As more employees divide their time between home and the office, the benefits of hybrid working are clear: employee autonomy, lower building costs, creative collaboration, and increased well-being.
But hybrid working also poses a range of potential questions: How to keep workers safe in the office? How to express trust in your employees? How to avoid the burden of manually managing a hybrid office?
Luckily, a desk booking tool is a reliable solution to those problems. Let's dive in.
The benefits of desk booking
Employees can use a desk booking system to reserve which days they’ll be in the office and where they'll be working—ensuring that they always have a place to work. When you give employees the freedom to choose their own workspace, it not only primes their day for success but also streamlines your office management approach.
With a desk booking solution, you can:
- Protect workplace safety
- Save costs
- Enable hybrid working
- Boost employee well-being
- Increase workspace efficiency
Desk and room booking are some of the easiest initial steps you can take towards a future-proof workplace strategy.
Solving the challenges of a modern office
Regardless of your current workplace concept, it cannot be denied that the hybrid work model is here to stay. Recent studies have found that 49% of workers prefer hybrid working above all other work models, and 79% of C-Suite employees plan to let their employees split their time between corporate offices and remote working
However, this new way of work can raise several issues. As visits to the office become more infrequent and less predictable, organizations need a solution that manages who is in the office, when, and where they are working. So what are the most common concerns regarding hybrid working—and how can a desk booking system combat them?
1. How do I keep my employees safe and comfortable in the office?
With desk booking, you can see which areas of your office are the most crowded, and take the necessary steps to keep your employees safe and comfortable. Nothing is more important than the safety of your employees. To prevent an outbreak of sick days, it is vital to maintain an orderly facility with a customized capacity limit. Desk booking tools allow you to restrict the number of people in your office, informing you of who is in your space and when.
Managing your office with a desk booking system not only protects workers by reducing the spread of germs but also increases comfort and cleanliness. The key to ensuring your employees’ comfort is to avoid overcrowding and guarantee that everyone has the space they need to be productive. That might mean keeping employees 1.5 meters apart or just making sure that there is always space to collaborate. Additionally, desk booking encourages employees to keep their shared desks and workspaces clean, leading to less clutter and a cleaner office.
2. How can I improve and maintain employee well-being?
When you harness desk booking to give employees the chance to interact with the office on their terms, it significantly improves their well-being. Strictly assigning and enforcing which days workers have to be in the office can cause employees’ sense of freedom to plummet. Especially now as hybrid working has become a priority for many, a system that facilities autonomous working is vital.
By instituting a desk booking system, you signal to employees that you value their independence by trusting them to choose where and how they work. When organizations express trust in their employees to work from home, 76% reported having lower stress levels and 40% said they were less likely to experience burnout.
3. How can I boost collaboration in the office?
With a desk booking system, employees can easily book desks in the same area as their team members, allowing for seamless collaboration. Whether you’re in a formal brainstorming session, or just eating lunch with a team member, the office is a breeding ground for moments of creativity and cooperation.
However, without the resources necessary for physical connections, these moments will suffer. For instance, sometimes employees can be discouraged from coming to the office because they don’t know which colleagues will be there. Working from home is beneficial in many ways, but nothing can replace the collaboration of in-person interactions. Thanks to desk booking, workers have the information and agency they need to collaborate in the office on their own terms.
4. How can I automize my office?
A desk booking tool helps you automize the management of your office and employees—that means no more dealing with loads of paperwork or endless Excel files. Implementing software designed to improve your workplace can seem like a daunting task that would require hours of hands-on work. But improving employee management and your working environment doesn’t have to be time-consuming.
That’s where desk booking comes in. With a hassle-free booking system, you can effortlessly keep track of who’s in your office, which days they’re in, and where they’re sitting. By understanding how your office is used and by who, you can reduce lighting and electrical costs, and take steps towards increased sustainability.
Go beyond desk booking
Desk booking is designed to solve many of the problems found in today’s office. But if you’re looking to improve your office from top to bottom you’ll something beyond a desk booking tool.
Mapiq provides everything your office needs to adapt your facilities, boost teamwork, and modernize your organization.
Mapiq also collects behavior and occupancy data that offer a clear overview of your workspaces and the measures you can take to improve them. With valuable data in hand, you can harness hybrid working to provide employees with the best experience possible.
