iBASX Smart Office Solutions – Karakter

In 2017, Karakter chose to implement a new workplace concept, focused on flexible working. The underlying reason was twofold:

On the one hand, the real estate team felt there were many unused metres in the buildings;
On the other hand, the facility team had to deal with complaints from employees because there was a shortage of (suitable) workplaces and rooms.

In order to facilitate employees in working flexibly and to make better use of the available space, Karakter has been using iBASX since 2017. iBASX provides sensor-based insight into available workstations and spaces in an office building. In addition, the smart desk booking software offers the possibility to reserve/book these spaces. In this way, iBASX not only helps employees to find an available workplace but also contributes to improving the visibility of available spaces.

About Karakter

Karakter is an academic institution for child and youth psychiatry. Through the best care, groundbreaking scientific research and high-quality education, they help psychologically vulnerable children and adolescents to develop their talents and to participate in society. They strive for a society in which every child and adolescent can participate, grow up safe and healthy, and flourish. Children and adolescents (0-18 years) from all municipalities in the Netherlands can -by referral- come to Karakter. They come to Karakter for diagnosis and treatments for ADHD, autism, depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, behavioural disorders, psychosis and other psychiatric problems. Because of their academic function, Karakter is also involved in training, research and education. Karakter has 12 locations in Gelderland, Overijssel, Noord-Brabant and Limburg (all within the Netherlands). A central branch within Karakter is responsible for, among other things, the accommodation of the organisation, architectural projects and purchasing. The locations are divided into three regions, with a facility team leader per region.

Challenge

Karakter is an academic institution for child and youth psychiatry. At different locations of Karakter treatments are carried out. The locations have special treatment rooms for these treatments. In order to be able to offer a patient a good treatment, it is crucial for a therapist to have a suitable treatment room at his/ her disposal. Since Karakter’s building cannot accommodate the number of treatment rooms, this leads to a great deal of administrative support and coordination as to who can use which treatment room. When a practitioner has an appointment with a client, he or she wants to be sure that this appointment can take place in a suitable room. In practice, this means that a treatment room is not only used for appointments, but also as a workplace or meeting room.

As a result of this ‘claim behaviour’, reservation behaviour or incorrect use of meeting rooms, the on-site facility team received many complaints about the availability of treatment rooms. An unusual situation, as Karakter has sufficient treatment rooms in relation to the number of patients. In order to make better use of the spaces and reduce the need for coordination, Karakter chose to switch to a new workplace concept in 2017. In this new workplace concept, the sharing of facilities is central and practitioners may only use treatment rooms when they have an appointment. Despite the implementation of the new workplace concept, the facility team still received complaints. In practice, the problem was not only due to the ‘reservation behaviour’, but also failed to not release rooms according to changing needs. As a result, the employees from Karakter still had the feeling that they couldn’t find a suitable space, even though there was plenty of room.

Solution

In order to make a success of the new workplace concept, Karakter chose to make use of iBASX in 2017. iBASX provides sensor-based insights into the availability of workplaces and spaces. iBASX offers a practitioner the possibility to reserve a treatment room before an appointment with a patient, so he/she is assured of a suitable room. Existing reservations can be viewed by other practitioners so that they can plan their own appointments accordingly. It is also no longer necessary to coordinate the availability of rooms with colleagues or secretariats. Furthermore, iBASX uses sensors to map out the availability of treatment rooms, workplaces and meeting rooms in real-time. Based on this information, it’s much more clear for the employees of Karakter where they can find a suitable place in the building. The system improves the visibility of the various rooms and brings useful information to the surface so that a complaint or request for help in the work environment can be investigated. iBASX gives both the real estate and facility teams insight into the use of all square metres.

Result

Morach Delfos is Real Estate Project Manager in the Business and Infrastructure Department (B&I) at Karakter. “We were looking for a way to make better use of the square metres in our building. In addition, we also wanted to encourage the therapists to share the metres more with each other. iBASX shows users that there is enough space available, which reduces the feeling of a lack of workplaces and rooms. In this way, the system contributes to the use of the workplace concept as it is intended. By sharing availability and reservation information with all users via an accessible platform, the need to discuss space usage has been reduced, as has the administrative nuisance.”

According to Morach Delfos, a good working reservation system is necessary for proper functioning of a property. “If you design the working environment based on flexible working, you need to offer users a certain degree of security that they will not miss out on. But if you offer this possibility, you run the risk that they will commit workstations or spaces unnecessarily. In practice, encouraging people to make reservations is still a point of concern, but the software does provide actual insights: which spaces are reserved but not in use? This gives the real estate team and the facility team information that they can use to steer, for example by addressing users directly or informing management.”

Karakter chose iBASX because the software offers a good overview of available spaces in a building. “Many of our buildings are cluttered with stairs and ‘hidden’ spaces, making it difficult to see where you can go. iBASX shows at a glance where you can find an available workspace and what facilities this space has. In this way, our users do not need to walk around the building looking for a suitable space. You even have the option of indicating preferred spaces, so that the system can take this into account.” iBASX is very user-friendly according to Morach Delfos. “An employee only needs an internet connection to use the system, no app or software needs to be installed. As a result, the system requires almost no support from our own IT department.” The collaboration is also as wished. “As agreed, iBASX was ready for use by around 250 employees within three months. Moreover, iBASX moves with its customers: they listen to our wishes in order to optimise and further develop the platform. I find this a great advantage over other reservation systems.”

“iBASX shows at a glance where you can find an available workspace and what facilities this space has.” - Morach Delfos is Real Estate Project Manager in the Business and Infrastructure Department (B&I) at Karakter

Do you have to deal with complaints from users about the availability of spaces? iBASX uses sensors to measure real-time which workstations and spaces are in use and translates this into useful management information. This is valuable information for designing a workplace concept, optimising facility services and increasing the ease of use for employees, among other things.

Book a meeting with a specialist to hear what iBASX Smart Office Solutions can do for your organisation. Whatever your issue or challenge is, we are happy to help.

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