There is no secret that the pandemic changed how people work, and the hybrid working model has become the new normal. Companies implement new policies on when and how to work remotely, set the time when to come to the office or how to plan a workday. At first, most companies try to manage workspace sharing manually, but if your company has more than 10 people, organizing shared workspaces via a spreadsheet can be very difficult and time-consuming. Here are the most common challenges companies face while trying to manage workspace sharing manually.
When a company implements a hybrid work model, the responsibility for carrying out and managing such a model rests on one person. The person responsible for desk and meeting room bookings has to keep track of all the requests and availability, managing streams of constantly changing information. It can be challenging when many requests or questions come in at once. Often, companies manage all the processes in-house with tools they already have, like Excel, Google sheets, calendars, or even paper sheets.
Manual desk sharing and meeting room booking management require at least one person to take time from their daily tasks and ensure everything is in order. Sometimes it even leads to hiring a new employee just to manage workspace sharing, which usually costs more than an automated tool. Not to mention poor visibility on the workspace usage, which can lead to unfit office management and loss of office cost. If the workspace is managed using automated tools, there is a possibility to analyze workplace usage and reduce office costs by changing the office layout or reducing the space.
Companies who use a hybrid work model understand the need for flexibility and work and life balance. And employees appreciate that. Though when one person is responsible for workspace sharing management and all the requests must go through that person, flexibility is non-existent. Also, employees lose the ability to manage their workday, leading to frustration.
Whenever a task is done manually, there is a greater possibility of human error – humans make mistakes, especially when they’re feeling stressed and rushing to get the task out of the way. The biggest challenge may arise when that person gets sick unexpectedly, and somebody else has to take over the tasks.
Usually, when employees don’t have workspace reservation management in their own hands, the rule “First come, first serve” applies. The first employees to arrive for work take up preferred desks, while those who arrive a little bit later have fewer options. Such occurrences frequently lead to dissatisfaction, workplace conflicts, and stress among your team members, which can significantly reduce productivity.
While managing desk sharing manually and gathering lots of data, most manual tools don’t have what it takes for in-depth analysis. Therefore it becomes more challenging to optimize the office – to analyze which office space is most used, what day or time is most favorable, and how your company can reduce office costs by utilizing the space. The lack of predictive analytics for the future demand of desks makes it challenging to accommodate enough desks for all employees as the company grows.
Management problems could arise if your company operates globally and you have more than one office. For companies with offices in different countries and many business trips between them, it is more complicated to manage the workspace and meeting room bookings through different administrators among those locations. It takes more time to organize the trip properly, thus efficiency drops.
While managing the workspace manually seems a good idea at first, companies realize they are losing more than expected after some time. That is why most companies decide to automate workspace sharing management and use a system to make desk and meeting room booking easier.
Subscribe to the monthly newsletter!
By clicking the “Subscribe” button above, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy
2014 – 2024 Proudly designed and made in Lithuania
Over 60,000 users worldwide can’t be wrong – see for yourself why they choose TableAir.