The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a strong presence in today’s society but hasn’t diminished the motivation of many companies who eagerly seek a return to the office. Ensuring employee safety, however, has to remain a priority, and operators of coworking and shared spaces must take steps to keep their members safe. For this reason, the issue of whether to choose a seating assignment for your members or to let them choose is an important consideration. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages that come with both choosing a desk or letting your members choose.
Assigning Desks to Members
In addition to choosing who is using your coworking space, you can also choose how they use your space. Whether you want to have a hot desk system in place, where employees take whatever desk is available on a given day, take advantage of office hoteling, where they can reserve a desk or conference room ahead of time, or give them certain seats to use is entirely up to you. For safety measures demanded by the COVID-19 pandemic, assigning seats to your members might not be such a bad idea. This way you have complete control over who uses what desks and for how long. Furthermore, this type of occupancy plan allows you to easily monitor all users in the event of a positive COVID-19 case in the coworking space. You will know exactly where the positive user was seated in your space, as well as the others he or she was most likely in close contact with.
For instance, companies such as Expansive Gaslamp – a coworking office space in San Diego – offer businesses the ability to occupy fully-equipped suites, with private kitchens and meeting rooms. This allows for a smoother implementation of company-specific social distancing protocols.
The disadvantage of such a system is that it reduces the flexibility that many clients are looking for in coworking spaces. As opposed to traditional office spaces, coworking and shared spaces are popular for the flexibility they offer users to freely choose their desks and when they want to use them. Therefore, eliminating this feature may reduce the number of members interested in choosing your space.
Member’s Choice
When you let members choose a desk in your coworking space you give them the opportunity to decide where they want to work when they use the space. This means providing your members with all the available working stations in the space. They may choose to use the same desk on various days or use different desks on each day that they use the space.
While this may be a favorable option for your users given the flexibility it offers, it removes some of the control you have over the occupancy of your space. However, with a coworking software, like the one provided by Yardi Kube, you can continue to have the necessary control over your space with an all-in-one platform. While you may not be the one assigning seats to your users, you can still have access to real-time occupancy data, as well as all the tools needed to fully and properly manage your coworking space. Therefore, through occupancy analytics, easy communication, a strong community and streamlined operations, you can continue to keep your coworking space a safe workplace for your users while keeping your space running efficiently.
The issue of safety in the workplace will continue to be relevant in the context of returning to the office. For this reason, deciding how you want to let your members occupy your coworking space is vital for keeping your space safe and running efficiently. With Yardi Kube coworking software you can ensure that your space is the best option for the companies looking to embrace a return to the office. For more details on why you need Yardi Kube coworking software for your space, schedule a demo here.