Enabling a smart workplace
How can you provide a smart work environment for your people?
If you’re going to adapt your organisation to meet future challenges, then you need to create a workplace that is both smart and safe. But what does this mean?
‘Smart’ means introducing new technologies, working practices and processes to empower your people, strengthening your organisation with tools that support blended and flexible working.
While ‘safe’ means addressing the anxiety that your people may currently be feeling. Delivering a consistent employee experience no matter where they are. Adapting your workspaces to prioritise wellbeing without compromising that experience. And integrating new technology such as contactless apps to help protect your people.
When you begin to look at the technology you can implement to build increased flexibility and agility into your reimagined workplace, make sure you take these key areas into consideration:
If people visit your organisation, you’ll need to make sure you implement processes that will allow them to do so safely – while still delivering an exceptional customer experience.
From health and safety regulations, to security, GDPR compliance to the ability to gain visitor insights from a dashboard, you’ll need the solutions in place to represent your brand, effectively manage the process and guide your visitors.
Not just for visitors, but for employees, solutions may include thermal imaging cameras to detect abnormal body temperatures and safeguard access into your workplace. As well as digital displays to communicate key messages.
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With clear communication and guidance of paramount importance, you’ll need intelligent digital signage supported by printed signage solutions that give you control and consistency over your brand presence, announcements and notifications in real time, across multiple locations, 24/7.
This should also include wayfinding, space-management, as well as room and desk booking solutions to enable effective management of people within your building and the ability to show live occupancy.
You’ll also need to manage your space, potentially maintaining social distancing. Look for a solution that uses sensors, real-time data and insight to deliver this as effectively as possible.
Have you considered your approach for facilities such as bathrooms, print rooms and communal areas? Do you know how you will manage access to your workplaces via lifts, staircases and narrow corridors?
Start with how your employees and visitors need to, and would like to use the space and take guidance on the right solutions to support you.
Also ensure that your people and visitors can make online bookings flexibly with a workplace app, even before they arrive, whether that’s booking a desk, a room or a service such as catering.
Combine physical meeting rooms, furniture and Audio Visual (AV) equipment with video conferencing technology and complete project management tools – all in a setup that works for your people and your organisation. A vital tool for a flexible workforce allowing effective collaboration between remote and on-site working.
Collaboration pods are an option to consider, offering private, acoustically optimised, low power consumption spaces that may help you to better plan your space and meeting options for your people.
How do you ensure you’re underpinning the decisions you make with the right information? Make sure you have the right tools in place to collect the unique data relevant to your workplace.
This utilisation data can be accessed by leveraging technologies such as:
These tools provide your organisation with important real time analytics and enable fact based decision making. You’ll also understand your people. their needs and habits far better.
Have you considered the options for management of IT, consumables , accessories and assets, around the office or even in a warehouse environment?
Smart lockers will automatically manage items at strategic locations, conveniently placed around your facilities. They provide a wealth of options to manage, distribute, store and track all of this within your organisation more efficiently and with less contact:
Efficiently manage the storage and contactless distribution of IT, consumables, accessories and PPE throughout your organisation with the option for 24/7 pick-up and integration with your Support Desk.
Offer secure self-service access to items with automated pick up and drop off, giving your organisation secure accountability for reusable assets, IT inventory and consumables. Benefit from the flexibility to set rules around who or which roles can access which items.
Ideal for warehouse and distribution operations, you can dramatically improve the safety and efficiency of the distribution and storage of hand-held devices at the start and end of shifts. Eliminate the manual management of check-in and check-out processes to ensure your people can be productive faster.
