2021 is the year that everyone in every organization became an expert in corporate real estate. I have heard the term “hot desk” used more in the last six months than I have in the last decade. Amazingly, it’s a term that I had thought was effectively dead five years ago. Yet, here it is revived, because the non-real estate people are pulling out the old greatest hits.
When I come across newly minted real estate experts, I do what I can to help them learn and understand the nuances of the field. The biggest thing that they are usually not understanding is that people never do what you expect them to do. If you give people assigned desks, that does not mean they actually show up every day. If you tell them to show up every day, you are probably just causing them to show up even less. Real estate is surprisingly hard because it’s both a financial and operational field. Every improvement you make for operational purposes comes with a financial cost. Every dollar you try to save comes with an operational trade off.
Then we come to everyone’s favorite catch-all: culture. Every journalist with a workplace story will eventually devolve to a philosophical discussion of culture. Does culture start with the workplace or is it something that simply exists throughout the organization? I’ve given my answer before and I stand by it. Culture and virtual working are not mutually exclusive, it’s just harder with greater return when done right. Organizations do not live and die by their cultures. Plenty of successful organizations have horrifying cultures. Plenty of failing organizations have cultures where people would run through brick walls for the business.
Coming up with a future real estate and workplace strategy in this environment is no simple feat. You have to 1) understand the starting point of the organization you are working with, 2) the risk appetites of those same leaders for the future, and 3) you need to understand the actual operational components of real estate. Without a comprehensive understanding of all three, there is no path for a successful answer.