“Flexible workspaces” or “flexible seating” has been trending for a while. But breaking them down they seem to have been more of a buzzword than an actual true trend. Until now – flexibility has never been more needed.

It might seem as the workplace is always under construction. From the action office to the open floor plan – one thing that is for sure, is that what’s considered as best practice will change over time. The past years we have been talking a lot about flexible workspaces and how to work from home. This has, however, not been particularly grounded in reality.

Until February 2020 only 3,4% of the total workforce in the US worked remotely full time. And even if modern and early-adopters have tried to implement some type of remote work policy, it seems like we have a hard time to break from assigned seating and the nine to five structure. Until now.

2020 and the pandemic

“Desperate times calls for desperate measures” a Greek physician once said. And will we not describe the work-from-home movement that followed with the COVID-19 virus as a desperate act when looking back on the past? Maybe. We’re still in the middle of the storm, but let’s take a moment to think about how this will influence the way we work going forward.

The chance of us going back to work full time in-office is probably quite low. According to experts, remote work will to a certain extent be the new normal. We will probably not be entirely remote though – the last months of WFH has definitively made us miss both our workplaces and our colleagues. But, the time spent in the office will by all means decrease. This doesn’t make it less important though. Keep on reading and we will tell you why!.

Flexible working is finally happening

For us that have been talking about activity-based working and hot desking for years this is exciting news. We have discussed the pros and cons of remote work before, so let’s not mention it here. Instead, let us discuss how we need to change our workplace to make it ready for future demands.

The new role for the workplace will be to serve as an arena for collaboration and interaction. It will be where we meet up our colleagues and discuss ideas, make decisions and socialize – just like always. But the difference is that the in-between work might take place elsewhere. This means that the design of the workplace will be more important than ever. Collaboration areas as lounge spaces, meeting rooms and other in-official meeting space will play a huge part. The same goes for flexible seating areas with bookable desks that employees can book for the hour or the day.

Choosing the best solution

There are plenty of room reservation systems on the market, so how do you know which one to get? As with most products, it all comes down to features.

Ideally, the one you choose should be a fully integrated system. Meetio, for instance, is a software and hardware suite. It has an app that lets people book a meeting room anytime and anywhere. Reservations are then automatically displayed either on a tablet outside a venue or even a flatscreen TV, notifying others where and when the room is booked.

If you’d like to know more about Meetio and its features, feel free to request a free demo here.