Assigned Spaces:
Assign dedicated desks, offices, and resources to anyone on your team - no booking needed
Organizations everywhere are actively rethinking their approach to remote and hybrid work. Return-to-office (RTO) policies are becoming increasingly common — whether they require a full return or just a few days a week in the office.
Still, flexible work remains a competitive advantage across most industries. Companies with five-day RTO mandates saw, on average, 15% lower stock returns than their flexible work counterparts. About 83% of recruiters say remote work has improved the quality of the applicants they attract.
On the other hand, strict RTO mandates also correlate with increased turnover. Nearly one-third of workers say they’re willing to strike over work-from-home benefits. Nearly half of workers (46%) say they would quit their job if their employer required them to be in the office full time.
So what is the answer? How do you encourage a return to the office without compromising employee flexibility and satisfaction?
Well, the modern workplace is evolving. The most successful organizations are a powerful blend of on-site and hybrid work. The key is striking the right balance between these two groups, offering visibility and structure for in-person staff and flexibility for hybrid teams.
A workplace management system like Skedda is the perfect solution to strike this balance. With Assigned Spaces in Skedda, you can view fixed work stations alongside bookable spaces on an interactive map – effectively creating a digital seating chart for your workplace.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits of assigning desks and offices in Skedda.
A Digital Seating Chart for your Workplace
Workplaces today are more dynamic than ever, and static seating charts just aren’t keeping up. Teams need flexible, centralized tools that can handle everything from dedicated desk assignments to hot desks and meeting rooms. Managing it all in a single system isn’t just more convenient – it’s smarter, faster, and helps everyone stay on the same page. Here’s why:
Better Visibility & Wayfinding
Figuring out where to sit (or where your teammates are sitting) shouldn’t feel like solving a puzzle. With Assigned Spaces, you get a clear, interactive map of your workplace that lives on every device, so it’s always easy to find desks, coworkers, and resources without guessing or asking around.
With this shared visibility, hybrid staff can easily find and book desks near their favorite on-site coworkers. And for admins, Occupancy Tracking makes it simple to see which assigned desks are actually being used. By connecting your office’s IP address to your Skedda account, employees who connect to the office Wifi and interact with Skedda are automatically marked as “seen on-site” at their assigned desk. This helps keep everyone on the same page regarding who is available for the day.
It’s also a big win for new hires. Starting in a new office can be overwhelming, but an interactive map helps them get oriented fast. They can figure out where people sit, where to go for help, and settle in without that “lost on the first day” feeling. It makes onboarding smoother and helps new team members hit the ground running.
“Skedda helped us understand where fixed desks were and who they were assigned to … having a live map of where everyone is really helps keep things organized” – Sean LaBrie, VP of IT Infrastructure
Improved Workplace Experience
For employees who are regularly in the office, having an assigned desk just makes life easier. No need to log in every morning to book the same spot – they know exactly where they're going, and their space is ready for them. It’s a small change that cuts down on daily friction and adds a sense of stability to the workday, which is something a lot of people really value in a flexible workplace.
From a planning perspective, seeing all assigned spaces laid out on an interactive floor plan gives you a much clearer picture of how your workplace functions. You can group teammates who collaborate often, place folks near key resources, and fine-tune seating arrangements with a few clicks. It’s a more thoughtful, strategic way to organize your space, and it goes a long way in creating a more connected, productive, and happy workplace.
How to Set Up Assigned Spaces
Creating and assigning spaces in your Skedda account is simple:
Creating an Assigned Space
Head to the ‘Spaces & Attributes’ tab in your settings menu. From there, you can either hit the green ‘Add Space’ button to create something new, or edit an existing space you’ve already set up. In either case, you’ll be able to choose the space category – just set it to ‘Assigned’ instead of ‘Bookable.’
Once that’s done, assigning and unassigning spaces on your floor plan works just like it does for bookable desks. The only difference is that assigned spaces are visually marked with a pin icon.
Assigning a Space to a User
Once you’ve created an assigned space, it’ll show up in your account as ‘pending assignment.’ From there, you’ve got two easy ways to assign it to a team member:
- Option 1: Go to Settings → Spaces & Attributes, click on the space you want to assign, and then choose the user from the ‘Assigned to’ dropdown menu. Simple and straightforward.
- Option 2: Prefer working visually? You can assign spaces directly from your floor plan – just make sure the space has already been marked on the map first. Head to Settings → Floor Plans & Maps, open the ‘Users’ dropdown, and select ‘Assign.’ Then just click on the assigned space on the map to connect it to the right person.
Setting Up Occupancy Tracking
Want to see when users assigned to a space actually show up to the office? From the settings menu, go to ‘Occupancy Tracking,’ enable tracking, and add your office’s public IP address. From here, Skedda will automatically record a user as ‘seen on-site’ whenever they connect to the office Wifi and interact with the platform.
Fixed assignments. Flexible bookings. One system.
Skedda’s Assigned Spaces bring new depth to how you plan and navigate your workplace. In a workplace where you have multiple populations of employees with varying needs, Skedda makes it easy to combine long-term desk assignments with flexible space bookings — all from a single, interactive platform.
For more information about creating and assigning spaces in Skedda, check out this help guide.
Don’t have an account, but want to see Skedda in action? Schedule a call with our team today and an expert will walk you through everything you need to know.
