The office should adapt to the company and not the other way around – this is the philosophy on which we have built and developed our solution. However, this requires corporate workspace management tools that are highly flexible. The strength of the ROOMZ solution lies in the compatibility and customisation of its tools, placing employees before workspaces according to the situation, with the aim of improving collaboration.

Based on our experience and feedback from our clients, we have defined four main types of workspaces, all of which can be combined, from the most “rigid” to the most “flexible” solution, each with different objectives. This article presents concrete situations to provide you some initial food for thought on which workspace management model might best suit your structure.

1. Allocated desks

The least flexible solution is to assign specific desks to specific people or contexts. Once a workspace has been assigned, it can no longer be reserved by other users, but can only be displayed on the digital workspace map. While only administrators can make reservations there, employees can release the desks if they are no longer needed (e.g.: holidays, holiday, sick days, etc.).

The main advantage of this model is the flexibility it offers over the traditional organisation where everyone has their own fixed desk. If someone is on holiday or off sick, the desk can be freed up for use by other employees.

When is it appropriate to use allocated desks? (Non exhaustive list)

• If employees spend 60% of their working time in the office.
• If an employee uses an office on certain fixed days each week (e.g., Wednesday and Thursday), making it bookable by others on the other days.
• If an employee visits the office very regularly; eliminating the need to book a desk each time.
• For certain management positions that require a fixed desk (e.g., CEO).
• For a specific project.
• To organise the office cleaning services.

What solutions does ROOMZ offer?

• The myROOMZ desk booking application.
• The ROOMZ Desk Sensor to analyse whether the workstation is more useful in allocated or bookable status (optional).

2. Bookable desks

This approach offers employees the freedom to reserve a desk in the space of their choice. This model also allows employees to plan their working week in advance and be sure to have a workspace that meets their needs (e.g., sitting next to a certain colleague).

A major advantage to this model is that it encourages collaboration within a team with the tools staff needs to organise their days working together (e.g., searching for a colleague, placing colleagues in “favourites”, etc.).

When are bookable desks appropriate? (Non exhaustive list)

• To promote interdepartmental cohesion: people who do not usually work together can meet side by side if they wish.
• To allow employees to organise themselves independently.
• To ensure that the number of employees does not exceed the desks available.
• To analyse the occupancy rate of certain spaces with an eye toward optimising them.

What solutions does ROOMZ offer?

• The myROOMZ desk booking application.
• The ROOMZ Desk Sensor to analyse whether the number of bookable workstations is sufficient or not (optional).

3. Bookable desks in an area

With this option we come closer to a flex office model, but still retain some control. The idea here is to create office quotas that staff can share and book, even though they don’t know where they will be sitting. Since the bookings on the schedule are not labelled with names, they remain anonymous. Another advantage of this model is that teams mix, as no one sits at the same desk all the time

This is an effective solution when a company does not want to set up precise floor plans, but still wants to guarantee that its employees will find a desk when they arrive.

As does the previous model, this organisation helps to strengthen collaboration between employees by providing them with tools to meet and share.

When to use bookable desks in an area (Non exhaustive list)

• To boost collaboration within a group of people.
• To ensure that there are not more employees than desks.
• For project management: to define a set of reservable desks for the team.
• To define bookable desks by department (sales, marketing, accounting…).
• To retain a certain degree of anonymity in the reservations.

What solutions does ROOMZ offer?

• The myROOMZ desk booking application.
• ROOMZ Analytics to determine the actual usage of the space (optional).

4. Non-bookable desks (hot desks)

This model offers the utmost flexibility. Workspaces cannot be reserved or planned for, all are available to everyone on a “first come, first served” basis. A presence sensor is placed under each seat to change the occupancy status of the workspaces it is occupied, while the comings and goings of staff remain anonymous.

This solution usually comes with a display of a floor plan or building map showing the status of workstations in real time.

The non-bookable desk model is particularly effective for managing the influx of people from outside the company or those simply staying for a short time.

When are non-bookable desks appropriate? (Non exhaustive list)

• To reduce the size of workspaces to attain the optimal flex office rate.
• To manage potential overcrowding of certain spaces.
• To manage external visitors who need a workstation for a few hours/days.

What solutions does ROOMZ offer?

• The ROOMZ Desk Sensor to display workspace occupancy status in real time.
• Dynamic display on a smart TV showing the status of desks so that employees can easily find an available space (optional).
• ROOMZ Analytics to determine the occupancy rate of the spaces and adjust them if necessary (optional).

Whatever type of model is used, it is important to bear in mind that they are also combinable. For example, a company may well choose to have 100 bookable desks to ensure that employees can find a workstation and 20 non-bookable desks (by installing sensors) for more mobile workers or visitors.

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There is no one-size-fits-all model. The challenge is to find the right balance between the different options. Again, this is our core business and we are committed to helping you achieve three goals in particular: encouraging collaboration, enhancing the employee experience and increasing productivity.