As millennials become the majority of the workforce with Gen Z right behind, it’s time for companies to change their priorities so they can attract and retain new, top talent.
And don’t worry, we aren’t forgetting about those who have been in that office life for a bit longer than that. But these changes are exciting for everyone!
Some may argue the 9 to 5 is the way of life. Except, when you get down to it,
(Thank you, Rescue Time, for your thorough work-life balance research!)
So, we’ve had to reimagine the office. It’s time to offer places to work that drive creativity, production and collaboration. It’s time to offer flexible hours and workplaces to make it easier and more enticing to go to work and get it done.
And it’s our job to make sure your transformation to a flexible, modern office is easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Read on to learn more about workplace management, what to look for in a meeting room booking system, and how to conquer the world (or at least your office world!)
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When making the switch to a flexible workplace, and offering a variety of spaces, like conference rooms, collaboration areas, desks, etc., you will want it to be manageable.
Since the dawn of age, booking meeting rooms has been a necessary hassle.
Like,
And then, what do you do when you need,
These are just some of the pains that are alleviated when you find the perfect meeting room booking system.
It’s not just about walking aimlessly around the office looking for displays saying whether a room is free or not. Or even worse, looking for a sign of life before claiming the space as your own.
A Meeting Room Booking System is a flexible workplace practice that allows employees to easily find and claim a meeting room or resources, on-demand and for a specified period of time, to fit their working needs, find whether a teammate is in the office and where they are located, and more, all before even stepping foot into the office.
And if you’re in charge of the office space, information about how much space you really need and how it is being used is gathered and accessible in your workplace management platform.
Now, how do you pick what you need in a workplace management software? And what about hardware for outside of each room?
When you begin your meeting room booking system search, you’ll want to know whether you are looking for hardware, software, or both.
Having interactive hardware outside of meeting rooms and offices can be exciting but expensive and, alone, can’t provide as much value to you as a software can. So, focusing on software should be your first priority.
With an intuitive, top-notch software that can be accessed and used by a desktop platform or mobile app, pairing it with hardware becomes optional.
Finding a vendor with your perfect meeting room and desk booking system is about finding the platform that offers the tools and amenities that fit your needs. Like in-depth analytics, high-level admin tools, multiple ways for employees to easily book and manage their spaces, and much more.
(We’ll dive into this further down the page!)
Some software companies may own and produce hardware to accompany their software. While others partner with hardware companies so that either way you still experience a seamless one-stop-shop.
If you are interested in hardware options to complement your software, you can look at some affordable options like QR Codes or ID Screens for desks and/or meeting rooms. Or maybe you’d like digital, interactive signs or kiosks to put outside of conference rooms or in your building lobby.
QR Codes are free to make and can be placed outside each desk, office, collaboration space or conference room. Using your software’s mobile app, you’re able to scan the QR Code to see if the room is in use, then claim it for however long you need.
ID Screens are another non-interactive, reasonably priced option that when connected to the platform will update with who has reserved the room and for when.
For meeting rooms, having an interactive digital sign might be the way to go. These displays can allow you to book, check-in, and see any upcoming reservations for that room.
And adding a Lobby Kiosk as one of the first things an employee sees upon entering the building can help quickly manage reservations and remind people to check-in or secure a spot before they get started on their day.
With the hustle and bustle of the every day, learning new software is the lowest on the priority list. Choosing the right desk and meeting room booking system means choosing the one that doesn’t require training. The one where an end-user looks at it and gets it – because it looks like all the other apps they use, like AirBnB or Facebook. The interface is intuitive and just makes sense.
It should be easy to find the desk or conference room you want by looking at the office’s floorplan. And even easier to reserve the room either using the desktop platform or the software’s mobile app.
With the right system and relatively no training, you should be able to:
Even with no training required, some employees really don’t love change.
The right meeting room booking system will be integrated with commonly used platforms, like Microsoft Exchange, Outlook, Teams, etc., so employees can continue to book meetings and rooms on a well-known platform.
When your reservation software and Microsoft Exchange are connected, all communication goes two-ways. So, reservations will show up on your Outlook calendar and on your software’s platform. And will be accounted for from start to finish.
Not knowing where your teammates are sitting can be a big downside of hoteling. The right meeting room and desk booking system will offer the capability to find your teammates. And a bonus feature would be having the ability to choose your favorite teammates (or those you work with most) to see their locations whenever you log in to the software platform.
Are you being asked whether you have enough office space? Are you being told you don’t?
One of the biggest benefits of a room reservation software is being able to answer that question and many more like,
You may also have questions regarding your personnel that you can’t currently answer like,
A meeting room booking system should answer these questions and more for you. It should provide the insight you need to make short and long-term decisions for your office and its needs.
Whether you are deciding you need new office space, you want to add more collaborative areas, or you want to see which employees would benefit from part- or full-time remote work, the data from your software will help you with those decisions.
As an admin, you aren’t looking for a solution that makes your job harder. You want a software that takes some of the load off.
The meeting room and desk booking system that you decide on should eliminate the need to manually approve all room reservations, the frustration of double-booked meeting rooms and the emails and face-to-face time you receive from employees who need a favor or have a complaint regarding conference room management.
The software should include options like:
With features like auto-bumping and grace periods, reservations must be checked-in to or they will be removed so that others can reserve and use the space. This is an automatic feature, so the admin doesn’t have to see an empty room and manually open it.
Whether you are using the desktop platform, mobile app, or the digital hardware outside of meeting rooms, each should be customizable with your colors and photos to keep your brand consistent.
If I.T. has their own conference room, the software should allow you to grant access to reserve that room only to those I.T. users. And some departments need to sit near each other, so creating “neighborhoods” of desks can be easy to set up with user groups.
Implementing your meeting room booking system should be short and sweet. Just like this section.
Short.
Sweet.
Complete.
** Okay, but just a little more… the software should require only minimal I.T. support (they have enough on their plates already!). And training the end users should be unnecessary, or at least minimal.
Researching and choosing the best meeting room booking system for your office can be daunting but, once in place, your life gets a whole lot easier.
When you find a company that looks promising and offers the features you are looking for, reach out and ask your own questions. Demo the product, gather your own intel, and share it with not only other decision-makers but also some of the future end-users.
Your modern employees and your modern office will thank you.
Tango Reserve by AgilQuest was created with you in mind. Reserve is not only quick and easy to implement, but also very intuitive, eliminating the need for end user training. (Although, our customer success and support team is always around to help and puts trainings regularly!)
We are constantly updating and enhancing its features based on the needs of our clients, thus ensuring Reserve is enjoyed by the end users and valued by administrators.
So, if you are ready to demo Reserve or have any additional questions, let’s talk!
We bundled all of this information on how to choose the best meeting room booking system into a 20-page guide just for you! Fill out the form below to grab your copy now. And if you want to see our desk booking system in action, set up a demo here.
