Shifting from the Traditional 9 to 5 work model to the Hybrid Workplace

As several companies are planning their back to work strategies, we are seeing terms like "Hybrid Workplace," or "Flex Work" start to trend. As discussed in our Tjene Talks with the President of Titan York on whether there will be demand for office rentals post-pandemic, the hybrid workplace is an up and coming model that many companies may start to incorporate as a part of their back to work strategy. In a study conducted in the summer of 2020 by CBRE with a total of 10,000 respondents from 32 companies within 18 countries, a combination of employees and company leaders were asked to complete a Workforce Sentiments Survey during the pandemic [1]. These are some of the key findings from the study:

• "85% of employees prefer to work remotely at least two to three days a week in the future" [1]
• "60% of respondents will return to the office in the future for community and collaboration" [1]
• "54% of company leaders prefer a hybrid arrangement for their team that combines working remotely and from the office" [1]

As company leaders prepare for their back to work plan, they need to keep in mind that since the pandemic, employees have experienced many benefits from working from home. These benefits include decreased or no commute times as well as the ability to work from wherever the employee wants, allowing them to spend more time with their families. The study found that employees have been able to do this while maintaining the same productivity levels as pre-pandemic [1]. However, the study has also revealed the employees' desire to go back to the office for collaborative team work and experience community within the workplace. As employees see the value in both working environments, the idea of providing flex work or a hybrid workplace has become the driving force of many companies' return to work plans.

The Growing Need for Reservation Systems in a Back to Work Plan

In preparing the office space for a hybrid workplace model, companies will also need to reconsider their office space usage, as it may look different compared to pre-Covid times. Post-pandemic, employees may only come into the office two to three times a day for team collaboration, training or meeting with clients. In these cases, office spaces may shift from the traditional assigned seating plan to a hoteling model where all spaces like meeting rooms and workstations are available for anyone to reserve and work at. Working with a hoteling model, several companies have turned to implementing technology solutions that can help their employees easily coordinate and reserve available spaces at the office. 

So how can you, as a company leader or space planner, best implement a hoteling model for your spaces at the office and provide a seamless reservation experience for your employees' return to work?

Watch below for a quick demo on how the IBM TRIRIGA Reserve Tool can provide a seamless experience for you and your team in reserving your spaces:

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What is IBM TRIRIGA?

IBM TRIRIGA is an industry leading integrated workplace management system (IWMS). The integrated system connects all data from your organization's management systems such as capital projects, lease, space, facilities, operations and maintenance into one platform. Using IBM TRIRIGA enables employees to efficiently manage, track, and streamline processes impacting the overall business of your corporate real estate.

What is the IBM TRIRIGA Reserve tool?

The IBM TRIRIGA Reserve tool (TRIRIGA Reserve) is a reservation system that is part of IBM TRIRIGA's Workplace Services technology solution offered within the space management module for corporate real estate. TRIRIGA Reserve is a mobile web app for employees to easily and efficiently reserve available meeting rooms and workstations at the palm of their hands.

How does IBM TRIRIGA Reserve Work?

Employees who have a user profile within the system will be able to login to the IBM TRIRIGA Workplace Services web app in order to use the TRIRIGA Reserve tool. As long as the employee is using a mobile device (i.e. phone or tablet, etc.) that is connected to the internet, they will have access to the reservation system.

Using the reservation system, the employee can,

• Select the type of space they want to book (i.e. meeting room or workspace)
• Choose the building and location of where they want to book their space
• Specify their timeframe or set reoccurring bookings
• Filter for specific meeting rooms based on:
• Number of attendees
• Room layout (i.e. conference room, classroom, auditorium, etc.), and
• Required amenities (i.e. catering, accessible, network connection, projector, telephone conference, video conference, whiteboard, etc.)

Within minutes, an employee would be able to view all available spaces, select desired space and complete their reservation to work at the office.

Additional Configurations and Customizations to Enhance the IBM TRIRIGA Reserve Tool to Meet Your Needs

The TRIRIGA Reserve tool can be configured  to meet all of your workplace's requirements and employees' needs:

• Setting up auto-cancellation on unused reservations
• Setting restrictions on how far in advance you can book reoccurring spaces, or
• Adding an Outlook integration to the system

If specific functionalities are needed in addition to what is available out-of-the-box, our in-house development team at Tjene would be happy to work with your team to add customized features to the reservation system such as:

• Building a company specific check in / check out process
• Adding a COVID pre-screening questionnaire upon checking into the reservation, or
• Viewing the open status of company buildings

Interested to see how IBM TRIRIGA's Reserve tool can be configured and customized to meet your back to work strategy? Our team would be happy to further demo the reservation system's features and functionalities to your team, you may contact us at info@tjene.com.

Resources

[1] Workforce Sentiment Survey

More on Return to Work Solutions:

Facilities Management & Workplace Safety

Workplace Re-Entry

Contact Tracing

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