From pilot project to standard

As part of its transformation process, FUNKE faced the challenge of making the transition to a Hybrid Work environment flexible, data-driven, and employee-friendly. Find out how desk.ly, as an intuitive tool, helped the company use office space more efficiently, win over works councils, and provide teams with maximum flexibility.

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How to optimize the flex office?

OMR has more than 400 employees across various divisions—one of which is OMR Podstars. The team has nearly doubled in size in just a few years. OMR has grown so rapidly that space in the Hamburg offices became scarce. However, giving up the location in the Schanze neighborhood was not an option, because the proximity to the trade fair grounds and the surrounding area are simply a perfect fit for the company.

At the same time, everyone on the OMR team enjoys the benefit of being able to work from home occasionally. In surveys, OMR found that not everyone needs a fixed desk. That’s why the available office spaces are shared flexibly— hence the term “flex desks .”

"We have more employees than office space. So we had to figure out how to make it work. desk.ly has had a positive impact on OMR by making it easy for us to integrate hybrid work."

Sophie LabudaSenior People Manager at OMR

"I use 10 to 15 software solutions in my work, and they have to be intuitive."

Moritz SchubertDirector of Sales & Partnerships, OMR

The desk booking tool must meet certain criteria because ...

The office space is spread across two buildings and five floors, each with very different floor plans.
OMR continues to grow rapidly and needs a desk booking tool that can be scaled and customized.
The team expands significantly on a seasonal basis around the OMR Festival. Bookable seats must be flexibly reserved or released.
To foster a sense of team spirit company-wide, HR and IT should have equal admin rights, not just individual departments.
There are various types of workspaces that employees can filter by. These include a dedicated dog-friendly office out of consideration for people with allergies, and, by popular request, quiet workspaces for focused work.

"From a people perspective, the integration with Google Workspace—which we use—is particularly useful for us."

Sophie LabudaSenior People Manager at OMR

Why desk.ly?

We were particularly impressed by desk.ly’s intuitive booking process and the many customization options for bookings and user permissions. As a result, desk.ly integrates seamlessly into the OMR tech stack.

The search function is also popular among employees, as it lets them see where their favorite colleagues are sitting. The company, on the other hand, benefits from having a better overview of occupancy rates and the percentage of employees working from home.

The Challenge

A framework for new flexibility

With the shift to a Hybrid Work environment, the FUNKE Media Group introduced a flexible policy: As a general rule, employees are expected to be present at the office three days a week. But this new flexibility brought with it classic questions about Desk Sharing: How do I book my workspace if there are no longer assigned desks? And how do I know which colleagues are in the office and when?

"The best implementation projects are the ones where you purchase a piece of software and others say, 'I'd like that, too.'"

Heimo KrumCIO

The Solution

From an insider tip to a company-wide standard

The software was rolled out at FUNKE through a phased implementation. The system was initially deployed as a solution for a single department. As it was put to practical use in day-to-day operations, other departments and locations took notice of the tool and requested the tool for themselve.

Today, desk.ly is firmly established at FUNKE and has become an indispensable part of daily work. The room layout overview is intuitive and ensures complete transparency in the office.

"I didn't see it as a cumbersome tool, but rather as a cool tool that's totally intuitive."

Leonard WittigHR Business Partner

The results

Processes sustainably optimized

The application currently delivers value across various areas of the business:

Strengthening team autonomy – Teams use the tool to interactively coordinate team days and promote cross-departmental collaboration.
Targeted floor planning – The tool allows for the fixed reservation of specialized workstations, while the rest remains flexible.
Informed decisions – management does not rely on gut feelings when making decisions about space and real estate, but can instead draw on reliable, data-driven utilization metrics.

Organizational Change

Flexible planning for targeted exchange

With the introduction of the new work guidelines, the way people collaborate at FUNKE has changed. The hybrid model is now an integral part of everyday office life. The tool serves as an organizational aid, enabling employees to independently coordinate their days in the office. As a result, office attendance times are adapted more flexibly to upcoming tasks, which supports direct, cross-departmental collaboration in day-to-day work.

Works Council

Employee participation, data protection, and the “Made in Germany” factor

Desk Sharing systems involve the works council’s right to co-determination and data protection. For this reason, the FUNKE Media Group had to involve its internal works council committees in the software selection process. The “Made in Germany” criterion and the German server location played an important role in the decision. They provided the necessary trust and legal basis to address the questions raised by employee representatives.

FUNKE Media Group

The FUNKE Media Group is a German media company that focuses on three business areas: regional media, national brands, and FUNKE Digital. The company is characterized by a decentralized structure with a large number of locations and products. Nationwide, approximately 1,700 journalists and around 2,800 media professionals work for the company’s various print and digital media.

OMR

Podstars by OMR, Germany’s leading podcast network, has been offering services in all areas of podcasting—including concept development, production, and marketing—since 2015. With three studios, Podstars markets over 100 podcasts and produces 70 additional shows in-house. As part of Online-Marketing-Rockstars (OMR), Podstars is a subsidiary of Ramp 106 GmbH, a media and event company with approximately 400 employees in Hamburg. OMR is one of the largest knowledge and inspiration platforms for the digital and marketing scene in Europe and is known for the OMR Festival, which has been held since 2011. OMR also publishes studies, hosts seminars, and offers other formats such as a job board.