Kong recently adopted Eden Workplace’s desk booking system to support its soft opening. The platform enables employees to book desks, and additionally, allows companies to create neighborhoods, mark some desks as unavailable for COVID safety, and track utilization. “I liked that Eden, on the admin side is very build out, but on the user end, you can roll it into Slack.”

Eden works for Kong because it’s simple on the surface, but full of information if you take the time to dig. About this, Adrian shared, “If an employee is more curious, I want to be able to support that. So, if they want to see a floorplan, or want to see what every hotel desk has, then that’s available. I do like that there’s depth to it, but it can also be very simple.”

Eden’s booking system has been a great tool for Kong’s soft opening. First, it makes employees that want to return to the office feel more comfortable doing so, as users can see how many people will be in the office and where they plan to sit. 

Additionally, because you can see exactly who will be in the office on a given day, employees can choose to come in when they see that their teammates will be there as well.

Of course, selecting a new tool is one thing, but getting employees to use it is another. “Everyone understands it and they get it, so I think that their response to the theory of the tool has been positive, but I definitely have people who are like, ‘oh ya, I need to be doing that.’” As we all know, adopting a new habit does take time!

Moving forward, Adrian hopes to improve the experience of hybrid work meetings by giving attention to Kong’s conference room setups and the technology that these rooms offer. He hopes that in doing so, the “divide of them versus us” that is sometimes felt between in-office and remote workers will dissipate.  Adrian will consider Kong’s camera setups and lighting. “I’m thinking about, how we can beef up the way that we do cameras…is it something overhead, is it something across the room, how do we focus more on individuals?... So those are the things that are on my mind in terms of how we can make this a better experience.”

New meeting technology will need to be paired with new meeting policy. Recently, though Adrian was in the office and his colleague was too, they took their Zoom call from different rooms. Why? Because some of the meeting’s participants were working remotely and Adrian wanted to create an “even experience,” for everyone. As hybrid working becomes more prevalent, so will practices like this this.

It’s great to hear that technology is at the forefront of Adrian’s mind, as an excellent technology setup is certainly needed for hybrid working to be successful.

Interested in learning more about technology and hybrid work? Check out our past article, 5 Tips for Streamlining Workplace Technology.