The most important first step you can take is to determine the goals of your project. Everything you do depends upon your objective (some sample objectives are shown below):

• Do you want to increase employee productivity?
• Do you want to increase employee retention and  satisfaction?
• Do you want to manage your conference rooms and hospitality services?
• Do you want to share desks and reduce office and support costs?
• Do you want to create and support a telework program?

You may want to accomplish one, none, or all of these goals. But whichever goal you give priority will determine the processes you’ll institute to support the program. A company which values employee satisfaction over decreasing real estate costs will be much more inclined to purchase new furniture, change floor layouts, and install little “perks.” Conversely, a company which wants to increase staff levels without leasing new space will be most interested in automating desk-sharing between mobile workers.

Two additional considerations:

1. Is the project for one office or multiple facilities?
2. Are the goals the same for every facility?

The flexible office needs to accommodate facility-specific goals and facility-specific variations

Continue to next step: Obtaining an Executive Sponsor

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