Your workplace platform evaluation checklist

You’ll want to start by first thinking about the size of your organization. How many offices or locations do you have? How many employees in each location?

Think about what tools your org is currently using in the workplace. How many key tools do your employees use on any given day? What about the tools they use when they’re at home?

Pro tip: The average employee uses 9 tools a day and they’re overwhelmed. If your employees use more than that to get work done, you may want to think about consolidating to a platform.

List out the tools that you depend on and how much they cost. This will help you determine your total investment – and eventually the costs you could save by switching to a platform.

Think about who all will directly or indirectly use these tools. How will they interact with them?

Think through the implementation, maintenance, and day-to-day usage of each tool. How are they helping or holding your team back?

Your employees should be contributors to this process. Ask them what problems they face with your tools with a simple survey. Ask questions like, “On a scale of 1-5 how useful is the following tool?”

Map out what you want your workplace platform to do for you. What are the areas that are most important to you?

Think about what your core tooling needs are. Desks? Meeting rooms? Vaccine verification? Jot down what main tools you’ll absolutely need to include.

If you’ve gotten this far, then you’re doing great! You’re ready to start listing out potential vendors. Conduct your research and set up demos to find one that meets your needs from above.

When you’re doing your research on potential vendors, identify ones that offer a free trial. This could be a great way to get a taste of what a new workplace platform might be like and gather feedback without spending a penny.

Create a proposal for which tool you think is best for your organization. Provide cost estimates, benefits, timeline, and other useful information for your executive team and key stakeholders involved in the decision-making process.

Since many employees use a smartphone, it’s key to invest in a workplace solution that can be accessed through a mobile phone. Empowering your workplace with a mobile-first solution will make your employees’ workday more seamless.

Technology is ever-evolving. You don’t want to risk being stuck with legacy tools that you’ll have to eventually replace. Not only is that costly, but it’s also inefficient. By prioritizing an open platform that lets you make modifications as your company’s tech needs evolve, you can stay on top of new technologies in the most cost-effective and useful way.

Look for a workplace platform solution that provides robust data analytics. Having workplace analytics gives you a birds-eye view of how you can improve the workplace. It also allows your to make data-driven decisions as you forecast, plan, and invest in workplace resources.

Be sure to regularly review and update your existing tech stack. Since workplace platforms are always adding new features and addressing bugs, be sure to frequently run software updates to get the newest version of tools.

Employees interact with the tools in your workplace platform everyday. Send out a feedback survey every quarter that allows them to share their thoughts and suggestions for improvement.