I find a lot of people that specialize in either Workplace strategy or Real Estate strategy. It’s almost as if these worlds are not intended to cross even though you cannot have one without the other.
Real estate people typically like negotiation, details, organization, numbers-oriented, and big picture items. Workplace people are typically more creative, culture and productivity focus, care about design elements, and people-oriented. The skillsets are usually fairly distinct so it’s hard to find people who truly excel at both.
Because of this differentiation in skills, the two worlds often exist in separation. Real estate is the realm of brokerages and workplace is the realm of Architecture or Design firms. Sometimes the two worlds work together well. Sometimes the communication breaks down.
Communication is big here. A real estate strategy could invalidate a workplace strategy. If the two are not aligned, the business that actually works within our workplaces will constantly be sub-optimized for what they need. When the two strategies are out of alignment, it costs the business money.
The lost money comes in a few areas:
- Capital expense required earlier than necessary to redo the workplace
- Too much (or not enough) real estate to support the business leading to a sooner than necessary real estate activity
- Inefficient workflows leading to lower revenues
- Higher employee turnover
Alignment of strategy may sound fluffy on the surface but it comes down to dollars and sense (intentional use of the “wrong” word).