What to Do with Spare Office Space When Your Employees are Working from Home

A lot has changed about the world of work this year, and where the metaphorical chips will eventually fall is still up in the air. One thing that’s certainly true for now, though, is that more people than ever before are working from home. This means that many employers are finding themselves with spare office space and nothing to do with it.

If you’re one of the many business owners who’s found yourself wondering just what to do with all your extra office space, don’t panic. In this blog post, we’ll run through some of the best solutions, from renting your space to using it to make your workers happier and more productive.

What to Do with Your Extra Office Space 

1) Rent it out as storage space

Perhaps the most attractive thing to do with your extra office space is to rent it out. You get the satisfaction of knowing the space is filled, and you can make some money off of it without having to invest in redecoration or reorganising. It’s a pretty sweet deal, if we do say so ourselves.

By registering as a host with Stashbee, you can quickly set up your listing without paying a penny and wait for the offers to come in. Payments are handled securely online, and all prospective guests are verified before they can send a booking request. What can we say? Peace of mind is important to us.

It’s a great, simple way to make money, put your space to use, and help out anyone who needs a quick and convenient way to store their items all in one fell swoop. Hot desking might be out in the era of coronavirus, but Stashbee’s COVID safety guidelines mean storage rental is still an attractive and safe option.
 

Make like this cat and be sure no one is close enough to touch you (and better yet, stay at least two metres apart) - that’s our first rule of safety here at Stashbee.

2) Turn it into an experiential space

Of course, you might want to do something a bit more adventurous with your space. If you do, you should consider turning it into an experiential space. The phrase might sound like corporate market-speak nonsense - and, if we’re being honest, it kinda is. But it leads to an important point: not all office space needs to be solely focused on work.

While it can seem like a waste of money from a profit perspective, you can actually increase your employees’ productivity by providing areas not focused solely on the bottom line.

Whether you set up a games room for ping pong or table football, a movie room with a big screen or projector, or just a lounge area, you’re sure to help your employees relax - and, as many studies have shown, happier workers are better at their jobs.

Having more fun at work and improving productivity? Sounds like a great combination to us.

3) Spread out and redecorate

What if you want to use your office space, but don’t have the spare cash to set up a games room? Fear not: there are still plenty of things you can do to improve your workers’ experience.

It sounds obvious, but the space workers spend time in can seriously impact their happiness. Even with the increase in working from home, those who do come into the office are still likely to spend a fair bit of time there. It makes sense to provide space for them to breathe - and you can do it in two easy steps:
 

• Step one: Start by decluttering working areas and moving old documents and materials into storage. You don’t need to go too crazy - just a little tidy will help, and your workers will thank you for providing a more open environment.
• Step two: Once you’ve done that, you can encourage employees to spread out, providing each one with more space of their own. In addition to having some room that’s just theirs - who doesn’t like that? - this will help them socially distance with ease.

Providing dedicated areas for collaborative work should also help your staff get the most out of the time they do spend working together.

Social distancing be like…
 

We hope this list has given you some ideas of what to do with your extra office space. From providing dedicated areas for relaxation and creativity to renting your space out for others to use, there are plenty of options.

And, for those who are spending more time than ever at home and finding themselves with (waaaay too much) free time on their hands, check out this list of ways to make money from home instead. Idle hands are… well, you know the rest.