During the pandemic, remote conferencing tools like Zoom and Google Meet became the go-to solutions for team meetings. As offices are opening up again, employees need spaces for in-person interactions, such as meeting rooms. Now there are different types of online booking systems available like Class Booking System, meting room booking system etc that can be used for booking meeting rooms.
However, ensuring collaboration in a hybrid workplace will not be straightforward. Here is why.
- The number of in-office employees is fewer compared to a traditional setting. So, conference rooms will remain empty most of the time.
- Shutting down conference rooms on a whim to save costs can lead to crowding and jeopardize employee safety.
- Employees run on flexible schedules, which can cause confusion and prevent productive collaboration.
A meeting room booking system can help solve these problems by simplifying the process of scheduling and conducting meetings.
A meeting room system allows employees to find and book conference rooms, amenities and automates sanitization processes. This is why you must invest in one if you are transitioning to a hybrid workplace setup.
Considering investing in a conference room scheduling software for your company? Here are some things you should know.
Top Features in a Meeting Room Booking System
- Purpose-Based Selections
Imagine walking into a tiny conference room for a review meeting of 50 people. The meeting will be complete chaos.
A meeting room booking system can help avoid this through its inbuilt purpose-based selection feature. You can state the purpose of your meeting and the number of attendees. The meeting room booking system will then show you the available meeting rooms. Thus, helping in more efficient space management.
- Real-Time Data
A meeting room booking system displays up-to-date information on its interface. This includes crucial information users need to know before booking a meeting space. So, they can view which meeting rooms are available and at what times.
If a meeting gets rescheduled or canceled, the system automatically updates the status of the respective meeting room. All these actions will work seamlessly even if multiple users make changes at once. This is because all meeting room data is present in a centralized database.
In this way, a meeting room booking system helps clear confusion and ensures transparency.
- Notification Feature
If a meeting takes longer than expected, the meeting room booking system can:
- Notify the next meeting host about the delay
- Allow the host to instantly shift the meeting’s timings
- Notify all meeting attendees after the host reschedules it
- Integrate with third-party apps. So, the employees can receive notifications and view the updates through them
- Managing Recreational Facilities
Providing rec rooms, common rooms, and other recreational facilities inside the workplace is essential to reduce stress and promote productivity. Your meeting room booking system can also double as an amenity booking software.
It can list all the recreational facilities available. Then, employees can schedule it as they like. Moreover, you can also update the status of a certain rec room if it is closed for maintenance. Or, you can alert your facilities team if a room needs sanitization.
- Report Generation
Continuous improvement is the key to better workplace management. The best way to achieve this is by regularly reviewing meeting room usage reports. A meeting room booking system has a handy report generation feature that allows you to:
- Identify which rooms to manage better
- Identify which meeting rooms to shut down or repurpose into smaller offices
- Designate a window into the meeting hours in a company. So, managers can avoid long meeting hours and excessive meetings
- Schedule, monitor, and report sanitation activities
How to Implement a Meeting Room Booking System?
When implementing a meeting room booking system in your hybrid workplace, take care of two components: software and hardware.
- Software: Identify and choose the best SaaS product for your meeting room booking system. After all, it is the software that will do most of the work. So, make sure you choose one that is:
- Cloud-based
- User-friendly
- Easy to install, configure, and run
- Easy to maintain
- Easily integrates with existing collaboration tools
- Hardware: Your meeting room booking system must provide contactless access to managers, employees, and visitors alike. For this, your office will need specific equipment like:
- QR Codes: You can place these codes outside each room. People can scan the code to know if the room is in use and accordingly schedule their appointments.
- Interactive Digital Signs: They allow check-ins, bookings, and future schedules of a particular room on a single screen.
- ID Screens: They are a non-interactive and budget-friendly alternative to digital screens. Connecting it to the meeting room booking system will show who has booked the room for a particular duration.
- Lobby Kiosk: Your meeting room booking system is also a boon for visitors to your workplace. A lobby kiosk outlines a map of your office, and visitors can use it and find their meeting room. Thus, they will know where to reach and how without any confusion.
The Bottom Line
The future of work is hybrid. So, over time, an office’s purpose will also change. It will no longer be a place for working. Rather, employees will use it as a venue for gatherings, collaborations and connection.
Therefore, transforming your workplace to match employee expectations is the need of the hour. A meeting room booking system will help you achieve this goal faster and more efficiently than traditional or manual methods.
A meeting room booking system allows you to build a technology-driven hybrid workplace. Through this technology, you can:
- Reduce errors
- Avoid confusion and conflict
- Save time
- Cut costs and reduce wastage of resources
- Gain insights and make informed decisions
Optimize meeting room usage and streamline meetings with WorkInSync meeting room booking system. Reduce costs, save time, and provide your employees a safe workplace as they return to the office.
