Workplace Tech Talk: 4 benefits of workspace management software

Picture this: you’ve reopened your workplace and now it’s buzzing with employees. Your company has a hybrid policy, so there are different people and teams onsite each day or the week. You’ve switched to hot desking to optimize your space given there are less folks onsite on any given day. But you don’t have the technology to support easy desk booking. You also notice that your meeting rooms book up often because employees are using them for both onsite and remote meetings. It’s chaos - and it’s impacting your return to office plans. This is where workspace management software comes in. In this blog post, we’ll go over:

• What is workspace management software?
• What’s the purpose of workspace management software?
• 4 benefits of workspace management software

What is workspace management software?

Workspace management software is a centralized tool that allows offices to optimize the use of space in their office. Workplace management software helps businesses boost productivity, improve space efficiency, and drive a more positive employee experience.Imagine, for example, that you have office space for 200 employees. You need to make sure that your office has enough desks, meeting rooms, kitchen space, and lounge areas to accommodate your employees. Plus, you need to make sure that your employees can easily share those spaces with each other. That’s the piece that drives efficiency and productivity. When employees can easily navigate their workspace, they have a more positive employee experience at work.Workspace management software is an important piece of your larger workplace platform. But what’s the difference between the two? A workplace platform is tool that brings the services and tools that employees rely on into one place. Whereas, a workspace management software is a software focused only on the physical workspace and optimization of office areas.Now let’s get down to the details. Why do you need workspace management software?

What’s the purpose of workspace management software?

Workspace management software is essential for businesses looking to return to their workplace better than ever. Employee’s demands of the workplace have changed. The economic conditions for businesses have changed. And these circumstances mean that it’s important to be smart about your office space. If you have a hybrid model with a variable amount of employees coming into the office on any given day, you maybe don’t need a permanent desk for every employee. That reduction in clunky office furniture opens up space to add a lounge area, a game room, a bigger kitchen, and more. Workspace management can unlock functionality on four major office components: desks, meeting rooms, maps and wayfinding, and space utilization analytics.

• Desk booking: Desks are the bones for most workplaces. With a hybrid model where not every employee is in office on the same day, the amount of desks you need can vary greatly. You can utilize your space much more efficiently with fewer desks. However, you’ll need a way for employees to view, book, and unbook those desks.
• Conference room booking: Like desks, conference rooms are important for any functioning business, especially with so many back in the office. Conference rooms don’t have to be stuffy rooms with a long table in the middle. They can take the form of phone booths, couches, kitchen tables, and more. You’ll just need a way for your employees to book those different spaces for their particular needs.
• Maps and wayfinding: Office wayfinding allows employees to find their way around an office. It encompasses the systems that guide people through a physical workspace. Your workspace management software should include a wayfinding functionality that helps employees navigate the office. That can look like a map of all the desk and meetings rooms all neatly displayed on a mobile app.
• Analytics: One of the most important features of workplace management software is analytics. You’ll need to get a holistic view of what’s happening in your office in order to make data-driven decisions on your space. Your workspace management software should provide comprehensive reports on all the different tools you have.  

Workspace management should be a part of your workspace platform. Your overall workplace platform should also manage other key features of your workplace such as employee scheduling, visitor management, and more. Now that you’re familiar with the purpose of workspace management software, let’s jump into the benefits.

4 benefits of workspace management software

1. Optimize space usage and save on real estate costs

Workspace management software empowers you to get the most ROI out of your workplace investments. You can monitor how your space and resources usage on a single workplace analytics dashboard. With that data at your fingertips, you’ll be able to make cost-saving decisions backed by data like attendance trends, neighborhood usage, and preferred meeting room bookings.

2. Enhance employee experience and productivity

When it’s easy for your employees to book a desk, reserve a meeting room for a big presentation, or find their way around the office, they have a better experience at work. According to our recent At Work workplace trends report, 34% of employees cited slow technology as a major deal breaker for returning to the office. Technology and speed matters to employees. When employees aren’t bogged down by all the different tools they need, they can focus on the work that matters most as soon as they arrive at the office.

3. Keep all of your spaces safe

A not-so-obvious benefit of workspace management tool is safety. With workspace management software, you’ll be able to know how many people are in your office spaces, where they are sitting, and whether you’re approaching any capacity hazards.

4. Integrate your entire workplace tech stack

Workspace management software will allow you to integrate and consolidate your workplace tools into one open and connected platform. This gives your business the ability to integrate all your tools together. For example, you can sync your desk booking tool with Slack. Or you can integrate your conference room booking tool with Google calendar. This is not only great for the employee experience, but it also reduces the amount of tools your IT team has to manage.

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A workplace is only as great as the technology that supports it. And nowadays, workplaces need a lot of technology to run efficiently. In order to consolidate the different tools that your office might need, workspace management software(that is a part of a workplace platform) might be the answer. A workplace platform will allow your business and employees to focus on doing the work that matters most, instead of worrying about switching between many different tools. Plus, it’ll give your workplace management team the data they need to make informed decisions that optimize space and provide a great workplace experience.To learn more about how a workplace platform can help your business upgrade its technology, check out our eBook on How a workplace platform can improve organizational efficiency. And stay tuned for next month’s Workplace Tech Talk!