People do not commute to the office simply to sit at a different desk.
They come in to work with people, use spaces that support the day ahead, meet clients, access better facilities and feel part of something. When those moments are easy, useful and well thought through, the office earns its place in the week.
Making the office worth the commute does not always mean a major refurbishment or a long list of perks. It means removing friction from the day and giving people a reason to choose the workplace when they could work elsewhere.
Here are 15 practical ways to make the office more useful, welcoming and worth returning to.
TL;DR
| What people want from the office | What makes a difference |
|---|---|
| A smooth start to the day | Simple access, clear arrival information and a desk ready for them |
| Space that supports the work they need to do | Easy desk and meeting room booking, with the right mix of focus and collaboration space |
| A comfortable environment | Good air quality, sensible temperature control and spaces that feel looked after |
| A reason to connect | Social spaces, useful events and services that make the day more enjoyable |
| Less wasted time | Connected workplace technology that helps people find, book, access and use the building easily |
1. Make arrival feel effortless
The journey into work begins before someone reaches their desk.
A frustrating arrival can shape the whole day: a forgotten pass, a queue at reception, uncertainty around where to go or a confusing building entrance. A good arrival does the opposite. It helps people move from commute mode into work mode quickly.
Mobile credentials can make entry simpler, allowing employees to use a phone or digital wallet pass rather than carrying another physical card. Connecting access with lifts, doors and workplace services helps the building feel ready for the person arriving, not the other way around.
Read more about mobile employee badges in Apple Wallet and how they can make workplace entry easier.
2. Help people plan their office day before they leave home
No one wants to travel in only to discover there is nowhere suitable to sit, their team is on another floor or the only available desk is in the busiest part of the office.
Giving people a clear view of the day before they arrive removes that uncertainty. They should be able to see what spaces are available, choose a desk that suits the work they are doing and, where needed, book close to colleagues.
A desk booking system makes this simpler. It gives employees more control over where and how they work, while giving workplace teams a better view of how demand changes across the week.
3. Create spaces for different types of work
A workplace that only offers desks asks everyone to work in the same way. Most teams need more than that.
People need quiet areas for concentration, informal spaces for quick conversations, project tables for collaborative work, private rooms for sensitive calls and comfortable spaces where they can catch up with a colleague. The right balance will look different for every organisation, but variety matters.
The key is to make those spaces easy to understand and easy to use. Clear wayfinding, visible availability and a simple booking journey can make the difference between a good space on paper and a useful space in practice.
4. Make meeting rooms easier to find and use
Meeting rooms are one of the quickest ways an office can become frustrating.
People book rooms they no longer need. Others cannot find a suitable space at short notice. Rooms sit empty while calendars say they are occupied. When meeting room booking is disconnected from the rest of the workplace experience, it creates unnecessary admin for everyone.
A connected meeting room booking system can show live availability, support last-minute changes and help people choose a room with the right size and setup. For workplace teams, that creates a clearer view of demand and helps make better use of valuable space.
5. Make it easier for teams to be together
For many people, collaboration is the strongest reason to commute.
That does not mean every office day needs to be filled with meetings. It means making it easy for teams to choose the days they come together, book nearby desks and use the spaces that help them do their best work together.
Team neighbourhoods, group booking and interactive floorplans can all help. The experience should feel simple: people should be able to see who is in, where their team is based and how to plan a useful day together.
The office becomes more valuable when it helps people connect with purpose, rather than simply asking them to be present.
6. Get the basics of comfort right
People may not talk about temperature, ventilation or lighting when describing a great office day. They will notice immediately when those things are not working.
A meeting room that is too warm, stale air in a busy space or lighting that makes it hard to focus can undermine everything else the workplace is trying to offer. Comfort is part of workplace experience, not a separate facilities issue.
Indoor air quality monitoring gives building teams better visibility of air quality, temperature, humidity and ventilation conditions. When that information is connected to the wider building, teams can respond to changing conditions rather than waiting for complaints.
7. Give people spaces where they actually want to spend time
Social spaces should feel like a natural part of the workplace, not an area people only visit when there is free food.
That could mean a café-style breakout area, a well-designed lounge, a roof terrace, somewhere quiet to recharge or a shared space that feels different from the desk floor. The best spaces give people a reason to stay a little longer, have a conversation or take a proper break.
At TBC.London, wellbeing-focused spaces, a clubroom and rooftop garden sit alongside live energy and air-quality data to support a more human workplace experience.
8. Build a workplace community, not just an events calendar
Events can give people another reason to come in, especially when they feel relevant to the people using the building.
The strongest workplace events are usually simple and well targeted: breakfast sessions on busy office days, wellness activities, local pop-ups, learning events, seasonal moments or opportunities to meet people outside an immediate team. They do not need to be constant, but they should give people something worth being part of.
A workplace app can bring those moments together in one place, making it easier for occupiers to see what is happening and engage with their building community.
Explore how Smart Spaces creates a connected workplace experience.
9. Make everyday services easier to access
Small conveniences can have an outsized effect on whether the office feels useful.
That might be booking a parking space, finding cycle facilities, ordering food, reporting an issue, checking building information or getting help from the front-of-house team. Individually, these are small tasks. Across a working week, they can create a lot of friction.
Bringing workplace services into one connected experience gives people fewer systems to remember and fewer unnecessary steps to take. A digital concierge can help make useful building information and services more accessible throughout the day.
10. Support the commute itself
If people are making a journey into the office, the experience around that journey matters too.
For some, that means a reliable place to park. For others, it means secure cycle storage, showers, changing facilities or the confidence that they will be able to access the building easily when they arrive. These details can shape whether an office feels practical enough to use regularly.
Smart parking can help employees reserve a space before they travel, reducing uncertainty and helping workplace teams manage limited parking more effectively.
11. Make visitors feel expected
A client meeting or guest visit should not begin with a queue, a paper sign-in sheet or a call to find the host.
Visitor experience is part of the workplace experience. When visitors are pre-registered, receive a clear invitation and can check in easily, they arrive feeling expected. Hosts are notified, front-of-house teams have better visibility and security processes remain clear.
A connected visitor management system can bring pre-registration, branded invitations, digital passes, reception check-in and access control into one journey.
12. Communicate what matters on the day
A workplace can have excellent facilities and useful services, but people need to know they exist.
The most effective workplace communication is timely and relevant. A message about an event, a building update, a newly available service or a change that affects someone’s day should be easy to find without becoming noise.
Think less about sending more messages and more about making the right information available at the right moment. A workplace app gives people one familiar place to check what is happening in their building, from useful updates to events and available services.
13. Make the workplace inclusive by design
A worthwhile workplace works for more people.
That means considering accessible desks, clear navigation, sensory needs, different working styles, prayer or wellbeing spaces, flexible room setups and the practical needs of people who use the office differently. Inclusion is not a single feature. It is the combined effect of many decisions that make the workplace easier to use.
Booking and space-management tools should support that flexibility. People should be able to find the type of space they need, rather than having to ask for help every time they come in.
14. Give people a quick way to get help
Every building has occasional issues. A room is too cold. A desk setup is not working. Someone needs support. The difference is how quickly and clearly that issue can be resolved.
When people do not know where to go, small problems become bigger frustrations. A clear support route, accessible through the same workplace experience people use for booking and building information, helps teams respond more effectively.
For workplace and facilities teams, these requests also create useful insight into recurring problems. Over time, that can help improve the building experience before issues become widespread.
15. Keep improving the office using real workplace data
The office should not be treated as finished on launch day.
How people use a building changes over time. Attendance patterns shift, popular spaces change, services evolve and new friction points emerge. Workplace teams need a clear picture of what is happening so they can improve the experience based on evidence, not assumptions.
A Smart Building OS can bring data from building systems, workplace services and occupancy into one operational view. That helps teams understand how the workplace is performing and make better decisions around space, comfort, energy and experience.
The goal is simple: keep making the office more useful for the people who choose to use it.
How Smart Spaces helps make the office worth the commute
Smart Spaces brings the everyday moments of workplace experience together in one connected platform.
From mobile access, visitors, desk and meeting room booking to indoor air quality, workplace services and building performance, the platform helps people move through their day with less friction. For workplace, real estate and facilities teams, it provides a clearer view of how spaces are being used and where experience can improve.
The smartest workplace technology should make buildings easier to use, not more complicated.
Explore Smart Workplace Management Systems or book a demo.
Frequently asked questions
What makes an office worth commuting to?
An office is worth commuting to when it helps people do something they cannot do as easily from home. That could mean collaborating with colleagues, using better spaces and facilities, meeting clients, accessing workplace services or being part of a community.
How can employers encourage people back to the office?
Employers can encourage office attendance by making the workplace genuinely useful and easy to use. A smooth arrival, simple desk booking, reliable meeting rooms, comfortable conditions and purposeful team time all make a difference.
What do employees want from a modern office?
Employees often want choice, flexibility and less friction. They need spaces that support focused work and collaboration, clear access to workplace services, a comfortable environment and technology that makes the day easier rather than adding another task.
How can workplace technology improve office attendance?
Workplace technology can improve the office experience by making it easier to plan, book, access and use the building. It can also help workplace teams understand how people use space and improve the office based on real data.
