Smartway2 Essential Tech For Hybrid Working Environment
Future of work
4 min read

Essential tech for an ideal hybrid working environment

Workers worldwide are calling for more flexibility after being forced to work remotely. With 84% of UK workers who worked remotely during the pandemic stating they planned to adopt a hybrid work schedule in the future, it’s clear that hybrid work models aren’t going away. Of course, to facilitate a successful hybrid working environment, businesses need to level up their tech. This will help improve communication, collaboration, personal development, productivity levels, and much more while still offering the flexibility employees expect.

Essential tech for an ideal hybrid working environment

Low Maintenance

Desk and meeting room booking system

Desk booking software does just what the name suggests. It’s a platform that allows office managers to organize their workspaces to maximize the value of the available office space. This is especially important in hybrid offices. Companies don’t want their space to go to waste while some employees work from home.

Alongside better space usage, employees can enjoy a much simpler experience when coming into the office. Automated and remote workspace check-ins mean they can walk into the office and get straight to work. A good desk booking system should let people book desks, rooms, equipment, and more from anywhere.

Smartway2’s desk booking system is a highly flexible platform for collaborative, agile workplaces. Our platform empowers your employees to access everything they need to be productive in a hybrid office.

Click here to see more on how Smartway2 can revolutionize, modernize, and make life easier for workplace experience managers.

Office planning

In line with our previous point, workplace experience managers need to be more creative to deal with fewer people in the office. Assigned seating, desk clumps, and cubicles are falling out of fashion as more workplaces shift the focus to collaborative office layouts.

Instead of dull and rigid offices, we’re pivoting towards open spaces and zones that can be used for meaningful collaboration. With a hot-desking or desk-hoteling model, workers can use these different workspaces to best suit the work they need to do.

Planning your new hybrid working environment is much easier when workplace managers use technology. You can gather insights from the data produced by desk booking systems to guide your workplace transformation. This ensures you plan your hybrid office in a way that adds value to the employees and the business.

To learn more about reworking your office spaces, take a look at our blog posts about the Hub-and-Spoke office model and shared office space design ideas.

Robust cyber security practices and tech

Hybrid working opens your business up to a range of new cybersecurity concerns. Your IP now needs to be shared across multiple networks and, in some cases, across borders. This can mean a much bigger workload for your IT teams, especially with the increased chance of employee error.

Hybrid work environment models have forced businesses to adopt a wide range of new technology, particularly cloud-based tech. Unfortunately, many of these new platforms come without built-in security features. This means your teams will spend far more time monitoring activity to guard against foul play.

Creating strict mandates for VPN usage when working remotely can help keep files and information secure between employees and the office data centre.

You should also consider multi-factor authentication. This extra layer of security will ensure only the people you want on your network can have access to it. Some platforms may already offer this feature. MFA is included with Microsoft accounts, and if you’re using Windows Hello for Business, you’re already using two-factor authentication.

Cloud-based project management tools

Hybrid offices need software that can be accessed from anywhere in the world, on any device. This is why we have seen a huge shift towards cloud-based technology, especially in the SaaS sector.

Product management platforms like monday.com, ClickUp, Trello, and Airtable have made it simple to collaborate on projects of any size, no matter where your team is located.

IoT sensors

You can use IoT or WiFi sensors to better manage the office by logging real-time data about how the office is being used. Smart sensors can more accurately count users, the duration of their stay in a given space, and movement patterns. They can also monitor additional factors such as temperature, lighting levels, air quality, and noise levels.

All this data can be compiled to produce key insights that guide your hybrid strategy and how you manage your office spaces.

Training and professional development platforms

Businesses have had to rethink how they train employees thanks to hybrid working. Workers can’t always make it into the office for training or personal development sessions. This has meant that many training and professional development plans have pivoted to online courses.

Thankfully, a wide range of cloud-based training and development tools allow businesses to train their staff remotely and in the office. Digital communication platforms support these platforms to ensure your employees receive quality training and all the help they would have access to in the office.

No hybrid working environment is complete without Smartway2 by HubStar

There’s no denying that offering a seamless employee experience can be difficult when operating on a hybrid work model. That’s why at Smartway2, we wanted to make it as simple as possible for your employees to get everything they need to succeed.

Smartway2’s intuitive user interface looks consistent across all devices, so your staff can book anywhere, any time. Our desk and room booking app are so easy to use that there’s no learning curve.

Workplace experience managers can design their ideal workplace experience with Smartway2’s configurable booking rules engine. You can set custom ‘rules’ that help enable new ways to get things done, and optimize workflow and resource utilization.

Best of all, our fully flexible platform ensures you get the best out of your employees and your office while still working your own way.

Don’t just take our word for it. Experience it for yourself with a demo!

Author

Jackie Towers

Last updated September 14, 2022