The 3 Rs of RTO: From Guesswork to Great Work

Many think of ‘return-to-office’ (RTO) as being fully in the office, similar to what employees did before the COVID-19 pandemic. But that’s just one slice of the RTO pie.

Today, we see multiple populations of employees: those with structured hybrid work policies, going into the office two to three days a week; those who go in when needed for team collaboration; and those who are more full-time in the office. Despite the varying schedules, these populations all need an office that meets changing work needs in 2025 and beyond.

Facilities leaders, office managers, workplace strategists, and executive teams are asking: Is our RTO policy actually working? Are people showing up? Are we using space efficiently—and creating the kind of workplace experience that employees want to be part of?

These aren’t questions you can answer by guesswork. You need a network of data sources—from access swipes and Wifi logins to desk and meeting room booking trends and employee sentiment. When brought together and analyzed with the help of AI, this information provides insights you can actually act on.

Types of Data To Track

To understand the full picture of RTO success, no single data point is enough. Someone may book a desk—but never show up. A space might be frequently accessed—but not meaningfully used. Employees might be compliant with policy—but deeply dissatisfied.

The most successful organizations are layering insights from access systems, booking tools, occupancy sensors, and employee feedback to build a complete picture of what’s happening in the workplace. These multiple sources of data include:

• Desk and room booking data: Know which spaces are in high demand and which go unused
• Workplace app integrations: Reveal who’s coming into the office and when
• Check-in data: Confirms whether someone claimed their reservation, reducing “ghost bookings”
• Access control/badge swipe data: Shows when and how often employees enter the office and which zones they access
• Occupancy sensors: Validate usage in real time and detect discrepancies between bookings and actual presence
• Wifi tracking: Identifies whether people are present and connected at specific workstations
• Lunch or amenity usage: Indicate deeper engagement with the workplace beyond just being present
• Employee surveys and feedback tools: Capture the qualitative side (employees’ experience, satisfaction, and what’s missing from the workplace)

‍

By integrating these data points, workplace teams can move beyond assumptions and uncover powerful, actionable truths. 

See how Skedda helps you integrate and analyze this data ecosystem, making it easier to drive confident, evidence-based decisions.

Below, we share strategies to help leaders shift from guesswork to great work with data- and AI-backed action, building smarter, more adaptive workplaces that support people, performance, and the future of work.

3 Critical Ways Data and AI Can Drive Smarter Workplace Decisions

Today, researchers have had more time to study flexible work, which remains the most popular work model. 70% of US companies offer some degree of work location flexibility (Flex Index).

We see more data coming in to inform our decisions. To increase office utilization, drive cost savings, and improve the workplace experience, leaders are tracking multiple sources of occupancy data—-and nearly 80% are tracking utilization data (JLL).

Successful organizations and managers now lead with data, intentionality, technology, training, and the right communication to create great modern work experiences. They’re leveraging these insights to rightsize their footprint, redesign for today’s needs, and reel people in with magnetic spaces that employees choose to return to. Here’s how:

1. Rightsize Your Footprint

Many organizations downsized their office space post-pandemic to adapt to employees mostly working from home. According to CBRE, optimizing space for flexible work has resulted in a 15% reduction in average square footage per individual. With recent RTO mandates, organizations have seen a slight uptick in office attendance—but it still trails the numbers of 2019 and before.

Now, one of the most pressing questions for facilities and real estate teams is: Do we still need all this space? Data can provide a confident answer.

Desk booking software like Skedda provides granular usage analytics, helping you spot empty rooms, low-traffic areas, and unclaimed bookings. If certain areas are always empty, it might be time to consolidate or repurpose that space. On the flip side, if meeting rooms are booked out daily and teams are crammed into too few spaces, you may need to expand.

However, banking on booking data alone is not enough. Employees may book a desk or meeting but fail to show up. These “ghost bookings” can skew your usage analytics. By pairing booking data with access control data and occupancy sensors, you gain a more comprehensive understanding of how to right-size your footprint.

AI POV: By combining booking data with sensor readings and Wifi logins, AI can flag consistent discrepancies, identify “ghost bookings,” and help free up valuable space. Want to know if a new RTO policy is working? AI can quickly assess the before-and-after by analyzing badge swipes, survey feedback, and collaboration metrics, providing a fast and reliable answer.

AI-generated usage and cost models can also help you make the case to scale up or down. Use AI to analyze historical and real-time usage data to pinpoint underused areas. This can simulate the effects of downsizing or project future space demand based on changing work behaviors.

2. Redesign for Current Needs

Today’s office must reflect how people work now—not how they worked in 2019. In the modern workplace, people view the office as a space for collaboration, socialization, and relationship-building.

As such, rows of desks or cubicle farms won’t cut it anymore. The modern office is about activity-based spaces that support a variety of work modes: focus, collaboration, social connection, and (occasionally) hybrid meetings. CBRE has found that activity-based working (ABW) is best suited for the hybrid workplace, as it provides a variety of space types to accommodate different work tasks.

Organizations need to use booking data, sensor insights, and employee feedback to redesign spaces based on how people actually use them. Data helps you answer space use questions like:

• Are smaller meeting rooms always full?
• Are focus booths going untouched?
• Do teams prefer sitting together or individually?

‍

By pairing qualitative data (like surveys) and quantitative data (like sensor use), you’ll know exactly how to redesign your floor plan to match the way your teams actually work. For example: 

• Booking data might reveal that 4-person huddle rooms are in high demand—but 10-person boardrooms go unused.
• Sensor insights may indicate that kitchen or wellness spaces are being used more than some work areas.
• Survey responses might highlight frustration with noise levels or outdated tech.

‍

By having multiple sources of data to answer these questions, you’re using data-backed insights to tailor to your team’s actual behaviors—not industry trends or guesswork. 

AI POV: You can optimize layouts based on AI-analyzed usage trends and traffic flows. AI tools analyze booking behaviors, employee movement, and survey sentiment to suggest layout and facility changes that match how people collaborate, focus, and socialize in the office today. For example, you can use AI for smarter cooling or heating, scheduling them at times that you know will have peak traffic in the office. You can also use AI to analyze check-in patterns and attendance data to help employees forecast and pick the best days to come in.

3. Reel In With Magnetic Spaces

The office isn’t just a place to work—it’s a place to want to work. Organizations with successful RTO plans are creating “magnetic” spaces that motivate employees to make the office commute worthwhile. That means designing experiences in the office that reel people in and support their best work.

To achieve this, organizations must combine space utilization data with employee sentiment. Together, they guide investments in amenities, tech, and layouts that foster engagement, connection, and productivity. And data can help with that by revealing what matters most to your teams: Are they coming in for collaboration, focus, mentorship, or just coffee and community?

Workplace management software like Skedda helps create magnetic spaces in three key ways:

• Flexible, intuitive booking makes it easy to find the perfect space—every time
• Custom rules and policies help manage demand and ensure fairness
• “See who’s in” integrations encourage employees to come in on optimal days for collaboration

‍

Amazing workplaces often include amenities and services such as cafés and restaurants. They also host events to build stronger relationships and community. Using technology that tracks sign-ups and participation can provide valuable engagement signals on what’s working and what’s not. By having a deeper understanding of what employees want, you prepare yourself with the relevant knowledge needed to create experiences that keep people coming back.

Read more: From Mandate to Magnet: Office Design for Great Hybrid Workplaces

AI POV: AI can reveal what employees actually value—and where your workplace is falling short. AI can correlate engagement data (like lunch orders, event participation, or wellness room bookings) with sentiment trends to recommend experience updates that boost employee satisfaction and retention. 

From there, you can adjust services (e.g., cleaning, food delivery, IT support) using predictive models based on occupancy patterns. AI can connect space usage with service demand, ensuring resources match actual needs, not outdated assumptions.

From Guesswork to Great Work

The return to office is no longer just about policy—it’s about experience, efficiency, and engagement. 

It’s time to go beyond gut feeling. With the right mix of data, AI, and strategic leadership, organizations can move from reactive decision-making to proactive, people-centered planning. Facilities leaders can design smarter spaces, business leaders can make better investments, and employees can enjoy a workplace that supports how they actually work.

Ready to turn data into workplace transformation? Book a personalized Skedda demo and see how smarter booking can fuel a better return to office.