Workspaces have changed considerably over the last few years. In a bid to offer their employees greater flexibility, companies are allowing them to work remotely or move to decentralised offices so that they can cut down on their commuting times. These developments bring with them new challenges, such as ensuring that everyone has access to a workstation, or that meeting rooms are allocated more effectively. DEEP uses advanced technological solutions, such as the CONDECO app, to help Luxembourg-based organisations manage their workspaces more efficiently.
At many companies, finding a meeting room can be a tedious task. These spaces are often highly sought-after – and not always allocated in the most efficient way. It is not unusual to see two people in a room that could accommodate ten. With the increase in remote working, the person reserving a collaborative space often includes a link to connect via videoconference alongside the invitation sent to their colleagues. This results in meeting rooms sometimes being unavailable despite nobody occupying them, with all the participants located remotely. It is estimated that around 40% of meeting spaces are not occupied while reserved – that is to say, they have been reserved incorrectly. This can be frustrating for those who are desperate to find a room in which to discuss business with a client or partner.
Using technology to manage collaborative workspaces
Fortunately, technology now makes it possible to play your part in managing spaces better. The CONDECO app, which we have implemented at facilities belonging to the POST group (of which DEEP is a member) and at several of our clients’ sites, is a powerful ally when it comes to booking and managing meeting rooms.
Accessible via a web interface or mobile app, this solution makes it easy to book meeting rooms in real time and to manage them dynamically. At the entrance to the meeting room, tablets linked to the app provide information on the status of the room. A red light indicates that it is occupied, while a green one signals that it is free. The screen allows you to check who is occupying the space or who has booked it.
One of the advantages of the solution – in addition to the data it provides – is the ability to reserve a room on the fly, either from a tablet screen, with an RFID access badge (when employees have one) or via the mobile app. It is also possible for users to extend their room reservation by a quarter, half or full hour, availability permitting.
To facilitate exchanges, this application interfaces easily with tools such as Microsoft Exchange or a company's Active Directory.
Automatically release rooms when not in use
The app boasts a number of other interesting features. A user’s badge allows them to indicate their presence (check-in), but also to indicate when they are leaving the room. By combining the solution with occupancy sensors, it is also possible to have a reserved room released after 15 minutes if it turns out that no one is occupying it, allowing rooms to be made available to other users who may need them.
The solution can also be used for meeting rooms shared by several companies across different sites – something property developers might offer to occupants of different buildings. CONDECO provides users from multiple companies with the ability to book rooms remotely. It gives us hope in the struggle for better workspace management.
Facilitating the management of remote workstations
This solution also meets the needs of companies wanting to offer greater flexibility to their staff, in that it enables employees to work remotely or from a decentralised office that is closer to home than the company's head office in the centre of the country. In order to support this increased nomadism of teams and underpin a hybrid way of working, we need to give everyone the opportunity to reserve their own workstation depending on where they want to go.
The CONDECO application makes this very easy. Employees wishing to work from a site on the border can, for example, reserve a workstation the day before, if availability permits. The solution can be configured according to company-wide rules governing remote working. For example, if each employee can work two days a week from a remote location, the application will manage these quotas. Cross-border workers wishing to work a third day of the week from an office close to the border will not be able to reserve a workstation. They will either have to go to the company's head office or ask to be allowed to work remotely.
Here, too, check-in/check-out solutions can be put in place to ensure that these increasingly sought-after remote workstations are actually being used. This kind of configuration ensures that each employee has equal opportunity to work remotely.
An easy-to-deploy solution
The CONDECO solution meets many of the challenges inherent in the transformation of workspaces and the changes in company organisation. Available in Software-as-a-Service mode, it is straightforward to deploy and can be easily interfaced with other company systems, such as an Active Directory or a Microsoft Exchange solution, in order to give users access and share information more effectively across the organisation. For clients wanting to stick to a basic model, the software version can be implemented in less than a month.
A configuration that includes occupancy sensors or CONDECO (or other) tablets at the entrance to meeting rooms will require technical elements to be put in place and may take a little longer.
In addition to the technical deployment of the solution, the process of implementing these tools also involves taking the time to communicate effectively with users and provide them with the training they need in order to ensure that they fully understand how the solution works and are aware of the rules guaranteeing respectful use by everyone concerned.
