What Is Hybrid Work Software?

Hybrid work software is an integrated platform that helps teams coordinate office visits, book desks, and schedule meeting rooms, as well as leaders to maximize collaboration, increase employee engagement and improve their workplaces.

Hybrid workplace system is a new software category replacing traditional integrated workplace management systems (IWMS). Despite some similarities, one major difference sets hybrid work software apart – the focus on people vs. facilities.

Hybrid work platforms are people-centric and put employee engagement at the center of the workplace! While IWMSes are facilities-centered (resources, etc.), and the management processes focus more on real estate. As a result, there’s a big difference in ease of use and overall user experience in favor of hybrid work solutions.

Before we dig deeper, let’s remind hybrid work is a workplace model where employees work partly from the office and partly remotely. The benefits of the hybrid work model include the following:

• Flexibility for employees to work from anywhere, which improves employee engagement;
• Improved workplace utilization can significantly reduce office space costs by 40% or more.

Hybrid work software is a specialized product suite that can simplify and streamline adopting hybrid work models within small and large organizations. It’s a vital part of designing hybrid offices.

For example, check out OfficeRnD Hybrid by watching the short video below

Now, let’s zoom into the most common features and modules of hybrid workplace systems:

1. Desk Booking

A few years after the hybrid work adoption, we can confidently say that the most viable and economical option for creating a hybrid workplace is through desk sharing – desk hoteling (sometimes called also office hoteling) and hot desking. The most important module of hybrid work software is the desk booking system.

The office map gives everyone a live view of the workplace floor plan with available desks. It makes it easy for individuals and teams to reserve seats and see where their teammates sit. Furthermore, desk booking systems offer advanced scheduling that fully supports different working models, like:

• Shared spaces via desk hoteling or hot desking system
• Activity-based working via Neighborhoods and zoning

With the organization’s growth and further hybrid adoption comes the need for more advanced booking options and desk management that features recurring bookings, assigned seats, etc. You can check our 18 ideas for easier desk management here.

2. Meeting Room Management

A key element of flexible working is nurturing healthy and productive team collaboration. Not all meetings can be an e-mail and sometimes online communication and alignment can be more challenging and time-consuming than an onsite meeting. Gathering for the moments and meetings that matter in a right-sized and equipped meeting room. How to find such is where the meeting room management solution comes in place. Meeting room booking is one of the most important modules of a hybrid work solution.

Meeting room management systems make finding and booking spaces for 2+ people easy. Some of the important features to look for include:

• A convenient way to find available spaces with advanced search based on location, capacity, or room amenities;
• Ability to make an ad-hoc booking on the room displays, with a QR code or through the office map;
• Access and book rooms easily from a web portal, mobile app, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, or Google Calendar;
• Remove ghost bookings automatically by utilizing check-ins;

More advanced conference room booking solutions support recurring and private bookings, privacy options, and other advanced configurations to support more complex organizations. You can check our 21 ideas for better meeting room management here. 

3. Collaborative Scheduling

The essence of hybrid work is spending time together in the office! No one likes to go to the office to discover that no one’s there from the people we care about or work with. That’s why the truly important feature of hybrid work systems is the so-called collaborative scheduling:

Collaborative scheduling for hybrid teams is all about using technology to make it easy for employees to schedule real-life interactions in the office and gather for the moments that matter. Introducing the right set of tools to people to help them invite each other, engage in onsite activities, and facilitate their work plans is essential for nurturing truly thriving hybrid teams.

Imagine that teams can invite each other and co-create their weekly schedules to maximize collaboration and in-person time. The system connects the data points for you, such as individual meetings, preferences, and policies, and suggests the best days to come to the office.

4. Integrated Workplace Experience

The best user experience is the seamless user experience. To make everyone’s life easier, the best hybrid work solutions are so deeply integrated within the organization’s tech stack that they can feel like a native experience. Whether your organization runs on Microsoft or Google, your employees should be able to use all features mentioned above integrated into Teams, Outlook, Slack, Google Workspace, Chrome, or Google Calendar:

• Find and book a desk in the office through Microsoft Teams, Slack or Google Chrome;
• Reserve meeting rooms from Microsoft Teams, Outlook or Google Calendar;
• Access collaborative and smart hybrid scheduling features from Microsoft Teams or Chrome;

Every hybrid work software comes with a dedicated mobile app.

The best hybrid work tools, though, allow your employees to use the tools they already use without the need for another app!

5. Hybrid Work Policies

Everyone loves the flexibility to choose where and when they want to work. It is a wonderful perk but can be a true challenge for a team or organizational leaders to gather and align their people. Here is where introducing Office Days can come in handy, which can be implied through Hybrid work policies :

Hybrid work policies are internal company documents that officialize all the arrangements and processes within a hybrid workplace, i.e., a workplace that allows remote and on-site working. A hybrid work policy should outline your expectations and responsibilities for your hybrid workforce, and layout guidelines for hybrid workplace operations. That includes any requirements, processes, and best practices for employees to determine their work hybrid work schedule inter-team and cross-team coordination. Continue reading about hybrid work policy and how to build yours.

Managing your hybrid work policies is essential to a quality hybrid work system. Some features include:

• Ability to define when your employees should be in the office (e.g. 2 times a week or month);
• Customization of policies per team or even on the employee level ( e.g. Marketing team should gather on Mondays, and the Sales team should come on Wednesdays)
• Understand and follow the policy assigned to your team;
• Analyze and learn how people comply with current policies and improve them if needed;

6. Workplace Analytics

Data is king in today’s world, even more so in the workplace! Figuring out your organization’s best hybrid work policies may require many iterations. Being able to rely on data insights is essential to make informed decisions. Hybrid work software can give you a 360 view of your workplace:

• Understand the daily, weekly, or monthly occupancy and utilization of your desks and spaces;
• Monitor your teams’ workplace engagement and usage patterns on team or employee level;
• Modify your workplace strategy based on your team’s office visits and space usage

High-quality reporting and insights can help you identify patterns and trends across your company and focus on what will drive growth and performance for your organization.

For example, you might find that some neighborhoods in the workplace are always occupied while others are underutilized. Or you might find the office crowded on certain days of the week and nearly empty on others. Usage data can help you refine your hybrid work policies or eventually help you build one. As a result, you will be able to optimize the way you use your office space.

How to Get Started with a Hybrid Work System?

The easiest way to start is by talking to one of our Hybrid experts  👉 You can book a time slot here.

Or you can try it yourself for free by starting a trial! Another option is to explore our new freemium option. It is as easy as 1,2,3!

Happy hybrid working! 🙂