If your company is considering implementing a desk booking policy, it’s important to understand what options are available. Besides helping reduce real estate costs, some of these systems offer analytics tools that give you insights into space usage and staff behavior.
Some of these platforms integrate with your existing office scheduling and communication apps, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. These integrations allow you to manage a hybrid workspace policy from one platform.
Flexibility
Creating a flexible workspace isn’t just about providing more choice for employees; it also ensures that the office space is efficiently used, making it more cost-effective for companies. Desk booking systems help facilitate this flexibility by enabling employees to book a workstation whenever they need one, while providing managers with tools to manage and optimize available desk spaces.
A solid system will provide insights about where employees are working, which desks get the most use and how employees use them. These insights can be used to make adjustments to your flexible office program, such as determining whether you need more or less desk space for each employee.
As the hybrid workplace continues to grow in popularity, it will be important to keep track of how employees are using and booking their workspace. Some of these desk booking system offer social distancing and contact tracing features to support safe working practices. They’ll also allow facility managers to enforce distance rules around desks–a critical tool in an open office environment.
Integrations
Desk booking software allows employees to reserve workspaces on a self-service basis. In some instances, they can book a desk in advance, a practice called hoteling; in other cases, workers show up and claim an available desk on a first-come, first-served basis, known as hot desking.
The best system for desk booking will support both strategies. That means you can have hot desks in one area of your building and hotel desks in another.
Some systems even offer integrations with HR platforms and directories so that employee information stays secure no matter where employees log on. This is especially important for companies that are using a mobile workforce.
Many systems also include COVID-19 response tools to safeguard workers and ensure a safe workplace. This includes occupancy sensors, contact tracing for employees who have been exposed to the virus, and automated notifications to cleaners when a room needs sanitizing. These features can help you respond to pandemic concerns quickly and effectively.
Security
One of the best ways to demonstrate your commitment to workplace well-being is to offer a slick branded mobile solution. Luckily, there are a few finalists in the space and they all boast the same suite of features for a fraction of the price of their competition. With a small, dedicated team of techies at the ready, you can get down to business on all the cool stuff, and keep your execs in the know and your employees happy, healthy and well fed.
Analytics
Desk booking systems are equipped with built-in analytics that track usage data and employee preferences for flexible workspaces. These insights help managers optimize a flexible office program.
For example, the best systems offer a building overview that shows admins a breakdown of their office on a floor-by-floor basis (each showing available and booked desks). This helps admins understand how their seating strategy compares across floors and can guide them to build a more flexible strategy.
Similarly, admins can also see how capacity and bookings change over time. This can help them make informed decisions about whether to add a new floor or relocate to another building, as well as understand why their bookings are declining on a particular floor.
Beyond occupancy rates, a good system will also track cash occupancy – how much money is spent on a desk per hour. This metric helps management teams determine where they can save money by eliminating wasted space.
