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How shared desks promote collaboration

Wirtschaftsentwicklung Bochum was faced with the challenge of using its office space more efficiently. In order to promote collaboration and become more agile, the company opted for a hybrid work model and the introduction of desk sharing with desk.ly.

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400+ Employees
MEDIA & EVENTS  
LOCATION ORANGE
HAMBURG  

Optimizing the Flex Office - but how?

OMR has more than 400 employees in various divisions - one of which is OMR Podstars. The team has almost doubled in size in just a few years. OMR has grown so dynamically that space in the Hamburg offices has become scarce. However, giving up the location on the Schanze was not an option because the proximity to the trade fair and the surroundings are simply perfect for the company.

At the same time, everyone in the OMR team enjoys the benefit of being able to work from home from time to time. In surveys, OMR discovered that not everyone needs a fixed workstation. That's why the existing office spaces are shared flexibly - flex desks .

"We have more employees than office space. Accordingly, we had to think about how we could manage this. desk.ly has the positive effect on OMR that we can easily integrate the hybrid way of working."

Sophie Labuda OMR
Sophie LabudaSenior People Manager OMR
OMR Office

Shared desks smartly organized

To prevent flex desking from leading to chaos, a tool was needed to manage the workstations. The OMR team has been using desk.ly since April 2021. The desk sharing software allows employees to see which desks are free, who else is in the office and reserve their desk in advance. The ease of use and clarity were immediately convincing.

"I use 10-15 software solutions at work and they have to be intuitive."

Moritz Schubert OMR
Moritz SchubertDirector Sales & Partnerships OMR

The desk booking tool must fulfill a number of criteria, because ...

  • The offices are spread over two buildings and five floors, with very different floor plans.
  • OMR continues to grow rapidly and needs a desk booking tool that can be scaled and adapted.
  • Around the OMR Festival, the team grows rapidly each season. The bookable spaces need to be flexibly blocked or released.
  • To promote a group feeling throughout the company, HR and IT should have equal admin rights, not each department individually.
  • There are different types of workstations that employees can filter by. These include a separate dog office out of consideration for allergy sufferers and, by popular request, quiet workstations for concentrated work.
OMR building

"From a people perspective, the link with Google Workspace, which we work with, is particularly useful for us."

Sophie Labuda OMR
Sophie LabudaSenior People Manager OMR
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Why desk.ly?

The intuitive booking and the many personalization options for bookings and user rights were particularly convincing features of desk.ly. As a result, desk.ly integrates seamlessly into the OMR Tech Stack.

Employees also like the search function, which allows them to see where their favorite colleagues are sitting. The company, on the other hand, benefits from having a better overview of the workload and home office quota.

150 Employees
Management consultancy  
LOCATION ORANGE
Bochum  
The challenge

Less space, more exchange

Before the introduction of desk.ly, the Wirtschaftsentwicklung Bochum team was spread over a total of six floors. It quickly became clear that the existing capacities were not being used efficiently, which is why a suitable solution was sought. The aim was to consolidate the space, not only to save costs, but also to bring employees closer together and intensify communication.

"Desk sharing is simply a model for us to work in a more agile way. We can simply exchange information much more and react much more flexibly to current requirements."

desk.ly_SuccessStory_WEGBochum_MaraFrahne
Mara FrahneAssistant to the management
The solution

A tool for Hybrid Work

After testing various solutions, the decision was made in favor of desk.ly. Intuitive operation and the ability to integrate the tool seamlessly into the existing work routine were important:

  • Seamless team integration - prevents switching between different applications

  • Intuitive introduction - no major training required, the team largely started with "learning by doing"

  • Data-based evaluations to optimize space and capacity utilization

desk.ly_SuccessStory_Bochum_team

"Hybrid working has a huge advantage for everyone in the company because you are more flexible. Modern Work is already the future of the office."

desk.ly_SuccessStory_WEGBochum_StefanSchomberg
Stefan SchombergAccounting
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The results

Synergies through flexibility

Following the renovation, WEG Bochum now only uses four floors instead of the original six. Collaboration is more flexible and the atmosphere in the office has become more relaxed.

  • Targeted networking - the filter function in desk.ly allows team members to see who is at home or in office.

  • Breaks down hierarchies - Desk Sharing breaks down fixed structures, allowing managers to sit next to employees from time to time
  • Efficiency through data - the administration uses the utilization analyses of the floors to continuously check the need for office space
Convincing added value

Data as a basis for decision-making

Thanks to the introduction of desk.ly, the administrators of WEG Bochum can see exactly how the individual floors are actually being used. This data provides a sound basis for deciding whether areas need to be adjusted or whether the reduction to four floors is in optimal harmony with their needs.

As a result, the office is no longer managed by feel, but is managed agilely on the basis of actual requirements.

desk.ly_SuccessStory_Bochum_Evaluation
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Easy to use

Integration into existing processes

To make it easier for employees to use, the booking tool was integrated directly into the familiar working environment. As Microsoft Teams is the primary tool in the day-to-day work of the Wirtschaftsentwicklung, the desk booking takes place directly within this application. This not only saves time, but also ensures that the tool is always available without interrupting the workflow.

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WEG Bochum

Wirtschaftsentwicklung Bochum is one of the largest and most innovative economic development companies in North Rhine-Westphalia. It actively supports companies, start-ups and investors in opening up new perspectives at the location. They are Bochum's No. 1 parking garage operator, manage numerous technology and start-up centers and develop commercial space.

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OMR

Podstars by OMR, Germany's leading podcast network, has been offering services in all areas relating to podcasts such as conception, production and marketing since 2015. With three studios, Podstars markets over 100 podcasts and produces another 70 shows itself. As part of Online Marketing Rockstars (OMR), Podstars belongs to Ramp 106 GmbH, a media and event company with around 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 taking place since 2011. OMR also publishes studies, seminars and offers other formats such as a job exchange.

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