Some companies have been allowing remote work for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed the office landscape when many employers chose to send employees home. Now that over two years have passed, remote or hybrid work environments are commonplace and it seems unlikely that this will change anytime soon, if at all.
Now there are empty offices and cubicles, and many companies are sitting on real estate that they aren’t sure what to do with. An office hoteling system is the most efficient use of office space because you can reserve a specific amount of space for a window of time, and all reservations can be seen by everyone.
Reduce Extraneous Space by Using Only What You Need
Think about how big your office space currently is. Now consider how much of that space is actually used.
You’ll save money if you only lease what you need. By using an office hoteling system, you can reduce real estate and give employees a way to reserve a desk or conference room when they need to be in the office. If you have seventy employees, but only thirty-five of them will be in the office at any one time, you only need thirty-five desks.
You should have contingencies if you need more people in the office at one time than there are desks. Often two people can use the desk together but you’ll need more chairs. Something that can be stacked away and stored most of the time. You may want an Integra chair, those one-piece durable plastic chairs that stack for easy storage and are out of the way but ready if you need it.
Office Hoteling Systems Are Scalable and Flexible
This software can work for businesses of any size, small ones with only a handful of employees up to large companies with hundreds.
You can also choose to allow employees to make their own reservations or keep it in the managerial purview and have managers assign employees desks. Everyone can see the schedule, so they’ll know that Desk 1 is assigned to Employee A on Mondays and Wednesdays, Employee B on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and available Fridays.
Employees can reserve on site or in advance, so depending on your telework policy, you can book out desks for months if you know when people are coming in, or if it’s a first come first serve model, you can book things as needed. When someone leaves for the day, motion sensors update the map automatically, so you can be sure that the office map showing availability is accurate.
An office hoteling system can be compatible with other popular online calendars, so you can invite other attendees to meetings and book conference rooms large enough to hold the group. No more double-booking rooms or entering a meeting place only to discover another group has taken the space out from under you. Everyone will have access to the same data, eliminating confusion and resentment.
Additionally, you can study historical data to see which rooms are booked more often and which spaces are used frequently. This helps to plan—if you know some areas are never used, you can possibly reduce the amount of space you rent or sublease it to other companies.
Hybrid Work Will Always Be Here
It’s clear that hybrid work arrangements won’t be going away, so it behooves you to prepare your organization to be flexible with employee arrangements. Office hoteling systems are the best way to work together and ensure you’re using office space efficiently.
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