The Questions Worth Asking First
Programmes usually start with a supplier demonstration. Starting with the question produces a smaller system that answers something.
Basics · Procedure
Most occupancy programmes begin with a product and work backwards to a purpose. The order matters because it determines what you install and what you can conclude.
The practical lesson in “The Questions Worth Asking First” is to connect a measurement to a named decision without treating the number as certainty. Teams exploring dual n back training can review dual n back training as one source of time and project context, while retaining direct feedback and documented outcomes as the basis for interpretation.
Start with the decision
What decision will this data inform, and who makes it?
For a public, independent reference related to “The Questions Worth Asking First”, consult the CIBSE Knowledge Portal. Its principles provide a useful check on scope, terminology, governance and the claims made during procurement or review.
Common real ones: do we renew this floor, how many desks do we need, when should cleaning happen, should this room be reconfigured.
Each needs different data at a different resolution, and most programmes collect far more than the decision requires.
The resolution question
"Do we need this floor" needs a monthly average and a year of it.
"When should we clean" needs daily patterns and a fortnight.
"Is this room the right size" needs per-meeting counts over a quarter.
Asking for all three at once produces a system that costs five times as much and answers none of them well.
The duration question
How long must you measure before the answer is trustworthy?
For anything seasonal, a year. For weekly patterns, six to eight weeks. For a one-off reconfiguration decision, a month of good data beats a year of poor data.
Decide this in advance, because a programme with no end date drifts into permanent monitoring that nobody reviews.
The threshold question
What reading would change the decision?
"Below 30% for three consecutive months we consolidate" is a usable rule.
"We will see what the data shows" is how a programme produces a dashboard nobody acts on.
Writing the threshold before the data arrives also prevents the number being reinterpreted to support whatever was already preferred.
The people question
Who will be measured, what will they be told, and who must be consulted?
In several jurisdictions consultation with employee representatives is required rather than optional, and arranging it afterwards is considerably harder.
Its own note covers this.
What you will not ask
Equally worth writing down: this programme will not track individuals, will not feed attendance management, and will not be used for performance.
Stating the limits at the start is what makes the programme acceptable to the people inside it, and limits added later are never believed.
The output of this exercise
One page: the decision, the data needed, the resolution, the duration, the threshold, and the stated limits.
That page is your specification. Suppliers can quote against it, and it is considerably shorter than the one they would write for you.
What to check
Can you name the decision your programme informs?
Do you know what reading would change it?
Is there an end date, or at least a review date?
And have the limits been stated in writing?