How to Turn Workplace Utilization Data into Measurable ROI

Facilities leaders are drowning in data. You've got utilization metrics, occupancy sensors, survey results, and booking records piling up faster than you can analyze them. Meanwhile, executives are asking the hard questions: What's the ROI? How do we justify this investment? Why should we consolidate—or expand—our office footprint?

Here's the truth: workplace utilization data isn't just numbers on a dashboard. It's the key to reducing operational costs, optimizing space investments, and improving employee experience. 

In Lesson 5 of Patrick’s Product Picks, we show you how to translate those patterns into clear, actionable narratives that executives actually care about.

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What Is Workplace Utilization Data and Why Does It Matter?

Workplace utilization data measures how often desks, meeting rooms, and shared resources are actually used over time. It reveals patterns that inform space planning, cost reduction, and workplace strategy.

This includes:

• Desk and meeting room bookings
• Check-ins vs. no-shows
• Occupancy tracking through Wi-Fi or sensors
• Resource usage like dual monitors or specialized equipment

The magic happens when you combine these data points to see the full picture. For instance, a conference room might show 50% utilization based on bookings alone—but when you layer in check-in data, you discover half of those bookings are no-shows. That's wasted space you could reallocate.

"The challenge we hear constantly is that facilities leaders have way too much data. From utilization data, the occupancy data, to surveys and feedback, you're under pressure to make space decisions with all the data, but you don't know exactly where to start all the time."
— Jenny Moebius, SVP at Skedda

Why Facilities Management ROI Is Hard to Prove Without Data

Facilities management ROI is rarely one metric—it's found in usage patterns. Yet most facilities leaders struggle to prove ROI because they're working with disconnected data sources, making decisions based on anecdotes rather than evidence, and finding it nearly impossible to translate insights into financial outcomes.

Sound familiar? You're not alone. According to McKinsey, companies making intensive use of analytics are 23 times more likely to outperform competitors in customer acquisition and 19 times more likely to achieve above-average profitability. The same principle applies to facilities management.

The 3 Core ROI Levers of Workplace Data

1. Reduce Operational Costs with Utilization Data

Let's talk about a problem that's costing you more than you realize: HVAC systems and cleaning crews operating in empty spaces.

Imagine your booking data shows 6% utilization on a floor with zero bookings on Mondays and Fridays. Why are you heating, cooling, and cleaning that space? By scheduling building management systems and janitorial teams based on actual utilization trends, you can significantly reduce unnecessary costs.

This isn't theoretical. Larry Charlip, Director of Real Estate and Occupancy Planning at Roku, shared a perfect analogy during a recent webinar. At Citi Field (he's a huge Mets fan), they collect data from ticket scans on game day. If fewer seats are scanned in a certain section, they know they need fewer cleaners there—those staff can be deployed elsewhere or not deployed at all.

Why can't we do this in the office? We can.

"Over time, when you look at that data, you would just go into your conditions and create a rule. So we're not gonna allow people to go into the Sales Room on a Monday, and instead, they have to go in and book in the IT room instead. So that's one way that you could prevent the use of a space where you're not getting a lot of traction on that day, and reallocate where those spaces should go."
— Patrick Cassidy, Manager of Customer Onboarding at Skedda

With tools like Skedda's Occupancy Tracking, you can verify actual presence through Wi-Fi connections. When combined with Auto Check-In, bookings are automatically confirmed once users are detected on-site, giving you presence-verified data you can actually trust. No more guessing whether that Monday booking means someone's actually coming in.

2. Optimize Space and Resource Investment

High utilization justifies investment. Low utilization signals it's time to reallocate.

Take the Woolcock Institute, a leading scientific research organization. They track bookings for shared research computers, which revealed sustained high utilization rates—98% Monday through Friday. These reports gave them the hard data they needed to advocate for additional investment, ultimately funding two more computers that improved productivity across teams.

"Our supercomputers are expensive pieces of equipment – we can justify investment into even more by looking at utilization reports."
— John Reynolds, IT Manager at The Woolcock Institute

On the flip side, you might discover that your fancy 16-person conference room only hosts meetings of 3-5 people. If your other meeting rooms can accommodate those group sizes and aren't hitting capacity, that large room is a prime candidate for repurposing.

The key is granular data. Using Space Attributes in Skedda, you can tag spaces by features like "dual monitors," "standing desks," or "research equipment." When you filter your utilization reports by these attributes, you can see exactly which resources are in high demand and which are collecting dust—making investment decisions defensible and data-driven.

3. Improve Employee Experience and Attendance

Here's something executives often overlook: better employee experience has ROI too. When people can't find the spaces they need, they stop coming to the office.

Lighthouse Credit Union faced this exact challenge. When consolidating three aging offices into one modern headquarters, they had to rethink their approach. Despite hybrid schedules, everyone still had permanently assigned desks—which meant underused spaces, unnecessary equipment spend, and frustrated employees struggling to find resources that suited their needs.

"We knew we wanted desk hoteling in our new building ... we modernized how our team members work."
— Sean LaBrie, VP of IT Infrastructure at Lighthouse Credit Union

With the right data, Lighthouse implemented flexible desk hoteling for hybrid employees and Assigned Spaces for full-time in-office staff. The result? They saved thousands on equipment, improved workplace satisfaction scores, and got better value per square foot of rent.

"Skedda helped us understand where fixed desks were and who they were assigned to ... having a live map of where everyone is really helps keep things organized."
— Sean LaBrie

The lesson: repurposing underutilized spaces based on booking data improves attendance and workplace satisfaction. If traditional meeting rooms are sitting at 17% utilization while collaboration spaces are hitting 80%, your data is telling you exactly what your employees need.

What Utilization Metrics Matter Most?

Not all metrics are created equal. Focus on these to drive meaningful decisions:

• Desk utilization rate – What percentage of desks are actually being used?
• Meeting room utilization – Are conference rooms booked or sitting empty?
• Peak attendance days – Which days see the highest office usage?
• No-show rates – How often do bookings go unused?
• Resource utilization by team – Which teams need specialized equipment?
• Check-ins vs. bookings – Are people actually showing up when they book?

That last one is critical. Combining booking data with check-ins and occupancy tracking ensures your utilization metrics reflect actual presence, not just intent. Without verification, you're making decisions based on incomplete information.

How to Turn Utilization Data into Actionable Decisions

Here's a simple framework for moving from data to action:

1. Identify underutilized spaces – Start by filtering your data to spot patterns. Which floors, rooms, or neighborhoods show consistently low usage?
   
2. Compare usage by day and team – Monday might be dead for Sales but busy for Engineering. Use that insight to consolidate teams on low-traffic days.
   
3. Validate attendance with check-ins – Don't rely on bookings alone. Use check-in data to confirm actual presence and catch ghost bookings.
   
4. Align services and space rules – Adjust HVAC schedules, cleaning routes, and booking rules based on what the data shows.
   
5. Measure impact over time – Track whether your changes actually reduced costs or improved utilization. Adjust as needed.
   

Modern booking systems make this easier than ever. With Two-Way Sync for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, employees can book spaces right from their calendars—which means more accurate data and higher adoption rates.

Why Booking Data Alone Isn't Enough

Here's the uncomfortable truth: booking data lies.

People book desks they don't use. They reserve conference rooms "just in case." They forget to cancel when plans change. If you're only looking at booking data, you're seeing intent, not reality.

That's why check-ins and occupancy validation matter. When someone books a desk but doesn't check in, that's a signal. Maybe they worked from home instead. Maybe they forgot. Either way, your utilization calculation should reflect what actually happened—not what was supposed to happen.

Platforms like Skedda offer multiple check-in methods—QR codes, in-app notifications, email reminders, and even Slack and Microsoft Teams integration—to make verification effortless. The more friction you remove, the cleaner your data becomes.

How to Communicate ROI to Executives

Data becomes ROI when it's translated into outcomes executives care about. Different stakeholders need different stories:

• CFO → Cost savings from reduced HVAC, cleaning, and equipment spend
• COO → Operational efficiency through optimized space allocation and scheduling
• CHRO → Employee experience improvements that drive attendance and satisfaction

"When we talk about ROI, it's rarely one metric. It's the patterns. Underutilized zones, peak congestion, days where half the building sits empty and yet for some reason HVAC and cleaning services remain the same. Those insights are hard to uncover without help."
— Jenny Moebius

Don't just show them dashboards. Show them dollars. Show them decisions. Show them the before-and-after story of how utilization data led to consolidating an underused floor, saving $X per month, and improving employee satisfaction scores by Y%.

Common Workplace Utilization Use Cases

How can utilization data reduce cleaning costs?
By identifying low-usage areas and days, you can adjust cleaning schedules to match actual occupancy, reducing unnecessary labor costs.

How do teams justify new office equipment?
High utilization rates (like 98% for specialized equipment) provide the hard data needed to make the business case for additional investment.

When should offices consolidate or close space?
When utilization consistently falls below 30-40%, it's a signal that space could be consolidated, repurposed, or even eliminated to reduce real estate costs.

How does desk hoteling improve utilization?
By allowing multiple employees to share the same desk across different days, hoteling increases utilization rates and reduces the total number of desks needed.

Final Takeaway

Workplace utilization data allows facilities teams to move from reactive decisions to proactive ROI by aligning space, services, and investment with how people actually use the office.

The tools exist. The data exists. What's often missing is the framework to turn that information into action—and the confidence to present it to leadership in a way that drives real change.

Start small. Pick one underutilized area. Validate the data with check-ins. Make one adjustment. Measure the impact. Then scale from there.

Because at the end of the day, proving ROI isn't about having all the data—it's about having the right data, telling the right story, to the right people.

Ready to turn your workplace data into measurable ROI? See how Skedda can help facilities teams optimize space, reduce costs, and improve employee experience with powerful utilization insights.