Desk Booking Software: What is it?

Imagine that you want to dine out at your favorite Italian restaurant over the weekend. A table reservation can now be made in advance or directly at the hotel.

A confirmation will be sent to you that your table has been successfully reserved on the second floor of the restaurant according to your requirements. In the second case, tables are given on a first-come, first-served basis, so whatever seats are available will have to be taken.

Using a booking system for desks has many advantages

Desk booking software has been used by giants like Google, IBM, Procter & Gamble, and more for hot desks and hoteling. Several examples are provided below.

1. Reduced Real Estate Footprint

You can keep track of a facility’s usage capacity with an office desk booking system. With such data insights at your fingertips, you can better manage a flexible workforce without having to make guesses.

It doesn’t necessarily mean you need to upgrade your office space as your employee count grows. In lieu of that, you can impose occupancy caps and rotate employees according to the need for optimal space utilization. In this way, your real estate footprint can be reduced significantly without losing any property value.

The second paragraph. Savings on costs

As well as reducing real estate costs, implementing desk booking software makes it easier to manage a hybrid workforce. You can reduce incidental costs, like stationery and printer paper, along with maintenance costs by tracking occupancy rates regularly. You will also save a considerable amount on utility bills by having fewer employees in the office while ensuring equal access to office resources.

The third is. Promotes flexibility in the workplace

You’ll be able to offer greater flexibility to your employees if you implement a desk booking system. The desk booking software allows them to reserve a station, and even a cafeteria slot, days in advance when they need to work on site. They’ll know exactly where to sit at the facility when they arrive, so there will be no unpleasant surprises.

What do you need to do to implement a desk booking system?

For those used to the traditional work model, a sudden shift to remote work after COVID-19 was undoubtedly jarring. Getting started with a hybrid workspace strategy requires a desk booking software carefully implemented to spare them another similar experience.

Your employees should not feel interrupted by the change from a 9-to-5 workplace model to an asynchronous one. Let’s discuss how to succeed in this transition.

1. Develop a user policy for the software you plan to use for desk bookings

Businesses should not change overnight, let alone make decisions that affect your employees’ well-being. Draft a policy for the new hybrid model to avoid bumps along the way.

What days are employees required to attend work? Do employees have the right to claim specific work areas? Should requests for desk reservations be approved automatically? Is monitoring space use necessary? Send out information to all employees, whether they are permanent or contract employees, once the objectives are clear and the policy is ready to go. Employee expectations can be established before the policy is actually implemented.

Secondly, a Code of Practice must be developed

You should enforce good practices and procedures for employees to follow in order to keep everyone operating on the same page, including specific teams, contractors, and freelancers.

By having such a document in place, it will facilitate the onboarding of new employees as well.

I will now address the third point. Ensure Consistency 

There shouldn’t be any delays or discomforts at the office when employees have to come to work. Regardless of whether they use desktop software or local kiosks, they should be able to find a workspace within a particular location quickly.

This brings us to the question of the resources and amenities available for collaboration. The in-office workers should also have easy access to robust collaboration tools and technologies, since some of the team members work from home. As a result, they will be able to communicate effectively and execute team-specific goals without difficulty