6 Ways to Make Hybrid Work Life Easier for Everyone

Hybrid work is happening. This means assigned desks and five days a week in the workplace are things of the past.

If you're still struggling to figure out what this means for your business and what it'll look like in practice, you're in good company. The challenges and opportunities boil down to this:

• Employees want flexibility in where they work.

• With fewer people coming into the workplace each day, the size of offices and corresponding resources may need to be adjusted. 

• Given flexible schedules, the greatest benefit of in-office work — collaboration among individuals and teams — will become your biggest challenge. Not knowing when and where employees will work each day makes the process of coordination time-consuming and frustrating.

While many companies are implementing 'hot desking' to best utilize their workspace, most desk reservation systems were not built to support the type of hybrid work we're seeing. What they don't address is the elephant in the room: how to facilitate team collaboration in today's hybrid environment. For example, a workgroup wants to meet on a particular day. With most hot desking solutions, they'll have to first coordinate their schedules via another channel (like email or Slack), then reserve spots and hope that they'll be assigned desks near one another. 

We all deserve better. Managers need an integrated approach that gives employees scheduling power and provides the workplace team visibility into space usage and scheduling patterns. 

Here are six ways Envoy's workplace platform and Desks solution for hybrid work empower employees and admins and make hybrid work life a little easier:

Empower employees to coordinate their schedules

With an intuitive, easy-to-use app, employees see exactly who from their team is planning to be in the workplace and when. If Jan needs to meet with Joe on Tuesday and Mike on Thursday, she can check their schedules and locations, then book desks near each one. Admins can also designate specific team areas and seat co-workers by function or project team automatically.

Invite teammates to collaborate on-site

Teammates can invite one another in the app to coordinate in-person working days. They can plan meetings weeks or months in advance, invite coworkers to join them onsite, and reserve the type of collaboration space that works best for them—all within the Envoy app.

Free up unused desks 

Hybrid schedules can often change. With Envoy, there are built-in measures to ensure space is being used efficiently. Workers check in to their desk and meeting rooms via the Envoy app. If their plans change, they can cancel their reservation or set automatic 'time out' windows to free up the space for others to use.

Use real-time analytics to make smart decisions 

Workplaces that function best are informed and driven by data, rather than gut instinct. Admins get an accurate view of who and how many people plan to work on-site each day, with analytics that help right-size the workplace layout and minimize wasted space. Data from real-time sign-ins and desk utilization keep management up to date on capacity and usage for every location, which helps with resource allocation and long-term planning. 

Prevent crowding 

Envoy is designed to work with a workplace's capacity and social distancing guidelines. This way, you can ensure that each desk that's reserved is a safe distance away from other occupied desks and capacity limits are enforced. If local guidelines change, you can make adjustments directly from your Desks dashboard in minutes. 

Streamline workflows by connecting to existing workplace systems

Companies can use Envoy's APIs to build seamless integrations with existing logistics, communication, calendaring, and management tools. With 80+ pre-built integrations — including popular apps like Microsoft Office 365, Slack, and Zoom — you can streamline workflows by connecting Envoy to the most-used tools and critical workplace systems. 

Employees are returning to the workplace and their expectations are high. They want what we all want — an effortless, gratifying experience. This is the time to be proactive, and to build the right infrastructure and solutions that will lead to more efficient workplace collaboration and happier, healthier workers. To learn more about Envoy's hybrid work solutions, please visit https://envoy.com/hybrid-work/.