Workplace operations that run themselves

Office Organization: The Basics

What does office organization involve?

Office organization encompasses the physical layout of the workspace, filing systems, and day-to-day office procedures. It addresses three things at once: where documents are stored, how workstations are assigned, and the rules by which the team operates. A well-organized office runs smoothly over the long term without the need for daily reminders.

Most attempts at office organization fail because they lack sustainability. Checklists and reminders work for a few days, but then the old habits return. The reason: A rule without a system always depends on the discipline of each individual. A system, on the other hand, maintains order on its own because it specifies where things belong and who is responsible for them.

How do I set up an effective filing system in the office?

An effective filing system organizes documents according to a single, clearly defined principle. Three systems have proven effective:

The clean desk policy also forms the basis for a sustainable filing system. If every desk is cleared at the end of the workday and every document has a designated place, those piles of paper that later become impossible to trace back to anyone never accumulate in the first place.

Label each folder and compartment clearly, and establish a rule for who puts documents back in their proper place. These three points will keep your filing system organized, even as your team grows.

What filing systems are suitable for everyday office work on the computer?

To organize your files on your computer, you need a flat folder structure with clear naming conventions. Deep nesting, on the other hand, tends to waste time and leads to duplicate files. Three rules will help keep your structure clean:

The division between paper and computer is as follows:

How is hybrid work changing the way offices are organized?

Hybrid work shifts the focus of office organization from filing to space and attendance planning. As soon as part of your team isn’t on-site every day, desks sit empty, meeting rooms are booked remotely for the coming days, and no one knows for sure who will be in the office on a given weekday. Office organization thus directly impacts the daily planning of the entire team.

How do I organize desk sharing and meeting rooms in a hybrid office?

Shared workspaces only work if there are established booking rules. Without them, you’ll run into exactly the kinds of friction you’d most likely want to avoid: disputes over desks and meeting rooms that are either overcrowded or booked but empty. The foundation is laid by binding rules for workspace sharing, which specify how long a desk remains reserved and what happens at the end of the day.

When it comes to meeting rooms, the problem usually lies in the booking process itself. A large room is reserved for just two people, while a small one is overbooked. Automated meeting room management solves this by checking bookings and rebooking them as needed.

How do I organize my office when employees are also working from home?

If you want to organize your office while part of the team is working from home, you need constant coordination between both locations.

Once current and planned availability is visible to the team regardless of location, desks, meetings, and handoffs can be scheduled without everyone having to check with each other individually.

Systematic Office Organization: How to Keep Your Daily Office Routine Running Smoothly

Office organization requires clear rules for shared workspaces and a planning system that provides visibility into attendance and space utilization. PULT automatically detects your colleagues’ presence, enables your team to plan and book in advance, and helps ensure that all resources are allocated fairly:

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The Paperless Office: The Basics

What distinguishes a truly paperless office from a digital filing system?

Going paperless starts with ensuring that a process—such as approving a vacation request or processing an incoming invoice—runs from start to finish without any physical documents. If, on the other hand, you simply scan a document and forward the PDF via email, you’ve eliminated the paper, but not the process.

Document vs. Process: What's the Difference?

Document digitization converts a paper document into a file. Process digitization redesigns the workflow behind it: Who submits the request, and where? Who approves it, and how? Where is the result stored in an audit-proof manner and immediately retrievable? Only when both are combined can a paperless office without parallel structures be achieved.

What aspects of office work can be made paperless?

As a general rule, almost all processes that have been handled on paper up to now can be digitized:

What legal considerations do I need to keep in mind when setting up a paperless office?

The key legal pillars of the paperless office in Germany are the GoBD, document retention periods, and the e-invoicing requirement.

GoBD and Audit-Compliant Archiving

A digitally archived document is considered GoBD-compliant if it meets three principles:

Retention periods apply regardless of format: 10 years for accounting documents, balance sheets, and tax-related business correspondence; 6 years for other business correspondence. A GoBD-certified document management system (DMS) then technically implements these requirements.

E-Invoicing and Other Digitalization Requirements

Starting in January 2025, all B2B companies in Germany must be able to receive e-invoices. The requirement to send e-invoices will take effect in 2027 for companies with annual revenue exceeding 800,000 euros, and in 2028 for all companies.

Beforehand, the general processing of invoices should already be fully digitized so that the transition to e-invoicing can then be made with comparable ease.

What software do I need for a paperless office?

Setting up the right software infrastructure for a paperless office means making a decision for each category and finding the best tools for hybrid work for the company. Four categories cover the majority of paper-related processes:

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How do I implement a paperless office step by step?

To move toward a paperless office, first map out the processes taking place in your office, review and streamline the most important ones, select the appropriate software, and then work with your team to implement the now-digital process.

How to Keep Your Office Paperless for the Long Term

Your employees will follow the digital processes as long as there is no reason to deviate from them. Therefore, the processes—and especially the software—in the paperless office must offer them everything that was previously possible on paper and even go beyond that.

With PULT, you can manage all aspects of your office operations: room reservations and automated meeting room management, presence detection, office usage analytics, visitor reception, and more:

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Organizing an Event: The Basics

• Public events involving a large number of people are subject to a require a permit in Germany: Depending on the state and the type of event, applications must be submitted to the relevant authority at least 12 weeks in advance
• Since the stricter requirements took effect in 2025/2026, event organizers must actively maintain their safety documentation: In the event of a claim, anyone who cannot provide complete documentation bears the burden of proof, regardless of whether there was any fault
• The GDPR applies to participant data when organizing an event, and specifically to event photos and video recordings as well: Without explicit consent or a documented exception, substantial fines may be imposed.
• Event management feature: With PULT, companies can coordinate corporate events, room scheduling, and attendee management all within a single system, directly integrated with Personio, HiBob, MS Teams, and Slack.

What permits do I need before organizing an event?

As soon as you start planning an event in Germany, you’ll encounter a complex web of regulations that vary depending on the state, the type of event, and the number of attendees. The key regulations include the Public Gathering Venues Ordinance, GEMA, and guidelines from the public order office.

• Your city or town’s Public Order Office: The first point of contact for public events. The Public Order Office generally approves the event and coordinates with other authorities as needed. Private corporate events with a fixed guest list held at an approved venue do not require a separate permit from this office
• Department of Streets and Green Spaces (also known as the Department of Civil Engineering or the Department of Urban Planning, depending on the city): You can apply here for a special use permit for events on streets, squares, or in parks. The exact name of the agency varies by municipality. The quickest way to find the right contact is to search for “special use permit for events” on your municipality’s city portal. Many municipalities now bundle this application in the Servicekonto Deutschland
• Business Licensing Office: If you sell food or beverages, you need a temporary permit under the restaurant regulations of the respective state. This is a separate application, independent of the event permit.

Three additional points that often come up too late in the planning process:

• GEMA: You must register music that includes GEMA-licensed tracks in advance at gema.de, whether performed live or played from a recording. The fees depend on the size of the event and the venue area.
• Regulation on Public Gathering Places (VStättVO): For events with 200 or more people, the relevant building authority will verify whether the venue is licensed as a public gathering place. Clarify this in advance with the venue’s landlord, because as the organizer, you are jointly liable if the operating permit is missing or has expired
• Fire Department and Public Health Department: For events featuring stage setups or food service, the Public Order Office often requires a fire safety plan and a hygiene plan. Make sure to get written confirmation that this applies to your event.

For all applications for which your municipality offers an online portal, the following applies: The Servicekonto Deutschland consolidates many of these forms. Start the application process at least 12 weeks before the event.

What has changed for events as a result of new safety regulations and the reversal of the burden of proof?

DGUV 115-002 sets forth safety requirements for event and production technology and applies to all events where technical equipment such as stages, lighting, or sound systems is set up. Starting in 2025/2026, authorities and courts expect event organizers to actively maintain their safety documentation rather than compiling it only upon request.

This means that risk assessments, evacuation plans, protocols for briefing service providers, and participant lists must be fully documented. If you cannot present complete documentation in the event of a claim, the burden of proof falls on you. A structured documentation system in place before the event should therefore be considered a requirement that you must comply with.

How do I comply with the GDPR when organizing an event?

As soon as you register participants, you are processing personal data and therefore need a legal basis under Article 6 of the GDPR. For corporate events, this basis is generally derived from legitimate interest. In this case, the data may not be used for purposes beyond the event and must be deleted after 90 days at the latest. The only exception to the deletion period is tax-related retention requirements.

Things get more complicated when it comes to event photos and video recordings:

• Portraits and identifiable individuals: Publication is prohibited without express consent, even in the case of seemingly harmless group photos
• Panoramic photos of large crowds: In such cases, a legitimate interest may apply, provided that individuals are not recognizable.
• Online events and recordings: If you record events or meetings , you must inform participants in advance and obtain their consent. Starting a recording without prior notice is a violation of the GDPR.

When registering, provide a consent form that explicitly asks for permission to take photos and record videos. The same rules apply to hybrid events—that is, formats in which some participants join remotely—with the addition of recording requirements under data protection law.

Organizing an Event Step by Step: The Checklist

What tools can help with organizing events?

When it comes to organizing your event, three categories of tools cover the most important planning areas: tools for checklists and risk analysis, online portals for submitting official applications, and office management platforms for room scheduling and attendee management.

• Checklists, AI: Use our event checklist and consult an LLM (Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, etc.) to research the local and municipal requirements or guidelines specific to your state, as these cannot be summarized in a single, universal list.
• Online permit portals: The Servicekonto Deutschland and municipal application portals allow users to submit permit applications via browser-based forms. However, availability varies by state.
• Office management platforms with event features: A direct link between event planning, room management, and attendee management saves you the hassle of back-and-forth coordination.

PULT combines room booking, guest management, and catering into a single platform. You can book rooms, filter by capacity and amenities such as projectors or whiteboards, reserve areas on the interactive office map for your event, and add catering directly during the booking process. 

• Rooms, catering, parking, and guest workstations—all in one booking.
• Guests check in at the kiosk, and the host immediately receives a notification in Slack or Microsoft Teams.
• At the reception desk, guests sign NDAs, photo release forms and receive a visitor badge and privacy notices.
• In an emergency, PULT generates an Emergency Export of all currently present individuals at the push of a button.
• The weekly planner shows in advance how many employees will be in the office on the day of the event, so that room planning and space utilization can be coordinated.

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