In the last 48 hours at Clerkenwell Design Week 2022, it’s clear there’s a trend emerging: space optimisation in agile workspaces is no longer a luxury for businesses, it’s essential.
Installing space booking systems has generally worked well for the companies who were quick off the block when staff returned to work - but they’ve found it is leaving gaps. The main one is that checking in and out manually is becoming a nuisance for employees. There are always phantom bookings, people forgetting to check-in/out and the check-in data forming the space occupancy measure is skewed because of it too.
Several companies have asked us if we can bridge the gap lately, but never more so than at CDW 2022!
Why? Because, while there will always be spaces and situations where pre-booking is needed, it doesn’t allow for the quick, impromptu meetings that would normally happen around the water cooler.
One company employee said, "it's the football chat" we’re missing every morning, which is a "wellbeing tonic" to the day. Simply put, their time has become too linear and prescribed in the workplace.
That 10-minute chat in a meeting pod that enables two people to huddle in an empty space, having a quick conversation or conference call without needing to book, is the solution here - but still being able to monitor their use of the space is also critical for the business.
Some companies have suggested having dedicated spaces set aside for this dual-purpose. They’ll still be spaces that are bookable in advance, but they’ll also enable people to seize the opportunity of bumping into each other and grab a quick word in a private space on the fly. Not only that, people can see what is and isn't available in real-time using a touch screen wayfinding point in key locations. The best of both worlds.
Optimising the Optimisation
By overlaying space occupancy, which is a sensor reporting to a dashboard, spaces will automatically be taken off the market, and automatically be put back onto the market as people leave.
Equally, if a space is booked and exited early, or if two people drop in and out, the space occupancy sensor optimises time further by immediately recognising those people have left, a bit like tapping in and out of the train station vs buying a ticket.
It's an invisible and seamless solution.
This flexibility is needed by the employee, and now also by the employer, as the next layer of workspace optimisation unfolds.
At Frem Group this CDW2022, we’re demonstrating space optimisation in conjunction with booking via our Place OS booking system - the perfect blend of technologies for this very solution in Frem meeting pod environments.
Please do drop by and see the technology in action, let's discuss how it's the next step in managing your spaces.
You don't have to book but we'll know you have visited!