Using an Office Operations Survey to Understand Office Needs

 As an office operations, employee experience, or facilities professional, you are the eyes and ears of your office. It’s your job to know and take action when the office is too hot or cold, the kitchen sink starts leaking, or when you're out of pretzels. However, you can’t be everywhere at once. Your coworkers are your allies when it comes to alerting you to what they need to be more effective and comfortable at work. Understanding how your team uses your office is important, especially as teams grow, change, and new employees join your company.

One way of crowdsourcing information about your office usage and needs is to implement an employee ticketing system such as Managed by Q's Employee Helpdesk tool, which enables you to collect and track employee requests to stay on top of day-to-day office needs. This data can be used to understand the most popular requests and pain points for employees, so you can adjust your office procedures accordingly. However, it’s also important to be proactive, plan ahead, and address employee needs before they become points of contention.

Sending a quarterly office operations survey enables you to gather information about how your team uses your office and what changes you can make to create a more productive, welcoming space to work.

We created a sample office operations survey that enables you to collect feedback from your teammates about the following areas of the office and employee experience:

Sample Office Operations Survey

General cleanliness

1. How would you rate the overall cleanliness of the office?
2. Are there enough trash and recycling receptacles?
3. What area of the office gets overlooked when it comes to cleaning?

Restrooms

1. Are there certain hours of the day you find they are not clean enough?
2. Are there any products that are missing?
3. How would you rate the cleanliness of the restrooms?
4. Are they well stocked?
5. Is the trash emptied frequently enough?

Office temperature

1. Is the office temperature generally too hot or too cold?
2. Are there certain rooms or areas of the office that are too hot, cold, or stuffy to work comfortably?

Kitchen

1. How would you rate the cleanliness of the kitchen?
2. Is the kitchen stocked with supplies and tools you need?
3. Is there enough refrigerator space for your lunch?

Conference rooms

1. Is the conference room reservation process straightforward?
2. Are conference rooms available when you need one?
3. What else do you need in conference rooms for meetings to be successful?

Building safety and access

1. What hours are you generally in the building?
2. Is the building accessible when you need?
3. Are storage closets and supply closets accessible when you need?
4. Do you feel like you and your belongings are secure at work?
5. What do you need to feel more secure at work? 

Office design

1. Does your desk location enable you to concentrate on your work and collaborate effectively with your team?
2. Does the office floor plan enable you to move around the office effectively?
3. What are your most and least favorite areas of the office? Why?

IT and AV

1. Are there any areas in the office where you experience difficulty with internet connectivity?
2. Is the video conferencing system reliable and easy to use?
3. How would you rate our IT and AV support?
4. Is there any equipment you need to make your job easier?

Food and Beverage

1. What snacks do you enjoy in the office?
2. What additional snacks or beverages would you like to have available?
3. Are snacks adequately stocked throughout the day/week?
4. Is fresh coffee readily available throughout the day?
5. How would you rate team meals?
6. Is there enough variety in types of cuisine served?
7. Do team meals accommodate your dietary needs?

Team Events

1. What learning and development opportunities would you like to see in the office?
• Ex. guest speakers, employee book club, employee skillshare events, panel discussions, mentor/mentee opportunities
2. What team social and bonding activities would you like to be a part of?
• Ex. happy hour, trivia night, group exercise classes, meditation sessions, volunteer activities, excursions to museums, sports, or cultural events
3. What time works best for you for employee outings and events?
• Before work
• During work hours
• Lunch
• After work
• Weekends

You can customize this office operations survey based on your specific needs and office procedures. To keep employee expectations realistic, focus your questions on elements of office operations you have input or some control over. Set up your office operations survey using software such as Survey Monkey or Google Forms and be sure to give your colleagues a deadline for a response. We've put together a sample office operations survey based on the questions above in Survey Monkey so you can see what a formatted survey could look like. 

Once you've compiled your team’s responses, divide the results into quick wins and long-term projects. Implementing the easy wins quickly will demonstrate to your team that you take their feedback seriously. For longer-term projects, discuss what you may need budget approval for or require additional input from leadership. Keep your team informed about what improvements and initiatives you're implementing based on the office operations survey, so they trust that their voices, ideas, and opinions about the office matter and they continue to feel empowered to share with you.