Who remembers water-cooler chat? That’s what we used to call the moments of unexpected collaboration office employees gained when taking a moment to get a drink.
But that was when offices were divided into fixed spaces. You had a desk that stood empty half the time and only used meeting rooms on formal occasions.
Today, you still chat around the water-cooler, but the way you work has been transformed. Workspaces are now much more set up to encourage interactions that spark inspiration.
In a modern connected workplace, you move about freely, making the most of agile desks. Meeting rooms have become multi-purpose and are informal meeting spaces are now far more common.
Many generations are now working together – Generation Z are now joining in – and they all have their own needs and working preferences.
Giving everyone the best space to get on with their job improves their happiness and wellbeing, and also boosts their productivity, but it’s tricky to keep all those plates spinning effectively.
The latest workspace management technology with room reservation software provides the answer.
Many organizations including large law firms like DLA Piper and major utilities are using room reservation software to streamline their operations and make agile operations genuinely flexible.
So what 4 benefits does your organization gain from using room reservation software?
- Empowered employees
> Flexible working is the worldwide trend coming soon to a workplace near you – if it hasn’t already hit.
> It makes employees feel a sense of control of their workload and creates a positive working environment that encourages talent to stay.
> That’s why a recent survey found that a third of US office workers wanted to be more trusted to manage where they work.
Did you know:
> More than 8m people in America were already working from home by 2017 according to the US Census – and that’s still rising.
> But many say they lack tools and technology to work agilely – and two-thirds say they would spend more time in their office if it had better facilities. Room reservation software can make that happen for you.
- Perfect meetings
> The smartest organizations are turning to state-of-the-art workspace management technology to manage their working environments and automate boring and time-consuming tasks.
> Room reservation software means your employees can spot suitable workspace and book it easily online via an app. They can book resources like AV, video conferencing and even catering at the same time.
> Meetings are easy to organize even across multiple locations, with the technology taking timezones into consideration and automatically informing everyone if any meeting details change.
> It’s a great way to remove tiresome admin tasks from your employees’ working day – so they can get on with their real work.
> And in addition, keeping everyone informed lowers the risk of no-shows, a common problem that makes meetings fail and costs dearly in time and frustration.
> The result? Perfect meetings, every time.
- Improved collaboration
> We know the benefits of collaboration tools like video conferencing and AV. They get teams together no matter how far apart they are physically, without the strain and cost of travel.
> Companies love these tools and spend a lot on them, but employees can be reluctant to engage if they are hard to organize.
> Room reservation software removes the obstacles to employee uptake by making it simple to book rooms with the right equipment and resources over an unlimited number of locations.
> So you never turn up to your video conference only to find that the equipment is not in place – your organizer has booked it in a single click at the same time as reserving the room.
- Better space utilization
> Keeping tabs on a changing work environment causes real headaches for office or facilities managers.
> Tracking how office space is utilized can be tough, particularly if your organization is based in many locations or if you need to recharge other departments within your company.
> Room reservation software such as Rendezvous by NFS integrates with occupancy sensors that monitor space and desk utilization in real-time and provides comprehensive reports.
> It gives you accurate data at your fingertips so you can make informed decisions about space going forward and make sure your real estate spend is justified.
What about ROI?
When the right technology is in place so that all of these elements can act together, the connected workplace gives your employees – and your managers – a previously unknown level of control over the working environment.
If you are in management, the captured data gives a complete real-time view of whether your space is being maximized, and how it can be improved.
So you get to configure your space to meet the changing requirements of your workforce – no matter how they evolve.
By making it easy for your people to find the room they need within your organization, you can also reduce the cost incurred when they decide it’s simpler to book external space.
All of this means room reservation software offers a quick ROI.
And when competitiveness and productivity are at a premium, and talented staff are hard to find and retain, that’s got to be good news for your business.