Glossary
Presence
Presence is not use: a desk with a bag on it reads as occupied and supports no work.
Presence is, in Workplaced's definition, the number of people physically in the building at a measurement moment, counted in aggregate and expressed against the people assigned to the building. It is the rawest of the workplace measures: it records that someone is there, not what the space is doing for them.
Also called Attendance, Footfall
How it is calculated
Presence rate = people present ÷ people assigned to the building × 100
- People present
- Counted in aggregate at the moment of measurement, never attributed to named individuals.
- People assigned
- The population the building is provided for, however it is defined in the policy.
Expressed as A percentage of the assigned population, at a stated moment.
This is a Workplaced definition, not a universal industry norm. Counted object: people, counted in aggregate. Denominator: the people assigned to the building as the policy defines them, not workplaces. Period: one stated moment. Exception: badge data does not count everyone and is a floor under the real number. Presence is measured and reported in aggregate. Understanding a workplace does not require knowing who was where, and a measure that identifies individuals answers a different question from the one a space decision asks.
Illustrative worked example: one building at one moment
- People assigned to the building
- 600
- Present, Wednesday 11:00
- 349
- Workplaces observed in use at that moment
- 244
Presence is 58 per cent; occupancy of the workplaces is well below it.
The hundred or so people who are present without occupying a workplace are in meetings, in the coffee area or moving between the two. That gap is a space requirement, and presence alone does not show it.
Where it goes wrong
Treating presence as use
Counting people through a door tells you the building is busy. It does not tell you whether anything in it worked.
Building policy on badge data alone
Access records miss the people who tailgate through a door and count the ones who came in for an hour. They are a floor under the real number, not the number.
Following individuals
Presence answers a question about a building. Attributing it to named people changes what is being measured and what people will tolerate being measured.
Where this measurement decides something
- How much office space do we need?
Sizing a building on this figure.
- Consolidate or renew the lease?
Taking it to a board.
- Occupancy
How it is measured in practice.
Related terms
- Occupancy
Whether the workplaces themselves were in use.
- Activity classification
What people were doing while they were there.
- Peak
The busiest realistic moment, which is what the building is sized for.
Comparing two suppliers' occupancy figures?
Describe in a message how each supplier defines its occupancy figure, and we will tell you what each one is counting.