5 Lesser-Known Skedda Features To Power Your Setup

Today, hybrid work is only part of the story. There’s a shift from people coming into the office two to three days a week to having multiple populations of employees—with some coming in for a few days and some coming in five days a week.

As such, the term ‘hybrid’ no longer defines our current reality. Organizations are transitioning from chaotic post-pandemic hybrid models to structured yet flexible workplace strategies. This shift requires robust, data-driven decision-making to optimize space effectively.

In Lesson 3 of Patrick’s Product Picks, we were inspired by a conversation a Skedda SVP had with a customer who (understandably) had been too busy to keep up with many of our feature rollouts this year. Many of these new features were built based on direct product feedback, and we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss them either. 

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Optimizing Space With Data Means Cost Savings

To adapt to modern work needs, many organizations have cut down on excess real estate and redesigned offices to be more collaborative. According to CBRE, optimizing space for flexible work has resulted in cost savings and a 15% reduction in average square footage per individual. 

And yet—space utilization is still lagging at 38%. Efficient space utilization remains a challenge.

To increase office utilization, drive cost savings, and improve the workplace experience, leaders are tracking multiple sources of occupancy data—and nearly 80% are tracking utilization data (JLL).

Here are five features to overcome modern workplace challenges:

1. Manage Users at Scale

Manually managing user data and access can become overwhelming as organizations grow and roles evolve. Skedda simplifies the complexity of user onboarding with bulk uploading and single sign-on (SSO) through Microsoft and Google.

Bulk upload users

Bulk uploading is exactly what it sounds like—letting you upload a group of users at one time via CSV. This saves you time and makes it easier to transfer your existing employees list into Skedda. You can bulk upload your users and their tags ahead of time, and then send out communications to your users on the day that you want to go live.

💡 Admin Tip: Navigate to the ‘Users’ section, select 'Bulk Upload,’ and follow prompts to upload user data via CSV. 

Single sign-on setup

Single sign-on (SSO) is great for organizations that use Microsoft or Google. Users will use their work email to sign in and be authenticated that way. Employees who sign in using SSO can also have their pre-assigned Microsoft or Google tags transferred over to Skedda. For instance, someone has an IT tag assigned to them from Google. That person would automatically receive the IT tag when they log into Skedda using SSO.

💡 Admin Tip: To streamline access, enable single sign-on by linking your Skedda account with Microsoft or Google in the ‘Integrations’ settings.

🔮 Future sneak peak: Real-Time Tag Updates

New users get their tags only upon initial registration. These do not change even if the tags change in the Microsoft or Google environments. The upcoming SCIM feature will allow real-time tag updates for streamlined user onboarding. This automates tag assignments as roles or teams change.

2. Automate Bookings For a Better Experience

Employees struggle with a cumbersome booking system, often leading to double booking desks or missing out entirely. With Skedda, Microsoft users can book straight from their Teams app, reducing desk reservation to just a few clicks. 

To simplify booking even more, Skedda’s All Day booking feature allows users to book a desk for a full day by checking a box. Users can tailor booking lengths as needed if they’re not looking to make full-day bookings.

Integrate with Microsoft 365

Organizations that use Microsoft Teams can benefit greatly from integrating Microsoft 365 with Skedda. With this integration, users can book desks and meeting rooms straight from their Teams app. The two-way sync feature means that changes are updated in real-time in both platforms, so users can easily see what’s available and make adjustments in either platform.

💡 Admin Tip: In Skedda, navigate to ‘Settings’ > ‘Integrations’ to activate the Microsoft Teams Booking integration. See a more detailed guide on how to integrate with Microsoft 365.

Set default booking length

Skedda’s All Day booking feature streamlines full-day bookings for users. Instead of having to choose the core working hours for each booking, admins can set these hours as the default for each booking. You can customize booking defaults by defining parameters for your primary workweek schedule. Set what the hours of availability should be for specific spaces. It could be different for different areas.

💡 Admin Tip: In your settings, go to your ‘Hours of Availability’ to set your times. On the bottom, you can decide if the All Day bookings feature is checked by default or not.

Pro Tip: If you want to set up full day bookings by using booking conditions instead, you would set up a condition like this:

3. Plan Smarter With a Seating Chart

Organizations may want to allocate specific desks to teams, but the process is tedious and mistakes in allocations happen frequently. Skedda’s Assigned Spaces feature allows straightforward management of user-specific desks and anticipates live monitoring features for onsite presence.

Assign desks directly on the map

You can assign desks to users by going directly to the map. Not only does this make it easier to see all available and assigned spaces on your floor plan, it also allows your floor plan to now serve as a seating chart for employees with designated desks. 

💡 Admin Tip: Go to ‘Floor plans & maps.’ Under users, click ‘Assign.’ Select the people that should receive those desks. You will only see what is available and ready to be assigned (everything else will be grayed out). 

🔮 Future sneak peak: Monitor Presence Seamlessly

Under the list view, you will soon have the ability to see when somebody is seen on-site in real time. That will be available for Assigned Spaces in the future. 

4. Many Ways to Check In With Ease

Traditional methods of keeping track of who has checked in often result in unintentional errors and inaccurate attendance logs. Skedda provides various check-in options that improve user compliance and data accuracy. With Microsoft Teams integration and QR code check-ins, users enjoy a more flexible and efficient booking confirmation process that also enhances space utilization and attendance tracking.

Check in with Microsoft Teams

In Teams, you have the ability to check in either via an email or through the chat function. All the user has to do is click “Check in via Skedda” and they’ll be automatically checked in for the booking.

You also have the ability to query within your channels. Go to a specific channel and input @skedda in. You can see everybody in that particular channel or group who has a booking for the week. For example, you can go into the Sales or HR team channel and quickly query this to see everybody who’s in this week. 

💡 Admin Tip: To enable Microsoft Teams check-in, go to ‘Settings’ > ‘Check-In Options’ and toggle on the Microsoft Teams check-in feature.

Check in with QR codes

You can also print out QR codes. Go to your settings, go to the bottom, and click ‘generate QR codes.’ You can select multiple spaces at any given time. After printing these out, you can put them directly on the desks. When users turn up on the day, this would be an additional way to check-in. 

Note: You could remove email notifications altogether and have it so people could only check in by scanning the QR code when they arrive. The process would look like this: the employee walks in, pulls out their phone, and scans the QR code.

💡 Admin Tip: To implement QR code check-ins, go to ‘Settings’ > ‘Check-In Options’ and generate and display QR codes for quick desk or room check-in, streamlining confirmation processes.

5. Fine-tune Data for Accurate Utilization Reporting

Standard reports don't always capture the specific high-traffic periods or uncover nuanced user behaviors, limiting data-driven decisions. Skedda’s reports are now more flexible and insightful, offering precision in understanding peak usage. By adjusting reporting time frames directly in the Insights Dashboard, Skedda provides insights into peak utilization hours, offering critical data for workspace optimization.

For example, your hours of availability may be 5 am to 8 pm, but the vast majority of your bookings happen during core working hours (9 am to 5 pm). To get a truer sense of how your desks are being used during prime time, you can now filter for specific criteria in your Insights Dashboard. By filtering for specific days and times, you can see a more accurate utilization number. 

💡 Admin Tip: To adjust time frames, go to the ‘Insights’ page and modify the time frames to match your high-traffic periods, allowing for targeted analysis. Here you can also generate detailed reports by setting specific parameters to focus reports on precise data points that highlight user behaviors and space needs.

Navigating the Modern Workplace

As modern work continues to evolve, having the right tools is crucial for maintaining efficiency and staying ahead. Make sure your software evolves with you. Skedda offers innovative solutions designed to streamline operations and enrich user experiences.

For more insights on Skedda’s capabilities, explore our past webinar sessions or book a demo to speak with a workplace expert today.