About the company

Founded in Canada in 1978, Avison Young is a global real estate advisor powered by people to create economic, social, and environmental value.

They believe in creating a positive impact wherever they go and aim to create healthy, productive workplaces for employees, cities that are centres of prosperity for their citizens, and spaces and places built to benefit the economy, the environment, and the community.

Challenges

Before reaching out to Archie for a new space management and booking system, Avison Young operated under the traditional workplace model, that being one of the employees coming into the office daily for the most part. However, in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the rising popularity of flexible and hybrid work, it did not take the long-time thought leader any time to realize that they needed updated workplace processes and the systems to support those.

First, they needed a software that could support their multi-location operations from one centralized platform for management and employees.

On the back-end, it was essential to be able to create different segments for permanent and hot desks bookings and that the software be securely integrated with their active directory.

Moreover, due to the large size of the enterprise, streamlining the bulk of management operations was another high-priority requirement. Lastly, in regards to privacy concerns, it was crucial for the enterprise to be able to easily create, assign, and manage rules and permissions securely across their numerous workspaces.

On the front-end, they needed a user-friendly interface and a single sign-on (SSO) integrated with the same active directory for an optimal user experience. With part of their employees working in the office and the other in the field, it was essential that the platform they selected supported real-time information on which employees were in the office and where they were sitting at any given time. They also needed to rethink floor plans to maximize space and productivity in this new hybrid landscape.

Solutions

The Archie team conducted an in-depth evaluation of the requirements and effectively presented Avison Young with the tailor-made solution they needed.

At the outset, the proposed solution allowed for their internal processes to remain largely unchanged through effortless integration of their existing workplace systems, active directory, communication channels, and calendars directly on Archie’s proprietary software.

Merging all booking operations in a single destination was the next criteria to fulfill. It was paramount to have an interactive floor plans and maps at the disposition of their employees. Built-in features such as “Who’s in today” as well as customized neighbourhoods and zones where teammates can collaborate or work quietly were included to facilitate the booking processes, ensuring that employees were always able to easily locate coworkers and find the most suitable seat to reserve.

The mobile app, alongside on-demand reservation and display features, both for desk and room bookings, answered the needs of their dynamic staff by delivering a unified and straightforward experience.

A company-wide shift to a hybrid work model for an enterprise of this size is a massive undertaking and can easily be disastrous, yet with the support of Archie, Avison Young was able to carry it out successfully. Even more so, after implementing the proposed solution, management at Avison Young is now able to get real-time data and insights about their workspaces in a way that wasn’t possible before. Using the various analytics tools, they are now able to use specific data such as which departments are booking which meeting rooms and how frequently to figure out which spaces are under-utilized and repurpose them in more productive ways.

With the end of the pandemic nearing, many businesses are slowly returning to the office. That being said, the landscape of office life is forever changed, and for some, that announces a lot of work to be done in order to adapt. However, for Avison Young, they are set to continue to evolve with time and perform business as usual with Archie.