Workplace Management | Workplace Organisation

Understanding workplace management and implementing it correctly

Workplaces are changing due to new expectations in terms of collaboration, performance and work culture. Well thought-out workplace management is needed to ensure that offices, spaces and structures meet these requirements. In this article, you will find out what workplace management is all about, what challenges typically arise and how you can develop suitable solutions.

What is workplace management?

Workplace management describes the concept of organising and designing workplaces so that employees can work happily and efficiently.

Workplace management deals with the planning, organisation and optimisation of workplaces. However, it is also about processes on a daily basis as well as communication and the well-being of employees.

What is the purpose of workplace management?

The purpose of active workplace management is to design and organise workplaces and offices in such a way that employees can actually work there efficiently, healthily and with motivation on a daily basis. It therefore aims to improve the general quality of work, collaboration and utilisation of resources, both at an individual level and throughout the entire company. This involves systematically coordinating spaces, technology and organisation.

How does workplace management improve productivity?

Workplace management aims to create structures that have a positive impact on the flow of work:

• clearly regulated responsibilities
• well-coordinated space planning
• a functioning technical infrastructure

This reduces idle time, duplication of work and interruptions to concentration in everyday working life.

How does workplace management contribute to employee satisfaction?

A well-organised working environment takes into account human needs such as retreats, comfortable furniture or family-friendly working models. People who feel comfortable are more motivated to work and are more likely to remain loyal to the company. Workplace management makes it possible to combine different requirements, for example from different generations or working styles, under one roof.

What role does workplace management play in space utilisation and cost control?

Targeted planning, for example when using desk sharing or repurposing space, allows space requirements to be adjusted without compromising on working comfort. Particularly in the case of hybrid working models, workplace management helps to avoid vacancies at workstations and thus utilise the available resources efficiently.

What are the basics of functioning workplace management?

Functioning workplace management is always based on a clear understanding of how people actually work and what they need to do so. It's about organising spaces, processes and equipment in such a way that everyday working life functions well. This also includes regularly checking whether something needs to be adapted, for example because the team has changed or new forms of work have been added.

Why is clear planning of space and workstations so important?

Good planning ensures that the available space is used sensibly and that nobody has to search or improvise. It also helps to anticipate days with high utilisation and either reduce this peak utilisation or deal with it skilfully.

Tip: Many companies use PULT Office Insights for their office analyses. This shows you the office utilisation over time and allows you to skilfully manage the available space. This means your employees can reliably find a free workstation even at peak times.

What role does technical equipment play in workplace management?

The right technology and reliable software ensure that your team can work and collaborate smoothly. The equipment includes a functioning and stable WLAN, suitable software, charging and presentation options, but also basics such as functioning monitors and headsets.

How do you implement workplace management correctly?

Active workplace management is primarily needed and used when a new workplace is planned or implemented, when better utilisation of space is desired or a switch to hybrid working is imminent. Even without these points, it should be regularly reviewed how workplaces can be further improved.

Procedure for new builds, relocation or completely new planning

• Needs analysis: Who works how and where? Times, work locations, daily routines, role in the team, technology used, rooms, etc.
• Create personas or utilisation scenarios: Visualise typical working methods and processes and check whether all colleagues are reflected in these personas.
• Design space and utilisation concepts: Zones (quiet zone, zone for collaboration, break areas, ...), room types, occupancy and release for individual employees or specific teams.
  

Tip: In PULT, you can release or block meeting rooms, workstations or zones for specific employees and teams. This allows you to control utilisation in a targeted manner and enable those colleagues who really need it to use it.

Procedure for optimising existing office structures

• Record the current situation: e.g. with occupancy data, usage observations or short interviews
• Identify pain points: Where do work processes often get stuck? Which rooms are missing or inadequately equipped? Is certain technology missing?
• Communicate the results: What did the evaluation reveal? What steps are now planned? What feedback is there on this planning?
• Implement targeted measures: Conversion of rooms, better equipment, clear usage rules, offer booking options.

Procedure for the introduction or further development of hybrid working models (home office, mobile working)

• Analyse working patterns: When are how many colleagues in the office?
• Draw conclusions: How many workstations are actually needed?
• Develop zone and booking concepts: Desk sharing, areas for quiet and concentrated work, zones for collaboration, break areas, meeting rooms, guest areas.
• Create the technical basis: Comprehensive WLAN, equally equipped workstations with monitors and docking stations, access to systems even from home, personal devices such as mouse, keyboard and headset.

What problems arise if there is no good or active workplace management?

If no one really takes care of the design and organisation of workplaces, many things don't work as they should on a day-to-day basis: sometimes employees don't know where they are supposed to work (this applies to unorganised sharing models), there is a lack of suitable rooms and technical equipment is not always where it is needed. These are operational brakes and, in the long term, the atmosphere in the team and the quality of work suffers as a result.

How does a lack of workplace management affect collaboration?

Without a functioning workplace management system, colleagues don't always know who is working where and how certain processes are running or what their current status is. This makes coordination within the team more difficult and meetings take longer due to many queries and details.

What does a lack of workplace management mean for the well-being of employees?

Unsuitable furniture, permanently poor air quality or a lack of retreat areas and concentration zones can lead to physical complaints, stress and concentration problems. If employees feel that their needs are being ignored, their motivation will understandably drop. Poor workplace design has a direct impact on mood and commitment.

What economic disadvantages arise for companies without active workplace management?

Companies that are noticeably disorganised struggle with inefficient use of space, high staff turnover and rising sickness rates. At the same time, a workplace that is unattractive in this way can weaken the employer brand, as well-qualified specialists tend to opt for modern and better-organised companies. A lack of planning also makes companies less adaptable, for example in the event of growth or crises.

How do I involve my employees in workplace management?

The best way is to regularly invite them to contribute their experiences and ideas. People know best what works well in their day-to-day work and where things are going wrong. When they realise that their feedback is taken seriously, their identification with the company increases and the quality of the workplace gradually improves.

What formats are suitable for dialogue with employees?

These can be simple things such as short surveys, feedback rounds after team meetings or targeted workshops on specific topics, such as the design of new rooms. Many well-organised companies also use software that allows employees to submit suggestions or evaluate changes.

Tip: Use the Personal Insights tool in PULT to obtain meaningful feedback on the well-being and wishes of your employees using quick surveys.

How do I deal with very different needs in the team?

The working styles and expectations of individual employees can differ greatly, for example between introverted lone workers and highly communicative extroverts, or between colleagues who prefer to work from home and those who prefer to be on site. It is therefore worth consciously seeking out different perspectives and seeing where compromises are possible.

What does it take for employees to really want to get involved?

Feedback should not only be collected, but also visibly implemented. Those who share ideas also want to see that something has come of them or that the idea has at least been recognised and considered. So communicate: What wishes and ideas have been received? What will be changed? What is not (yet) feasible and why? If this feedback channel works, the willingness to participate again next time will increase.

What are the advantages of involving employees in workplace management?

When employees have a say, it creates a better workplace and a sense of co-determination and responsibility. People feel that they are taken seriously and become more actively involved. This has a positive effect on the quality of solutions and teamwork.

When your employees realise that their own opinion counts, they identify more strongly with the workplace. This helps you to keep good people in the company.

What advantages does this have for the quality of workplace design?

Employees experience the workplace on a daily basis and very closely. They see details that managers or external planners overlook. Their feedback leads to practical and realistic solutions. In this way, workplaces and offices are created that really suit the team and your way of working.

Software for workplace management

If you want to organise workplaces well, you need to be able to deal with different locations, floors, colleagues working from home or mobile work and constantly evolving requirements. Without software, this endeavour quickly reaches its limits.

PULT helps you to understand the working behaviour of your teams, record their moods and wishes and provide them with an easy-to-understand tool with which they can book their workspace with binding effect.

• Record attendance and thus office utilisation. With PULT Presence, this can even be done automatically and without employee intervention.
• Evaluation of office utilisation by office, floor and location
• Desk booking with site plan, from smartphone, laptop, PC
• Room reservation for meetings, workshops or focus work
• Team find function to see who is in the office and when
• Obtain feedback and employee sentiment.
• Integration into existing tools such as Microsoft Teams or Slack

{{cta}}

Workplace management - frequently asked questions and answers