We’ve recently adopted the hybrid working style, where everyone works whenever they want from the office. Want to come to the office from time to time? Sure thing. Want to work from the office daily? We’re excited to catch up with you. Never wanna see the office again? We’ll catch up online, no worries. Our colleagues have the office at their disposal, and they can use it whenever they want to. It’s like a coworking space for evozoners only. But, how do we keep track of who’s coming, when, which desk will be booked, for how long, and so on? We use Lighthouse, our workspace management tool.
Since the pandemic started in March 2020, we knew everybody would adapt to these changes differently. Some people would want to continue working remotely, while others would want to come back to the office daily. And, some would want to have the best of both worlds. We started questioning office usage. We expected the office to never be fully used as it was before the pandemic. Working remotely was possible in the pre-pandemic world in evozon if requested, but it was not a popular option.
Since the pandemic allowed our people to experiment remotely working, we’re aware this is the new normal. And, we don’t view it as a debate between “remote” and “in office”. It’s more about whether we trust our colleagues or not. Or, about whether we “care about our colleagues’ wellbeing” or “ prefer to enforce the pre-pandemic style of working because that was the trend before March 2020”. Hybrid doesn’t have to be complicated. A workspace management tool can come to the rescue.
While some businesses returned to the pre-pandemic style of working, being full-time at the office is not on our long-term plan. Forbes put together the results from more studies that researched the remote vs in-office work benefits both from a productivity and employee happiness perspective in their “3 New Studies End Debate Over Effectiveness Of Hybrid And Remote Work” article. One of the results shared is on productivity in-office vs remote – the study conducted showed that this can be debatable from employee to employee, as the ones who were productive in the office remained productive at home as well, and the same pattern applies to those who were not productive in the office. At the same time, another study showed that “remote and hybrid employees were 22% happier than workers in an onsite office environment and stayed in their jobs longer”.
How Lighthouse Helps Us Organize the Office Space
As we mentioned above, since the early days of the pandemic we knew the office experience would never be like in 2019 ever again. We quickly developed Lighthouse, an office management tool meant to help us keep track of who, when, where, and for how long someone came to the office. It came in handy especially during restrictions, when the number of people who were allowed to be in an office was limited. We already had some colleagues who wanted to come and work from the office from time to time, so we kept track of what was happening through Lighthouse.
Thus, we ensured our colleagues were safe while working at the office and the distancing requirements were met. In case someone got infected, we could also track which colleagues were on the same floor with them and alert them as soon as possible – everybody at the office would be alerted in such cases anyhow, but we could better overview the health situation of our colleagues by knowing their seating arrangements.
Now, as we adopted the hybrid working style where everybody comes to the office whenever they want (and if they want), Lighthouse still helps us organize the office space. We cannot deny that it was a bit crowded in the office back in 2019. Through using this workspace management tool, we want to avoid getting to that point ever again. Lighthouse helps us optimize the space we currently have to ensure everybody who wants to come to the office has enough space to work from the office. Overseeing what’s going on, especially since there’s no day like the other, helps us know which floors or areas might get a bit too crowded, and then we know where we have to act. Maybe advise some colleagues to book a different desk in a lesser crowded space, supplementing with more desks in areas where people are constantly coming, and so on.
More on the benefits of a workspace management tool
There are a few more things you can do in Lighthouse, as a team member. If you have a desk assigned and you don’t want to share the desk with others when you’re not around, you can label it as such. At the same time, you can let people know if this desk is bookable by others, which can be useful in case someone might want to work from a different floor or different area from time to time. You can also see who has their desk booked for a specific day, so if you’re looking to catch up with your work bestie, this tool might come in handy. If your manager is using the recommendations offered by Lighthouse’s engine, you’ll see if there are better desks to book to ensure the maximization of the available space.
At the same time, as a manager, you can benefit from reports that show you how much of the space is used and receive notifications if the occupancy reaches a predefined threshold. As mentioned before, we’ve faced the overcrowding situation prior to the pandemic, and Lighthouse has been of immense help from this perspective. And, since you can track office attendance, you can make timely, informed decisions concerning office supplies, overcrowding, or potential contamination. Ever since 2020, Lighthouse has been our guide in making the office a more trustworthy and flexible working space.
A Quick Recap of Lighthouse’s Benefits
When it comes to team members:
- Booking a desk
Your teammates can rely on a simple and friendly flow for booking a desk at the office. It’s directly from the map, supporting both assigned and shared desks;
- Making recommendations
Based on the distancing measures you have in place. In this way, you can maximize space utilization and keep people safe at the same time;
- Visibility
Everyone knows who is working from the office and their location on the map;
- Mobile-Friendliness
It allows everyone can complete a booking anytime, anywhere.
When it comes to managers:
- Develop the office layout
Import your floor maps and add desks. And, take advantage of Lighthouse’s recommendation engine! They will help you maximize the available space according to the safety measures set in place;
- Keep track of the workspace arrangements in real-time
Easily track who came into the office and when. You’ll benefit from reports that show the office space usage. You’ll also get notifications when occupancy reaches a predefined threshold;
- Have reports and other relevant information stored and easily accessible
As such, you can track office attendance and make timely informed decisions concerning office supplies, potential contamination, or overcrowding.
For more details, check out the quick demo here (also attached below) and Lighthouse’s landing page here.
Final thoughts
The faster we acknowledge working is not a one-size-fits-all kind of experience, the sooner we’ll take the needed measures. To give our people the freedom to choose what suits them best. We’re not advising you to adopt our hybrid working model. It’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of model. But, we do intend to motivate you to consider a hybrid working environment. Where your colleagues also have the possibility to be flexible from time to time, at least. It won’t be easy at first. The office has been the place for most the people to work since forever. But this is where Lighthouse comes in to help. The workspace management tool’s purpose is to help you better use the office space. It’s customizable, versatile, and easy to integrate and use by everybody in your organization. Interested in a demo? Let us know!
