After the era of social distancing and contact tracing, many offices have transformed into agile and hybrid workplaces.
Hoteling desk reservation systems and sound hoteling practices allow employees more freedom over their schedules and work hours. As a result, employees are not only more productive, but employers also save more on time and resources.
Interactive floor plans are a crucial part of the whole office hoteling experience. They allow easier navigation and wayfinding and serve as a great way to view available spaces.
What are Interactive Floor Plans?
In a nutshell, an interactive floor plan is a three-dimensional map to help users visualize a space. They can use it to navigate through properties or specific areas and zoom in to see more details. Additionally, they can also check to see available spaces, like meeting rooms and workstations.
New and remote employees, clients, and visitors unfamiliar with a building’s office space benefit from having an interactive floor plan.
Employees will especially find interactive floor plans useful for wayfinding. Customized maps available in certain desk hoteling software can display employees’ online profiles and can be synced with company directories.
How Interactive Floor Plans Will Improve the Desk Hoteling Experience for Employees
Floor maps are a great way to communicate information about an office floor’s layout. Employees find it easier to collaborate when everyone is on the same page. When less time is spent navigating the office floor, more time can be spent completing tasks.
Here’s how interactive floor plans will improve the desk hoteling experience for employees:
- A positive experience
Clear wayfinding signs allow employees to move around and get work done more efficiently.
Interactive floor plans cut time navigating the office floor, so they get more work done, like creating reports, videos, or planning for an event. As a result, they feel more productive and have higher overall job satisfaction.
Employees that feel more productive and are more satisfied also tend to feel more empowered in the workplace. The right software can provide this positive experience and more.
- Easier management for IT staff
Other departments like IT, Human Resources, Facilities, and Security all matter when onboarding employees.
An interactive floor map makes collaboration easier. Employees need not feel frustrated because of the lack of means to access the office floor plan. IT and Facilities departments can provide users with limited access to wayfinding information.
Desk hoteling software can also make it easier for IT staff to edit visuals as office layouts change. They can also include crucial schedule details for other end users.
- Increased productivity
Interactive floor plans save employees time on wayfinding and more time focusing on work. However, productivity isn’t just about employees getting more work done.
The increase in productivity also improves a company’s overall bottom line. It’s important to note that employees spend roughly 30 minutes a day simply trying to find the right work area.
The right hoteling desk reservation system can minimize this time. Increased floor plan visibility makes employees more familiar with navigating the office space.
How to Implement Office Hoteling in Your Office
In recent years, organizations have been pressured to provide more support to their employees. Aside from shifting towards employee-centric work arrangements, this also means providing the right software to help streamline many processes.
The right hoteling software can make a difference in streamlining daily operations in the office. However, tools by themselves aren’t enough.
Here are a few tips for implementing office hoteling more effectively in your office:
- Create specific meeting room layouts
One of the first steps in implementing office hoteling is assigning alternating office shifts and designating software for reservations.
Employees often find it easier to check for available workspaces when accessing 3D floor maps. The good news is many programs allow back-end users to upload and edit floor layouts.
Managers can improve the hoteling experience by creating specific room layouts for employees. Designating areas like workstations and meeting rooms for different departments makes reservations much easier.
- Use digital displays outside meeting rooms.
Digital displays are not only beneficial for hoteling software but are necessary for unlocking many essential features.
Digital status boards can show important office or meeting room details. Administrators and managers can select the details they want to be displayed across different floors and even buildings.
- Balance occupancy levels in different areas
Managers and admin staff can also set occupancy limits in specific areas like conference rooms to prevent overcrowding. By doing so, they not only ensure a smooth traffic flow throughout the office building. They also ensure that space is adequately used.
However, managers need enough data on occupancy levels to determine the right occupancy limits.
The good news is that hoteling software also offers analytics reporting tools for making informed decisions. Aside from space use frequency, managers can also track equipment use and other variables.
Conclusion
Many businesses are shifting towards employee-centric work arrangements in the form of agile and hybrid work. To support these work set-ups, having the right hoteling software can make a difference in streamlining daily operations.
These tools are great for reserving workstations and meeting rooms and providing essential wayfinding information quickly. Employees find collaborating easier when less time is spent navigating the office floor.Both employers and employees benefit from great tools with core features and support. DeskFlex is a tool with ample customizability to suit any company’s needs.
