Touring feels like progress, so most searches start there. But tours before a clear brief tend to produce a long list of spaces that are each right in some way and wrong in another, and a leadership team that disagrees about why.
A search brief is a short document that answers the questions every space will be judged against. It is the first stage of how we run a search, and the one that makes the rest faster. See how we work.
People: headcount, growth and attendance
Start with the team you have today, then the team you expect over the life of the lease. A common approach is to plan for the headcount you expect partway through the term, with a view on what happens if hiring runs faster or slower.
Then look at attendance. A hybrid team may not need a seat for every person every day, but it does need enough seats for its busiest days. Decide which days those are, which teams come in together and whether some roles are always in the office.
How the space will be used
Headcount tells you how many people. The layout decides how much space those people need. The main questions:
- Desks vs. offices. Private offices use far more space per person than open seating. Decide who needs one.
- Meeting rooms. How many, of what sizes. Count the meetings your team actually holds, including video calls that need a closed room.
- Phone and focus rooms. Small rooms for calls and quiet work, often underestimated by hybrid teams.
- Shared space. Kitchen, a space for the whole team to gather, reception if clients visit.
- Special requirements. Labs, studios, server rooms, storage or extended hours.
A test fit on a real floor turns this into a number. Until then, treat any per-person figure as a rough starting range. Space needs vary widely with the mix of offices, rooms and attendance, and with how efficient a floor is.
Location: neighborhood and commute
Look at where the team lives and how they commute, and where clients and candidates come from. Transit lines, commuter rail and walking time from the station matter more than a neighborhood name. Most searches work well with two or three target neighborhoods; one is usually too narrow, and more than four spreads the search too thin. Our neighborhood guides cover the main office districts.
Budget
Set a budget for what the office will cost to occupy, not just a rent per square foot. Include rent after concessions, operating costs and electricity, build-out beyond any landlord contribution, furniture, technology and the move. Agree who approves the budget and what happens if the right space costs more. See what a New York office lease costs before move-in.
Term and flexibility
Decide what commitment the company can realistically make. A longer term generally brings better economics; a shorter one keeps options open. Consider what rights you would want in either case, such as renewal, expansion or the ability to sublease. See direct lease vs. sublease vs. flex.
Timing
Know when your current lease or membership ends, what notice it requires and what staying late would cost. Then decide whether the company would take a built or furnished space to move sooner, or needs a custom build. See the office relocation timeline.
Brand, amenities, light and furniture
These are often what people remember from a tour, which is why they need to be ranked before one. Decide how much the space needs to express the brand, which building amenities the team would use, how important natural light and ceiling height are, and whether you want to bring furniture, buy new or take a furnished space.
Must-haves vs. nice-to-haves
The last step is the one that makes the brief useful: separating requirements from preferences. A must-have is something you would reject a space for lacking. Everything else is a nice-to-have. Keep the first list short.
The search brief
- Headcount today, and the headcount you are planning for during the term
- Attendance pattern and peak days
- Offices, open seats, meeting rooms, phone rooms and shared space
- Target neighborhoods and commute priorities
- Total occupancy budget, and who approves it
- Term and the flexibility you need
- Current lease expiration, notice terms and target move-in date
- Space condition you will accept: furnished, prebuilt, second-generation or custom
- Brand, amenities, light and furniture priorities
- Must-haves (short) and nice-to-haves (ranked)
- Who decides, and how
The brief is a working document. It should get sharper after the first round of tours.
From brief to market
With the brief agreed, the search can start in the right place: building a view of every option that fits, listed and not, and narrowing to the spaces worth touring. The brief then becomes the scorecard for every tour.