Making the hybrid office possible – Swedish Proptech is encouraging employees back to the office

Hybrid working is on the rise. In a recent research study by CBRE, 73% of business leaders responded that hybrid working would be part of their long-term strategy after Covid-19 lockdowns – and facility managers are the ones leading the quest to encourage people back to the workplace. This Swedish Proptech solution is now assisting FMs in making the office a more appealing destination for employees around the world.

Flowscape Solutions, a Swedish company that has been one of the driving innovators within the smart office segment, believes that the technological trends in 2022 will be centred around downsizing office space, increasing collaboration opportunities on-site and adapting hot desking for individual work. Substantial shifts like these are never clear-cut, and it’s becoming clear that technical solutions are essential to support FMs in this important task.

Nonetheless, the dream of a functional hybrid office is more than conceivable – it’s now do-able. Something is shifting in the Swedish Proptech market, and Flowscapes’s innovative technology is today creating flexibility for employees and optimising space for clients world-wide. But there is one question that business leaders keep asking; what are the priorities that FMs need to have to change and manage the office in 2022? Flowscape has mapped 5 areas that they believe are important to secure the future success of the office environment.

1. Digital and interactive floorplans

We are living in a digital age, and interactive and updatable floorplans are today a must-have in large office environments. Keeping track of the location of equipment or reported issues for meeting rooms and desks is what keeps office space manageable in a hybrid work setting.

Yet, FMs and employees alike often lack a clear office overview or an easy-to-use floorplan that is correctly updated when layout or equipment changes are made. Managing all of these resources through tools like spreadsheets can be very time consuming. By using interactive floorplans, employees will be able to find the right resource within seconds and equipment issues can be communicated to everyone directly. But most importantly, FMs will always know exactly what resources they have available and how and when they are being used.

 

2. Central source of office utilisation data

If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. FMs often lack the tools needed to analyse the usage of office space in real-time. Without implementation of sensors or powerful analytics tools, office teams will risk implementing changes that give little or no results or may even obstruct employees from their day-to-day work.

To create an optimal space management strategy, detailed usage data needs to be obtained both before and after new requests from employees and management arise, creating clear goals and evaluation opportunities moving forward.

3. Space Flexibility

Going hybrid means more than just working a few days from home, it completely changes the way an office is used. A considerable number of tasks will most likely be carried out from home. This might mean that office space will be adapted to completely cater for collaboration and team building – and personal workspaces will consequently be reduced and shared between employees.

Decrease in personal workspaces gives unprecedented opportunities for flexibility. Workspace booking software will however be essential in order to give employees guaranteed seating when needed. But when implemented, the areas once attributed to individual work can now be anything that foster creativity and teambuilding.

4. Employee retention

Previous research suggests that employees who work more from home are more likely to change jobs and be less engaged with the company and to the brand. This means that the office space could become one of the most important aspects for employee retention. The FM role is now more than ever responsible for retaining staff via an inspiring and optimised work environment.

5. Colleague Finding

As mentioned in point 3, increasing space flexibility consequently minimises the number of individual workspaces. This creates new challenges in making sure that employees can easily access the resources they need and importantly, the people they need to work with. Without fixed seating arrangements, employees will find themselves with a new task on their hands, trying to find their teammates when collaboration is needed to get the job done.

Colleague-finding tools and attendance calendars will be important technical solutions to implement, to improve productivity in hybrid work environments. Employees will need new ways to find their colleagues and see when their managers and teammates plan to visit the office next. They will also need a simple method to estimate how busy the office will be on any particular day, to better plan their working week.

A Swedish Solution for Hybrid Working

Flowscape Solutions has been leading the drive to encourage employees back to the office, together with their enterprise customers worldwide. With workspace management tools specifically designed to manage hybrid work schedules, Facility Managers have been able to create a seamless flow in each step of the office management process.

By using sensor technology, FMs can start identifying trends and workflows which can lay the foundation for future office changes. Statistical models can be used to view and analyse historical data about the utilisation of resources in the office.

Instead of keeping track of resources through lists and spreadsheets, interactive floor plans give the location of the resource directly and help FMs manage the effectiveness of the layout of the office.

Learn more about how your business can make the hybrid workplace possible. Flowscape Solutions provides free consultations for any business looking to motivate more people to come back to the office.

Read more on the Flowscape Website or Request a free consultation

Flowscape’s Product Portfolio:

– Desk Management

– Room Booking

– Office Attendance Calendar

– Parking Management

– Workplace Analytics

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