Using employee profilesAn alternative way of determining sharing ratios is to look peoples workstyles. Many organizations make a distinction between workers who are fixed or residential (performing mostly desk work in the office), flexible (a mix of activities in the office, including many meetings) and mobile (spending a lot of time outside the office, e.g. working from home or on the road). Each workstyle can be linked to a different sharing ratio, which can then be used to calculate an overall ratio. The advantage of this approach is that it focuses on peoples way of working rather just occupancy levels. The disadvantage is that it is not always easy to get good data on workstyles and mobility patterns. 100%90% Occupancy level diagram80% Diagram showing workplace occupancy 70% Peak levels over the course of a week. The diagram 60% Mode distinguishes between workstations that are 50% occupied (someone working there), unoccupied 40% Average (totally empty) and in use but unoccupied (no 30% one there, but there is still a laptop or a coat 20% hanging over a chair).10%0%MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAYOccupied In use, but unoccupied UnoccupiedExample: Employee profilesThe sharing ratio is in this case calculated by identifying different employee profiles and by linking these to different sharing factors.Profile Description Percentage of totalWorkstation/workforce employeeFixed workers Mainly individual desk work in the office.35% 1Flexible workers Diverse activity profile, often in meetings,40% 0.5occasionally works at homeMobile workers Frequently work at other locations and visit clients10% 0.2in the field.Home-based workers Work two or more days a week from home 5% 0.2Overall sharing ratio 0.6Differentiating between teamsAn essential question in any ABW project is whether the sharing ratio should be differentiated within the organization. A finance department, for example, is likely to have relatively high occupancy levels as many people do desk work, while a project management department may have low occupancy levels as people spend a lot of time on project sites. Should such differences translate into a different ratio? The answer depends on how stark the difference is and how big these teams are. If, for example, one team has an occupancy level of 70% and the other of 30%, and they occupy different floors, it will make sense to apply different ratios. But if differences are small and if departments can make use of each others spaces, it isbest to keep things simple and apply one averaged ratio.65