Introduction
In today’s modern workplaces with a focus on collaboration, making sure that employees and visitors can quickly find their way is key. Imagine how negative the experience is for someone running around the office, uncertain where they need to be or how to find their way. The game changer here is interactive office maps, where anyone can quickly get directions and see occupancy for any desk or conference room, either directly on their smartphone or on large wayfinder displays. In this article, we will delve into the concept of office maps, their typical features, and especially how they benefit employees.
What Are Office Maps?
Office maps are graphical representations of an office’s layout, highlighting the placement of desks, rooms, and other points of interest. With advancements in technology, they have evolved into dynamic, interactive tools that offer real-time information and a range of functionalities. Their main purposes are to provide directions, also known as wayfinding, and to show occupancy status.
Interactive office maps typically integrate with calendar providers such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, providing users with a comprehensive and up-to-date view of workspace occupancy. They enable employees to book desks and meeting rooms, see the availability of spaces in real-time, and navigate the office with ease.
In modern workspace platforms such as Goget, maps can be shown on multiple platforms, including smartphone apps, web desktops, and large wayfinder screens located in strategic locations of the office where they are easily spotted.
Features of Interactive Office Maps
Interactive office maps come equipped with numerous features designed to enhance user experience and streamline office operations. Here are some of the key ones:
Easy Customization of Floor Plan Map Image
The latest generation of workspace management platforms allows uploading floor plans as regular image files (PNG, JPEG, etc.), upon which markers representing rooms, desks, and points of interest are placed. This brings the advantage that updating the floor plan map layout is a mere uploading of a new file, and the markers are adjusted by a simple click-and-drag. This ensures the floor map always shows the correct office layout, ensuring accuracy and relevance.
Real-Time Booking and Availability
Interactive maps show the real-time availability of desks and meeting rooms, allowing employees to book spaces instantly. Integration with calendar systems such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace ensures that bookings are synchronized, preventing irritating double bookings and scheduling conflicts.
User-Friendly Interface
A well-designed office map software should have an intuitive interface, making it easy for employees to navigate and use without extensive training. The focus should be on displaying the most important information at all times, while providing more detailed information when users interact with specific markers.
Multiple Points of Interaction
By allowing employees to check office maps from mobile devices, meeting room displays, web dashboards, or large wayfinder screens, it’s easy to see occupancy status and find their way around the office.
Employee Benefits of Interactive Office Maps
The whole point of interactive office maps would be lost if it weren’t for making the day at the office a bit smoother for employees and visitors. Implementing interactive floor plan maps translates into numerous benefits for employees, which ultimately boosts their productivity and enhances their work experience. Here are some of the key benefits:
Improved Collaboration Among Coworkers
They facilitate better collaboration by making it easier for employees to find and book meeting spaces such as rooms and desks. Advanced platforms such as GoGet Desk Booking also allow for finding coworkers’ locations, making it easy to quickly understand where a specific colleague is seated or to make a reservation near a specific colleague.
Enhanced Space Booking Experience
Employees can quickly find and book available desks and meeting rooms, saving time and reducing frustration and conflicts associated with manual booking processes. With real-time updates, employees and visitors always have accurate information at their fingertips, enabling them to make informed decisions about which space to reserve.
Quick Adaptation of Workplace Maps
By selecting a modern workspace management platform that supports quick editing of floor plan maps, organizations can quickly adapt the floor plan to changes in the office space. For example, there might be temporary renovations causing some meeting rooms to be closed off, or there might be rearrangements of seating and equipment for individual rooms. In today’s modern offices with digitized solutions, employees expect information to be always updated. For this reason, it’s advantageous to select a solution like Goget that supports quick editing of floor plan maps.
Reduced Stress and Increased Morale
The ease of navigating the office and booking spaces will translate into reduced stress and frustration among employees. Micro-conflicts related to the booking of conference rooms can be a huge source of day-to-day irritation for employees. With live office maps, it’s always clear what the booking status is for an individual room, and there are no chances of double bookings. Overall, a more organized and efficient workplace will lead to a positive employee experience, boosting overall morale among employees.
Optimized Space Utilization & Planning
By combining the bird’s eye view of having a floor plan map and key data insights from the workspace management platform, organizations can optimize their office layouts and make better use of their available space. By overlaying both visuals and data, facility managers have a powerful toolset to adapt workspaces so that there is a tight fit between employee demand and the inherent capacity of the office space itself. By utilizing office space efficiently, organizations will achieve cost savings and overall a more organized work environment, benefiting both employees and employers.
Final Words from the Goget Team
Interactive office maps are a powerful tool that can enhance employee productivity and overall workplace efficiency. By offering easy creation and updating of floor plan maps, real-time booking capabilities, and a user-friendly design, office maps can contribute to a more organized and productive work environment. For employees, they will make the day at the office smoother by providing clear directions and live updates of occupancy for rooms and desks.
We hope you found this article interesting. If you’re interested in learning more about how interactive office maps can improve your workplace, please reach out to us at Goget, and we’ll be happy to assist you.
