Streamlining Hybrid Offices With the Right Workplace Management System
It goes without saying that the workplace has experienced massive changes over the past couple of years. Many of these changes have proved wonderful for both businesses and employees—though they haven’t come without challenges. Companies quickly learned that hybrid offices fall apart without an effective workplace management system in place to plan, structure, and optimize their facilities.
Implementing an effective workplace management system allows leaders to build a strong, cohesive workforce even as they scale. They can provide employees with resources to boost productivity and enhance the employee experience. Better communication, collaboration, budget allocation, space utilization, safety, and resource management all contribute to a winning growth strategy.
To achieve this, hybrid work setups need sophisticated tools to facilitate decision-making with real-time data and analytics. These tools teach you about your company’s office space so you can adapt accordingly.
Plan Your Workplace Management Strategy
Your workplace management strategy is how you align the physical space, workforce, and IT infrastructure with your company’s goals and culture. Doing so invites immeasurable room for growth. Of course, all of these things are unique to your operations. That is why it’s important to tailor your strategy to fit your company rather than slapping on a one-size-fits-all band aid.
To formulate a workplace strategy, you first need to define your goals. Common management goals include increasing revenue, improving productivity, driving innovation, reducing costs, streamlining business processes, and increasing employee engagement. Conversely, employees may desire increased flexibility, more face-to-face team collaboration, and better communication practices for hybrid workers.
Make the planning process more palatable by breaking it down as follows:
1. Assess
Examine current workplace operations and determine the changes needed to achieve the newly set goals. This will include space management, office expenditure, lease renewals, and real estate costs. Additionally, assess technological shortcomings, communication tools, and security.
2. Implement and Track
Using a workplace management system that integrates space management software will provide accurate insights into space utilization, demand, and facility scheduling trends. Equipped with these insights, facility managers can make better-informed business decisions.
Providing employees with scheduling and team communication tools, as well as a visual directory of onsite employees, will streamline space management and enhance collaboration.
3. Get Buy-In
Even when you take the initiative to meet employee needs, things don’t always run as smoothly as you hoped. Employees will need extra support to fully utilize new tools and follow new protocols. Here, HR should step in to educate employees about the reasons for the changes, their benefits, and how they can maximize the tools available to them.
Optimize Your Workplace for Hybrid Work
With employees using office amenities according to their individual daily needs, the demand for space in a hybrid office is unpredictable and constantly fluctuating. For managers to optimize space usage, meet the needs of employees, and facilitate maximum productivity, a workplace management system should provide strategic, tactical, and operational work place management support.
Many factors impact the size, type, and future demands of your workspace. These include growth, demographics, HR policies, new market entry, equipment and facilities, real estate, and services. On a strategic level, an efficient workplace management system provides data about space and facility use. This will allow you to forecast future demands and align your strategy accordingly.
Tactically speaking, the right technology will assist management with occupancy and cost analysis and then with implementing changes. A quality workplace management system should provide a real-time visual presentation to compare to forecasted space utilization.
On an operational level, cloud-based software that integrates with your existing collaboration tools will ensure space optimization. It does so by making it possible to reserve hot desks and meeting rooms. This helps facility managers manage expenses by aligning energy consumption and reducing building vacancies.
Use the Right Workplace Management Solution for Hot-Desking
Mastering the art of hot-desking is the perfect way to prevent last-minute cancellations from resulting in vacant, underutilized office space.
Desk booking software is a necessity for any organization operating on a hybrid work model. Employees can use the Smarten Spaces desk booking app to reserve their workspace by scanning a QR code or simply logging into their profile. If colleagues or teams need to meet last minute to discuss a project, they can readily book space at the office. The app’s integrated platform means communication is streamlined—keeping everyone in the loop where they belong.
Furthermore, you want an intuitive, user-friendly workplace management system. Like one that lets you upload and adjust floor plans with ease so employees can efficiently coordinate their office space. Neighborhood designation for teams to sit together and designated desks for full-time office workers are also important.