Agile working – your company is working hard at it, but is it genuinely making life better your staff and improving their productivity?
We asked agile office worker Amy to talk about her working day and show how she uses the software to make her life less admin-bound.
Amy said: “HQ meetings are never simple to organise – you have to locate workspaces, invite colleagues to meetings and then sort out services such as catering.
“My time is always limited, so I can’t afford to spend too much of it on admin. That’s where our agile booking system helps me – right throughout the day.”
1. Booking a desk
“While I’m travelling into the office on the train, I get on my mobile app and the agile booking system to check which desks are available, and I book one directly from an easy-to-view floorplan,” says Amy.
“It means I can select a particular floor and desk location where I can work closely with my colleagues on a project.”
When Amy arrives at the office, she scans the QR code she’s been sent, and that books her workspace for the day.
“If I don’t do it, space is automatically released back into the desk pool within 30 minutes of the booking start time – it’s an HQ rule,” she said.
“I think it’s a good rule. When I’m in the office looking around for a desk, I can see it will be available at, say, 9.30 a.m. when it’s automatically released into the pool. It’s one of the benefits of the agile booking system.”
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2. Finding a meeting room
Amy needs to get some project team members around a table to discuss some unexpected client requirements that came up during the morning.
“As I’ve used the agile booking system to reserve myself a place in a quiet working zone, I need a small meeting room quickly,” she said.
“Previously, this would have meant walking around the office to find an empty room, then wondering if I might need to leave it halfway through the meeting.
“Our new digital signage panels make finding a room easy because they show at a glance if a room is booked. I also check for meeting room space on my mobile app. It saves around 15 minutes of my time and it works for my colleagues, too.”
* What does an agile booking system do better than Outlook?
3. Finding colleagues and arranging a collaboration session
“This is really simple!” says Amy. “I use the agile booking system portal to check my workmates’ availability in real-time, and I can even use a collaboration a tool like Skype almost instantly if I want.
“I can use conferencing tools including Zoom to bring colleagues into the meeting who are working from home. I tend to do that myself at least once a week – and it can be my most productive day!”
Amy also likes how easy it is to use the agile booking system to organise a video conference.
“The system locates the right meeting space even in a number of different time zones, and invites all the attendees,” she said.
“One good thing is that if any details of the meeting change, eg the time, the system automatically notifies everyone.
“I don’t have to send everyone emails and wonder if they’ve seen them – I find the system really reduces no-shows at our meetings.”
* Discover more about integrating technology in your workplace.
4. Organising parking, catering and equipment
In the office, Amy’s urgent collaboration session lasts for nearly two hours.
“It happens sometimes,” she said. “Luckily, having services available via the booking portal means I can order catering so we don’t need to go anywhere for lunch. Just what we need to get the project done!”
The agile booking system makes it a cinch to organise catering for meetings even in multiple locations, and it alerts the caterers if arrangements change.
This cuts down food waste, which is important for both costs and for the environment.
The system also handles the car parking arrangements and holds an up-to-date inventory of equipment such as VC. It means Amy never turns up for a meeting to find the essential kit is not in place.
Discover the 10 steps to take on your agile working journey.
5. Checking out
Amy’s leaving the office early – for a change!
“I scan my desk QR code to check out, so one of my colleagues can use the space if they need it,” she said.
“I’ve had another productive day at HQ, thanks to our agile booking system and the way it integrates completely with the services and collaboration tools I need.
“I’m done for today – and I’m ready for tomorrow!”
Make every working day as perfect as Amy’s with an agile booking system
