Workplace of the Future: How Meeting Room Software Enhances the Office Experience

Our offices have seen the arrival of waves of technology in recent years, including IT, video conferencing, AI and mobility.  Work is no longer a place we go, but rather a thing we do in different places.

That means it’s time to ask some tough questions about the function our workplaces really fulfil. 

In other words:

Today’s workplace: is it really an office – or is it a meeting venue instead?

Let’s just take a moment to think about that.

1. You definitely go there to do a particular thing
2. You visit the place to meet people
3. It has the equipment you need to achieve your targets
4. It’s fun being there (or should be)
   Well, that certainly sounds like a venue.
   But there’s one other element that makes the office like a venue:
5. You book a place before you arrive.

 After all, you would never just turn up at a gig hoping you could get in. Wandering around looking for somewhere to sit? That’s not very rock ‘n roll.

It doesn’t rock the new workplace, either. In recent years, we’ve done away with our formal boardrooms and fixed desks to create more flexible spaces that suit 21st century agile working.

We can do our jobs in many places – coffee shops, our own kitchen – but there’s still a huge need for the office to be the beating heart of our working lives.

The office is where we meet up, face-to-face or virtually via collaborative tools such as video conferencing and AV.

It’s where we drop in at a hot desk or breakout space to catch up with colleagues for some great collaboration.

There’s no doubt – we get better when we get together

One recent survey said:

“People working in teams innovate faster, achieve better results and report higher job satisfaction.” 

I don’t suppose that comes as a surprise to many people.

People in the UK now spend 55% of their time working with others, according to a new survey – and but 71% says they’re still struggling to do it in traditional, formal rooms. 

So the case is proven – we need offices that promote spontaneous collaboration and positive mental health. 

Is that a generational issue?

We know Gen Z, in particular, like a friendly office get-together. 

A high percentage – 92% – of these talented 18-24-year-olds say they don’t work best at home. In fact,  a huge 81% consider social and communal areas to be important workspace facilities. There’s that venue aspect coming to the fore again.

But it’s not just Generation Z-ers – all generations are affected by their working environment to some degree.

So why not  rethink your workspace as a venue?

Maybe you’ve never have looked at it that way before, but ask yourself these questions.

• Can people easily easy book a space there?
• Is it something they can do before they come in?
• Is somewhere cool to meet colleagues?
• Does it have the equipment they need?
• Does the environment make them feel good?

These are all questions venues might ask – but today, you need your workplace environment to tick the boxes for all of these elements.

If you already use meeting room scheduling software, you’re probably feeling smug – you’ve answered yes to all of those questions.

If you don’t, you’d be astonished at the difference meeting room scheduling software makes to your operations.

Give them a hot ticket

Meeting room scheduling software kicks in at every stage of the working day. In your technology-supported workspace-as-a-venue, staff book their perfect hot desk or meeting space easily via an app on their mobile device.

It means they’ve got the hot ticket to your ‘gig’ before they even come in – remember point 5 above?

And because they’ve booked all the resources they need – from VC to AV and even catering – in the same single transaction, there are no delays to getting on with their work or their meeting.

Creating workspace meeting venues that rock

Your staff arrive, settle straight down, and get working or meeting. The meeting room scheduling software also helps to reduce no-shows, because it automatically informs everyone involved if a room or meeting time changes.

There’s no hanging around, so your office becomes cool workspace where work flows seamlessly. That makes everyone feel good, not just Gen Z-ers, and that makes talent retention that little bit easier. Improved productivity and wellbeing are another natural result.

I like thinking about workspace as a venue. It put an attractive shine on our working lives that fits well with modern efforts to create a vibrant work-life balance and positive mental health.

So I believe it’s time for office owners like you to have get radical with meeting room scheduling software. 

Get the right stuff, the technology that makes it all happen for you and your workforce.

Then get open the doors of your workspace venue open for some real business. That’s definitely my kind of gig.