Office space has always been the biggest expense for most organizations. When the costs of rent, security, electricity, and maintenance add up, they take a massive chunk out of a company's budget. But in recent years, the rapidly rising hybrid work model has helped reduce this cost considerably. Now, there are fewer on-site employees and visitors. So, businesses can downsize and still remain functional.
However, reducing your office space poses new challenges for office managers, especially when it comes to meeting rooms. They struggle to:
How can companies tackle these challenges in the best way possible? The answer lies in technology. And particularly in a meeting room booking system.
Meeting room booking systems are easy to use, effective, and scalable. While they are similar to your average ticket-booking app, their usage is not limited to making reservations. These innovative tools, by design, aim to make work easier for everyone.
Are you intrigued to know how meeting room booking software can help you? Well, here is a list of benefits you can reap almost immediately after you adopt it.
In a hybrid office, in-person meetings are crucial for communication and collaboration. They might be the only time when your on-site and remote employees interact. So, they also play a key role in maintaining your work culture.
When managers want to meet with their teams, they usually update meeting timings on a collaboration tool. Then, they notify their employees. But this simplistic approach isn't enough. Here's why:
Here is where a conference room booking system comes to your rescue! With this system in place:
#2 You Can Optimize Your Meeting Room Usage With a Meeting Room Booking System
Most businesses fail to use meeting room spaces efficiently. Moreover, they do not realize that they are wasting resources until it is too late.
For instance, after supervising meetings over several months, you may discover that your employees prefer booking one room each time. The other rooms remain unused. With a meeting room booking system, you can avoid this problem altogether.
A meeting room booking system can record and track meeting requests. Using them, you can uncover valuable insight into your meeting room usage. By identifying the patterns of bookings and cancellations, you can plan your office space efficiently. So, if your meeting room booking system alerts you about a dormant meeting room, you can have it repurposed.
#3 A Meeting Room System Provides You With Multiple Booking Methods
A meeting room booking system that provides various booking methods can simplify finding and reserving a meeting room. If you are traveling, you can book your meeting through a web-based interface on your web browser. Or, you can access it through a mobile app.
What's more, a meeting room booking solution can integrate with existing tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack. So, you can book your meeting room and alert your employees. No need to install another messaging app.
#4 A Meeting Room Booking System Help You Strengthen Access Control
Suppose you have a conference room intended for specific events. If this room is all-accessible, it may be misused. For instance, people may use it frequently for small meetings, leading to wastage of resources.
A meeting room booking system can help you define and implement access control policies. Even share them across departments to maintain transparency. What's more, you can also make changes in this policy and notify your employees about the updates.
#5 With a Centralized Meeting Room Booking Solution, You Can Coordinate Services
A meeting room booking system extends far beyond a reservation system. It provides a single interface to track all the meeting-related activities within your office. For example, you can use it for the following:
To Summarize
With a suitable meeting room booking system in place, you can save resources and reduce costs. You will not have to worry about scheduling conflicts and tensions in the office.
By rolling out an access control policy, you can avoid reckless usage of meeting rooms. And when your employees can interact with your meeting room booking system through various interfaces, you no longer need to have a single desk-bound employee to manage it.
The 'workplace of the future' cannot function without a robust meeting room booking system. So go ahead, and find one that is the best fit for your company.
WorkInSync is a leading meeting room management software. It has features like conference room scheduling, desk booking, hot desking, digital signage, interactive floor plans, workspace booking and much more. You can opt for the meeting room scheduling software demo and easily find and book available meeting rooms.
Marina Pal is a renowned author and social media enthusiast.