Whether you are establishing a new office or shifting to a new business address, you need to determine the workspace that you will need. There is no exact science to calculate how much office space is ideal for your business. It completely depends on your preferences and business requirements. However, having an estimate can be extremely helpful.

Your real estate agent can ask you for an estimated space requirement to check the availability in your desired location. Also, you will be signing a lease term, and any miscalculations can negatively impact your business and finances. Hence, determining your office space requirement becomes necessary.

Let us discuss in detail how you can calculate your required office space.

1. Determine the number of employees

The first step in calculating your office space is determining the number of employees. This number does not only consist of your current workforce but also takes into account the future employees of your company.

For most offices, you will need to sign a lease term for three to five years. Depending on your lease term, you need to determine how many employees will be joining the company each year to arrive at the final employee count.

2. The layout of your office

Some workplaces may require a private office for their employees, while others can use an open area workspace where multiple employees sit with each other in close proximity. Depending on the work culture of your office work area can also be separated into cubicles providing some amount of segregation and privacy.

The choice for layout will differ from business to business. For example, law firms may prefer private offices as the occupation requires confidentiality and privacy. However, open area workspace can be used for call centers or sales agents. Cubicles can be preferred by designing firms.

Choosing the layout of your office depends on your preferences, and you can also use a mixed layout to suit your business needs.

3. Categorize the employees based on their space requirement

Not every employee in your office will be allocated the same office space Manhattan. After you have chosen the layout of your office, you need to determine how many employees will be needing private offices, cubicles, and open area workspaces.

Presidents, vice presidents, and managers from different departments may require a private office. Cubicles can be provided for engineers, secretaries, programmers, customer service representatives, accountants, etc., and employees for data entry and clerical work can be allocated open area workspaces.

The space requirement for private offices can be 200 to 400 square feet. Employees in cubicles can be given a working space of 150 to 200 square feet, and employees in the open area can be allocated somewhere between 100 to 150 square feet.

This area is not just the workspace but also consists of common-use areas like conference room, reception area, walk space, canteen, etc.

4. Permanent rooms and spaces

Your office area will also include some permanent rooms and spaces like meeting rooms, reception area, board room, conference room, kitchen, file room, library, etc. If your business has advanced technological needs, you may also require a place for computers and servers.

Space requirements for these rooms will depend on your business needs. However, a rough estimate can be 150 to 200 square feet for permanent spaces like file room, library, mailroom, etc. However, the size of the reception area, canteen, and conference room will depend on the total number of employees in your organization.

After you have successfully determined the space required for each part of your office including, the additional area for growth, you can easily calculate your required office space. However, other factors like the cost of the property also need to be considered. The shape of the estate is also crucial as it can lead to wastage of space, and you may end up paying for the area you may not be able to use.