Why Automate Meeting Room Booking at a Coworking Space?

The use of meeting rooms at the coworking spaces has been all the rage these days and from a work culture perspective, can be described as nothing short of revolutionary.

Thanks to coworking spaces, freelancers as well as small to mid-sized businesses now have a cost-effective alternative to conventional office spaces that can be tailored to one's needs and finances.

They don't need to rent an office anymore—buy furniture, computers, utensils, then constantly maintain all these. If a team is not big and the budget is tight, they can go to a coworking space. All that is required to earn money is a sharp mind, which is always with a person.

As to solopreneurs, no solitude when they don't want it. Being a part of a community of like-minded people increases productivity, inspires, and motivates during the day.

According to Ergonomic Trends, 86% of coworkers feel that they are part of a community when working in a coworking space, which corroborates with another study that says the majority of coworkers feel happier since joining.

That said, this "Space as a Service" industry (or Spaas as it is often called) is not without its' share of challenges. For one thing, the absence of a dedicated space means that people who use coworking spaces are not always sure whether a shared room will be available for upcoming meetings or training sessions. Workers and businesses can end up losing money and miss out on opportunities that are otherwise within reach. This is where the strategic use of meeting room booking software comes in!

 

Meeting Room Booking Software for Managers and Coworkers

To better understand the value that meeting room booking software has to offer, it would be best to take a good hard look at what goes on inside a coworking space that lacks such software.

In a traditional setting, customers will have to speak to a manager before they can access the shared amenities. As you might have already realized, this setup can result in a myriad of potential problems which include the following:

• Managers mishandling reservations because they are getting overwhelmed with requests for using shared amenities.
• Lack of control on how much time users spend inside meeting rooms.
• The difficulty for users in locating and accessing designated meeting rooms and working spaces. This is often due to old-school approaches to enforcing reservations such as marking doors and tables with stickers.

When you consider the scenarios mentioned above, it is clear that coworking spaces ought to look into a better and more efficient way of managing and streamlining the use of coworking spaces. That is precisely what a meeting room booking software does and is a big boon for users and managers alike.

Managers can make good use of a meeting room booking system like the one we offer here at andcards to organize reservations, keep track of peak hours and monitor the use of multiple meeting rooms all at once through an integrated Analytics tool. Such information can prove valuable in planning the day-to-day operations of a coworking business.

 

Advantages for Managers

• The ability to offer and automatically track incentives such as a bonus credit system wherein users can accumulate points that they can exchange for perks like "free meeting room hours". Such a reward system can be difficult if not impossible to track in a traditional setting.

Implementing coworking space management software is about efficiency both for owners and customers. They just can be anywhere in the whole world, open the app and book a meeting room. — Ron Yang, VP of MY WORKSPACE, Seoul in his interview for andcards.

• Meeting room booking software can be integrated with IoT (Internet of Things) devices like speakers, kiosks, and smart displays to make it easier for managers to market shared amenities.
• The app helps to get rid of abandoned or unfair bookings. When members make a reservation, they see the meeting room description/specifications and photo, so there is no chance to book a space for 20 people if you are going to carry out a quick one-on-one meeting. Besides, when a meeting room display feature is activated, members must check-in before the reservation starts. If they don't show up for some reason, their booking is automatically canceled and the premise becomes available for other customers.
• A meeting room booking system can help mitigate the unauthorized use of shared coworking amenities through smart door locks and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) cards. Such systems ensure that users can only use a meeting room at a given time as designated by the manager. 
• An automated room booking system helps you preserve members’ health, which is very important in post-COVID times. You can secure 15 minutes on your app for room service by reserving this time right after the reservation ends, so it becomes technically impossible to book an "unprepared" premise. 
• A meeting room booking app can help to unlock new revenue streams for your coworking business. You can make some of your meeting rooms publicly available to every customer, even if they don’t have a contract with you. This will let everyone who has your app on their smartphone book meeting rooms at your space and pay for reservations with banking cards or other connected methods.    

CitySpace was able to open up to outside customers through the app. The ability to book and pay instantly allowed us to shorten the distance with people who use office space ad hoc. — Jakub Bawoł, Marketing Manager at CitySpace, Poland in his success story for andcards.

 

Advantages for Members

Of course, an awesome meeting room booking app, as well as coworking space software in general, is not only for managers but sooner for coworkers/members that actually use it. In fact, everything you do in your coworking space is aimed at improving the user experience. If paying customers are not happy with the service, they will just go to your competitor. So, the utmost comfort and simplicity are the top priorities of any coworking business owner. Automation of meeting room booking will no doubt help you guarantee clients' satisfaction.

• The system makes it easier for members to check which meeting room is available at a specific time and date.
• They can book and pay for rooms at any time, from any place on Earth right from their smartphone without talking to a manager.
• Chances a resident will forget about booking are next to nothing. The coworking space app will remind members to confirm or make changes to their meeting room reservations if necessary. This helps ensure that no details are overlooked and that everyone has the opportunity to be as productive as possible so long as users aptly communicated their needs through the coworking app.

Implementing a meeting room booking system at your workspace is a great way to show customers how much you value their time. Meeting room booking can and must be streamlined. When everyone is on the same platform, there is no need to waste time on talks. It's much more convenient for the customer to just enter your coworking app, immediately see the booking calendar, make a reservation, and go back to work.

Many of the best coworking facilities in the world today have no onsite staff and are fully automated.

 

Management Is the Key

Whatever advantages you offer to members, they are only true if your shared facilities are adequately managed. The old school approach of leaving everything in the hands of a manager might be okay for a small startup coworking space. However, as business ramps up and more entrepreneurs rely on your shared facilities to get things done, you will need a better and more reliable approach that only coworking space software can provide.

Are you ready to set bookings at your coworking space on auto-pilot? Learn how to do it here: How to Automate Meeting Room Booking in a Coworking Space.