence can include workplace analysis, dialogue and insights that make it easier to prioritise what matters most. Interviews, workshops and observations show what the workplace needs to support before decisions are made about changes to the office.
Shape the workplace strategy for the future

Based on your direction and needs, we develop a workplace strategy that sets out principles, goals and key choices. It covers ways of working and gives clear recommendations on office sizing, types of space and how to strengthen collaboration. We also describe how the future workplace can become more intuitive and easier to use, and we plan the change management and communication that will support implementation.
Build shared understanding and commitment

A strategy only becomes strong when it is shared. We involve key people and stakeholders to build support for the strategy, agree priorities, reduce risk and establish a shared direction.
Plan the next steps and implementation

We turn the strategy into an actionable plan: activities, responsibilities, timeline and decision points. The focus is on making the next step clear and preparing the ground for implementation. The plan also shows where to go from here: office search and lease negotiation, an interior design concept, project and change management or a post-occupancy evaluation.
Follow up and evaluate

After implementation, we evaluate the results: what worked, what needs adjusting and which lessons to take forward. Follow-up measurements of attendance, occupancy and employee experience show whether the workplace works as intended. This helps you develop the workplace further and strengthen the impact over time.

The difference between needs analysis, workplace strategy and decision support

The three parts are connected but answer different questions. Together they make it easier to move from uncertainty to a decision that can be implemented – and to explain the decision to people who were not part of the work. We deliver them as an integrated service, or separately when you already know what is missing.

Needs analysis

Identifies your current situation, needs and constraints.

The needs analysis maps business goals, ways of working, employee needs, attendance, space use and the organisation's circumstances. The purpose is to understand what the workplace needs to support before decisions are made about offices, premises or change.

Workplace strategy

Sets principles and direction.

The workplace strategy describes how the workplace should support business goals, ways of working, collaboration, focus work, culture and change over time. It gives recommendations on office sizing, types of space and how to strengthen collaboration – whether you use hybrid working, activity-based working or assigned desks.

Decision support

Turns the analysis into options and next steps.

Decision support turns analysis and strategy into recommendations, scenarios, implications, risks and next steps, giving the steering group or leadership team clear options to choose between.

Attendance, occupancy, office sizing and employee insights

A decision is only as good as its evidence. We collect and interpret data on how the office is actually used and how employees actually work, weighing averages, variation and peaks together. An average rarely tells you how large the office needs to be: an office can have low average attendance and still be crowded on Tuesdays, lack the right type of meeting room or have too few spaces for focus work.

Attendance

How many people are in the office, when are they there, and how does attendance vary between weekdays, times, teams and periods? Measurement needs to capture variation over time, not isolated days, and the period should reflect normal business activity and relevant peaks.
Occupancy

How are desks, meeting rooms, focus areas and social spaces used by the people who are on site? Low average attendance can hide peaks, crowding in certain areas and spaces that no longer serve their purpose. We interpret the data in relation to the needs of the work, not as stand-alone figures.
Office sizing

How much space, and what mix of desks and rooms, does the office need to work even on normal high-attendance days? The evidence shows total area, space mix and capacity – and what becomes vulnerable if space is reduced without clear guidelines for how the space is used.
Employee insights

Attendance data shows how many people are in the office and when. Occupancy data shows how different spaces are used. Employee insights help explain these patterns and identify what supports or hinders people's work. The workplace survey examines how well the workplace supports different activities, needs and ways of working, rather than measuring satisfaction alone. It helps identify priorities, groups that need additional support and barriers to effective use. We use Workplace Adequacy™ as our framework and survey tool.

From workplace insights to a clear way forward

When you are facing a change in the office or in how you work, you need a process that creates clarity, alignment and momentum. We guide you through a structured method in which workplace analysis and dialogue become a practical workplace strategy and a plan for the next step. The result is evidence that helps you make confident decisions – whether you are moving towards hybrid, agile or activity-based working, or assigned desks. We scale the process to the decision you need to make. Sometimes a focused analysis is enough; in other cases, you need a broader workplace strategy that connects analysis, direction and implementation.

Purpose and decision

We clarify why the work is being done, which decisions it should support and which questions need answering – less space, a new office, renegotiation, refurbishment, a new way of working or an evaluation of the current office.
Current situation and data collection

We map how the organisation works in practice: activities, collaboration, bottlenecks and needs across roles and teams. We then choose the data sources: attendance data, occupancy, a workplace survey, interviews, workshops, observations or existing reports and data. The measurement period should reflect normal business activity and relevant peaks.
Analysis and interpretation

We read the data in context: how attendance varies across the week and over time, where it gets crowded and where spaces stand empty, and how different teams and roles experience the office according to the survey. We set this against ways of working and business goals, so it becomes clear where the current situation falls short of your objectives and which needs should be addressed first to have the greatest impact.
Needs, objectives and principles

Together we set clear objectives and principles that guide choices of ways of working, spaces and functions. The principles cover attendance, space, collaboration, focus, technology and change, and become the yardstick against which we then weigh the scenarios.
Scenarios and implications

We compare the options: stay, move, reduce space, refurbish, renegotiate, change ways of working or combine several measures. We weigh space, capacity, cost, function, risk and flexibility against each other using the same requirements, so the choice is not driven by a single figure.
Recommendation and action plan

Leadership and the project team receive a clear recommendation with implications, risks, prioritised actions and next steps, plus a plan for change management and communication. Afterwards, we evaluate what worked and what can be adjusted to strengthen the result over time.

Clear recommendations for decisions and implementation

A workplace strategy should guide decisions, priorities and implementation. That is why we summarise the analysis in clear recommendations, options and next steps that leadership, HR, facilities management, the project team and communications teams can take forward.

Current situation and analysis

A summary of what works, what creates friction and which questions need to be resolved, with analysis of attendance patterns, occupancy and survey results – including differences between roles, teams and ways of working.
Objectives, principles and office sizing

Direction for how the workplace should support work, collaboration, focus, culture and change going forward, together with recommendations on space requirements, capacity and the mix of desks and rooms.
Scenario comparison and risk

Options for staying, moving, reducing space, refurbishing or changing ways of working, with the implications, risks and vulnerabilities of each – so the decision can be explained to leadership and the board.
Recommendation and action plan

A clear recommendation with prioritised actions, proposed measures and next steps: office search and lease negotiation, an interior design concept, project and change management or a post-occupancy evaluation.

FAQ

Common questions about workplace strategy, workplace analysis and decision support

What does it cost to develop a needs analysis and workplace strategy?

The price depends on the scope: how many employees and offices are included, which data sources are used, and whether the work covers the whole chain from workplace analysis to decision support or a defined part of it. WeOffice gives a fixed price after a free initial strategy call in which the scope is agreed.

How long does it take to develop a workplace strategy?

Depending on the size of your office, WeOffice can develop a workplace strategy in 6–12 weeks. Data collection usually takes the longest, because attendance needs to be measured over time.

How much office space do we need per employee?

Space requirements depend on attendance and ways of working, not headcount alone. Two organisations with the same number of employees can need very different amounts of space, depending on how many people are on site on a normal peak day and how much meeting, focus and collaborative work the office needs to support. WeOffice calculates a range based on actual attendance data, occupancy and space mix rather than a fixed ratio per person.

How long do you need to measure attendance for the data to be reliable?

The measurement period needs to capture variation, not isolated days: in practice at least 6–8 consecutive weeks of normal activity, excluding major holidays and the summer period. Shorter measurement periods may miss the differences between weekdays and the peaks that drive office sizing. WeOffice always complements attendance data with occupancy analysis, because attendance alone does not show how individual spaces are used.

Can you use data we already have, such as access records or meeting room bookings?

Yes. WeOffice starts from the sources you already have – access records, Wi-Fi, booking data, sensors or earlier measurements – and assesses which are reliable enough for office sizing. Where data is missing, we add observations or a dedicated measurement period. Existing employee surveys can also be included in the analysis.

How many people need to respond to the workplace survey for the findings to be reliable?

WeOffice recommends aiming for a response rate of at least 70 per cent, with at least 10–15 responses in each group you want to analyse. WeOffice assesses whether the responses provide a sufficient basis for comparisons between roles, teams or ways of working, and makes clear which conclusions the findings support.

What is the difference between workplace strategy and premises strategy?

Workplace strategy is about how the workplace should support the work, ways of working and the organisation. Premises strategy translates that into decisions about space, location, premises, costs, flexibility and long-term space requirements. WeOffice develops the workplace strategy first, because a clear workplace strategy provides a stronger basis for decisions about premises.

Selected projects

From Tradition to Future – Strukton Rail Creates a Flexible Workplace with WeOffice

When Sweden's largest private railway contractor identified the need for a more modern work environment, the goal was to create more than just a beautiful office. Together with WeOffice, Strukton Rail developed a workplace strategy that reflects the company's culture, supports employees in their daily work, strengthens collaboration, and prepares the headquarters for future ways of working.

Workplace Strategy for a Learning Environment

Sanoma Utbildning is one of Sweden’s leading knowledge companies, focused on developing and disseminating education. When the organization faced leaving its previous premises, it saw an opportunity to create a work environment that not only meets today’s needs, but also actively strengthens the company’s mission: to promote learning, collaboration, and innovation.

More Than a Workplace – How ST – The union of Civil Servants – Created an Office That Reflects Their Values

When Fackförbundet ST needed a new office, the goal was clear: the workplace should reflect the organisation's mission and values. With support from WeOffice, ST created a sustainable and flexible environment where collaboration, culture and wellbeing are at the centre. The outcome was more than new premises: an office that strengthens both ST's identity and a future-ready way of working.

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