How to plan going back to the office
Insights into different methods
We can go back to the office. “The new normal” as it’s often called in the news. But how do we now work in large offices without disregarding the legal requirements and thus guarantee a safe workplace for every employee? Many companies are overwhelmed by the current situation, as no flexible workstation models such as desk sharing or even desk sharing software were used before. Therefore we took a look at what companies do and what methods were found in this short time.
- The calculation — how many seats are available
First of all, we have to identify how many employees can go into the office to guarantee optimal capacity utilization.
Calculate how many employees can come into the office according to the regulations of your country or state — most countries have a distance rule of 1.5m to 2m. So make sure that this is guaranteed for the seats. Some companies are also developing other measures such as partitions if you have an open-plan office to reduce the risk of infection. Now that we have the number of seats that can be occupied, we continue.
What problems can arise?
If it turns out that only 50% of jobs are available due to the new regulations, the question arises:
Now who gets to go to the office and who doesn’t?
Here you have to offer a system for the employees, because what we all want to prevent is that employees stand in front of an office that is too “full” or “empty”, because this only leads to frustration. So let’s look at some methods.
2. What methods are there? What should one pay attention to?
It is important for employees to know who is in the office. Meetings or collaborations can therefore be planned more efficiently. This allows for flexible preparation for remote meetings as required.
In addition, of course, whether you can come to the office or not. In larger offices, for which it is necessary to distribute employees across the entire office, it is important to know where you are sitting. An overview of the seats and who occupies them would help with that.
We could go on forever listing other factors that matter, but let’s restrict ourselves to the most important ones for now.
Alternating
This system is based on teams/groups or other divisions dividing up and taking turns coming into the office. For example, one simply says that the teams already sitting together in table groups agree to come to the office only 50% of the time, so that at the same time only 50% of the table group is occupied.
Advantages: Easy to implement and the responsibility lies with the teams to organize themselves.
Disadvantages: Teams are split up and this could damage productivity if some team members are remote and information is lost. Furthermore, organization could be an obstacle for teams.
Excel sheet
Some companies have a maximum number of seats in the office where users can log in. In larger offices, this is done using Excel lists, which are shared with the others or, in the worst case, with an e-mail distribution list, which is incremented up to the maximum number.
Advantages: Everyone is familiar with systems such as Excel and e-mail distribution lists, so that an easy introduction is guaranteed.
Disadvantages: Due to the first-come-first-serve rule, some employees could be bypassed, moreover it can quickly become confusing, especially if you don’t know your table number and let’s face it: nobody knows these cryptic terms. Or can you make something out of “sitting on 3.15.51 on Tuesday”?
Desk Sharing Software
Since larger offices in particular avoid large crowds of people, but do not want Excel sheet chaos, it is worth taking a look at professional providers in this area. With Desk Sharing Software Vendors we enter an experienced circle, where the software is designed exactly for these flexible working methods. Most software vendors offer an overview of which employees are in the office and which space is still available. In addition, one has a simple monitoring and can make the tracing very easy in case of an infection.
Advantages: Desk Sharing Software is built exactly for this use case. Flexible distribution of seats, overview of who is in the office, search for people and monitoring.
Disadvantages: Again, we have some disadvantages, such as the cost factor and a requirement that the employees adapt the system quickly.
In the end, one cannot say that there is a solution for everyone. For many people, alternating at the table groups or an Excel sheet is sufficient, but there you quickly reach your limits. Those who have already thought about introducing flexible working can now take the opportunity to introduce a desk sharing software. Besides the problems we have with the current time, new ways of working can already be tested and thus the first cost savings in the near future can be achieved, for example through rent savings.
About Sedeo
Sedeo is a modern Software-as-a-Service software that enables companies to digitalize their workstations and make them bookable for their employees from anywhere.
We at Sedeo have specialized in making it easier for small and large offices to work flexibly. With our fast onboarding, graphical overview and easy integration of your employee data, Sedeo helps companies save a lot of time when searching for a job.
An intuitive user interface allows every employee to use Sedeo without any time-consuming training. Thus Sedeo minimizes change management to a minimum. Furthermore, as a German company we are aware of our customers’ requirements and work with the highest security standards and are therefore GDPR compliant. Visit sedeo.net to learn more about Sedeo and start a free trial.
