The other 12 hours
July 18, 2017
The typical business office is occupied less than 50 per cent of the (24 hour) day during Monday thru Friday, and even less on the weekend.
Have you ever considered how to utilize that time and space in a way that can make a positive impact on your business, your employees and your community? I recently read a blog post on VTS.com, contributed by Liz Wolf, and would like to share some of her research, along with my spin on a few ideas in the post.
Here are a few ideas that contribute to the success of your company by increasing awareness of your business in your local community, generating goodwill with your neighbors and increasing engagement across departments within your company:
- Host networking and happy hour events. These events don’t have to be elaborate, just provide the space, spread the word and make the space available. Invite business neighbors and colleagues, and allow your employees to do the same. Consider providing snacks, ice, soft drinks and bottled water (BYOB optional).
- Make your space available after hours for employees to create or host Meet Ups they participate in. In case you aren’t familiar with Meet Up, it’s an online platform that allows participants to organize in-person events around a common interest. There are thousands of events held every week, and more added every day. Writers, readers, runners, cigar aficionados, you name it, there’s a Meet-up for it. If you have space that is suitable, and particularly if your employees are involved in Meet-ups, allowing them to use your space is a win-win.
- In our not too distant past, many companies ran their operations around the clock. Why not put this concept to use in the digital age? Spread the word that you are interested in the concept, and you may be able to share space with another company that needs to run their offices in sync with a home office in another hemisphere.
- How about space for a side hustle? That’s what millennials refer to what used to be known as moonlighting. In 2016 approximately one third of millennials were engaged in a side hustle and many of them need access to the office infrastructure your employees leave when they take off to pursue their side hustle driving for Uber.
- Consider using an unused office as a work-out room. Find a local fitness instructor and that space can be turned into studio after hours. Negotiate a reduced rate for your employees as part of the arrangement.
Looking for additional ways to maximize the value of commercial real estate is a growing trend. As a commercial tenant, you will want to make sure you have specific language in your lease that omits all costs for these events from the building operating expenses that the tenant is responsible for.
Is your broker helping you make the most of your commercial real estate? If not, give us a call!
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