Powering up: how to enable the workplace through digital transformation

Workplace technology is synonymous with work and the workplace today. Digital solutions can augment, enhance, and inform everything from how organisations make decisions to the experiences employees have in the office. But in a market that is saturated with a constant influx of new technologies, choosing the right technologies and vendors can be overwhelming and time-consuming.

A new report by Williams Lea and consultancy firm UnWork – a sister company of WORKTECH Academy – aims to simplify the decision-making process. The report – entitled ‘Powering up: Enabling the workplace through technology innovation’ – spotlights the most prominent and innovative workplace technologies and vendors on the market today – and identifies the key features to lookout for.

The report examines four key areas – hotelling software, workspace management, attendance measurement and artificial intelligence.

Hotelling

Hotelling is an approach to workspace that allows employees to reserve their workspace, amenities, and resources in advance of their arrival in the office. This allows employees to feel comfortable and secure in the knowledge that they have access to everything they need to get their work completed to a high level. The report highlights the advantages of this approach for employees and employers, from offering a sense of positive ownership over an environment to helping collect data to right-size your workplace portfolio.

Workplace management

Providing the right combination of spaces to your employees isn’t a straightforward process. Many roles today require a combination of work modes from individual focus work to social collaboration and learning. Workplace apps can support the collection of data on a granular level, helping companies offer the right types of space to allow their employees to work comfortably.

Attendance measurement

Attendance is a hot topic when it comes to workplace, with companies increasingly using attendance data to monitor the success of mandates. Collecting attendance data and monitoring utilisation through sensors and badge data can support the tightening of security systems, allowing organisations to see who is in a building at any one time. The more sophisticated vendors will help companies visualise their data and make better informed decisions about their space through adaptable and personalised dashboards.

AI and automation

Whilst interest in AI and automation is constantly growing, there is a limited number of vendors who offer AI-integrated options for customers. GoSpace provides personalised workspace management and booking services that automatically nudge employees to come into the office on days when their regular collaborators are in. The same tool can also put underutilised space on the market for other companies to rent in order to ensure that space is optimally utilised.

These technologies form the backbone of the workplace today, helping employees navigate their space, access amenities and providing tailored spaces that meet their needs. For FM teams it offers an opportunity to gather, visualise and respond to data, making the workplace more efficient.

Read the full report here.