What to Look For When Choosing Workplace Tech

Employees notice the little things: finding a desk without circling the floor, locating a meeting room without asking reception, sensing that the air and lighting adjust to real use. Those moments add up to what people now call workplace experience. To deliver it, offices need a coordinated set of digital tools - a workspace-management stack - that quietly runs behind the scenes.

Independent research shows that more than 80% of large companies now integrate these tools through APIs or data platforms to create a single source of truth for space data..

When the stack is well-chosen, secure by design and delightful to use, employees spend less time hunting for rooms or desks and more time doing their best work. The article will explain the must-have layers of the stack, the questions every IT, Facilities, and HR team should ask before buying

What Do We Mean by “Workplace Tech Stack”?

A workplace tech stack is the collection of cloud and on-prem tools that handle bookings, visitor flows, space analytics, meeting services and communications.

When these pieces share data, the office feels effortless to navigate for employees and the teams who run it.

The Core Tools—In Practice and What to Look For

Modern employees expect the office to work like their favourite app - fast, intuitive, and secure - yet many still waste minutes every morning hunting for a free desk or a meeting room that isn’t double-booked. This gap between expectation and reality is driving a quiet revolution in workspace-management tools. So let’s see some workspace management tools that are a must-have in any workspace:

1. Room & Desk Booking

In practice:
Picture a 10-inch touch panel beside every meeting room: the bezel glows green or red, shows your brand colours, and pulls its schedule straight from Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace within seconds of a change. A hot-desking floor plan in the same system lets hybrid staff tap an open seat, see avatars of colleagues nearby, and book on the train before they arrive. If nobody checks into a reserved room, after a grace period, motion sensors automatically free the space so someone else can use it.

What to look for:

• Calendar & ID integration. Real-time sync with Microsoft 365/Exchange, Google Workspace, and SSO so nothing lives in a silo.
• Branding and accessibility. Ability to swap logos, colours, languages, and even lexicon without code; screens should support 15-plus languages and large-text options for inclusivity.
• Right-size hardware. Panels around 10 inches with PoE power (one cable, no batteries) and LED status strips that are visible down the corridor.
• Sensor-aware automation. Built-in or external sensors that confirm presence, auto-check in, and release no-shows.

2. Wayfinding

In practice:
Imagine arriving at a large corporate campus as a visitor or as an employee who only comes in twice a week – finding the right conference room or a colleague’s desk can be daunting without guidance. A good wayfinding system displays floor maps on any display in key spaces (lobby, elevators, etc.)

What to look for:

• Live data feed. Maps must pull real-time availability from the booking layer so green spaces are truly free.
• Editable, on-brand floor plans. Drag-and-drop tools to recolour icons, rename zones, and match corporate fonts without calling a developer.
• Scalable hardware. Runs on standard signage players or browsers, not proprietary boxes, so Facilities can repurpose existing screens.

3. Occupancy Sensors & Analytics

In practice:
Motion sensors under desks and in the ceiling register real use. Facilities managers can see the average utilisation of meeting rooms. They can convert underused boardrooms into more huddles and save on the floor rent. Globally, average office utilisation is still around 35%, down from 64% pre-pandemic, so data-driven changes matter.

What to look for:

• Anonymised data: Sensors count presence, not people’s identities, easing “Big Brother” fears.
• Clear dashboards: Metrics in plain language, like peak occupancy, average meeting size, with export options.

Internal Questions to Ask Before Going to Market

1. What employee problems are we solving first? Is the pain finding rooms, managing hybrid seating, or knowing which floors to heat? Rank them before demo day so features don’t distract from goals.
2. What experience do we want to create? A friction-free day means bookings under one minute, maps at every decision point, and zero surprises. Translate that into must-have checkpoints.
3. How much change can our culture absorb? If people still rely on paper signs, start with room panels and grow. If staff are mobile-first, prioritise an app.
4. Who will own the data? Decide early which team (IT, CRE, HR) keeps the dashboards, sets retention rules, and reports wins to leadership.
5. What does success look like in 12 months? Maybe it’s 20% fewer no-shows or 15% higher employee satisfaction scores.

These conversations align stakeholders and prevent shiny-object syndrome once you hit the marketplace.

Conclusion: Designing an Unparalleled Employee Experience

Great offices feel almost magical: the desk you need is open, the room you booked is ready, and the building itself seems to understand when and how people use it. That magic is the result of a well-built workspace-management stack—tools chosen for clarity, trust, and day-to-day ease rather than pure specs.

When employees spend less time hunting for space and more time doing meaningful work, engagement rises and real-estate costs fall.

A workspace management solution like Door Tablet bundles every layer, room & desk booking, interactive wayfinding, motion-based auto-release, and utilisation analytics into one solution, making that seamless experience easier to deliver.

Build the right stack, and the technology fades into the background while people and ideas move effortlessly to the foreground.

Making the Office Spaces Worth the Commute in 2025

The Need for a Compelling Return

2025 has been the year of full-time RTO requests from big companies like Amazon or JPMorgan.

Most companies cited that a full-time RTO is necessary because it would help with their culture, collaboration, and productivity. But despite these announcements, many employers didn’t take into consideration that the office is still designed for another era.

Employees now feel they’re being asked to commute just to sit at a desk and do the same work they could easily accomplish from home. It's not a compelling trade-off, and it’s not very encouraging if companies want to maintain long-term RTO success.

For many employees, the office no longer matches how they work best. The post-pandemic shift gave people a taste of autonomy, flexibility, and balance.

Jennifer Moss, workplace strategist and author of Why Are We Here?, notes that too many companies are trying to execute the office “in the same way that it used to be.”

“You’re still on Zoom, still doing the same work you did at home—but now with a commute,” she explains. Without meaningful changes to space and purpose, the return feels arbitrary, not inspiring.

Another layer that shakes these full-time RTOs policies is trust. John Frehse of Ankura warns that mandating office time without explaining the benefits signals a lack of trust. “You only trust me when I’m in the office?” That unspoken message undercuts employee morale.

And then there are the everyday office frustrations.

Before the pandemic, office life had its fair share of headaches. Employees dealt with open-plan spaces where it was nearly impossible to concentrate because every conversation became background noise. Meeting rooms got double-booked, while others struggled to find a space or even schedule one directly. Desks were either too limited or not personalised, and the layout made it hard to find a quiet corner or a collaborative space that supported productive individual time or team interaction.

Fast forward to 2025, and many of these issues still linger. Meanwhile, employee expectations have grown. People now expect environments that support both in-person connection and individual productivity, along with seamless integration of digital tools.

There is a deeper issue beyond outdated layouts and logistical frustrations: control.

When employees work from home, they’re in charge of their environment. They can choose how, when, and where they work best—whether that’s total silence, a standing desk, or a mid-afternoon break that recharges them. In contrast, many office spaces strip away that autonomy. You're tied to a fixed desk, have limited privacy, and have rigid routines.

This loss of control directly affects job satisfaction. This study shows that comfort and a sense of choice significantly boost performance and well-being. When people feel their environment is working with them, not against them, they're more engaged, more productive, and more likely to view the office as a valuable part of their working week. Without that, returning to the office starts to feel more like a burden than a benefit.

“Office-space preferences can push employees away from on-site working, influencing their hybrid-work preferences.”- Lila Skountridaki

Giving employees the control they need, not just cubicles

So, what does a workplace look like when it supports control instead of removing it?

Employees want to decide how, where, and when they work best. That doesn’t mean a free-for-all; it means designing systems and spaces that enable flexibility without descending into chaos.

And this is where tech and culture meet.

Because when culture says, “we trust you”, and technology says, “we’ve got the tools to support you”, employee autonomy becomes possible. Not just over tasks, but over environments, schedules, and energy.

Tech can’t fix culture, but it can remove friction

That sense of control is what makes coming into the office feel worth it again. When people have ownership of their time and environment, it leads to better focus, stronger collaboration.

1. Smart meeting room booking

Say goodbye to calendar chaos. Intelligent room booking systems integrate with calendars, detect occupancy, and release unused spaces. This prevents bottlenecks and ghost meetings—an issue that used to plague large firms pre-pandemic.

Microsoft reported that 20% of meeting rooms were reserved but never used in pre-COVID offices. With hybrid now in play, automation can bring balance and fairness to space usage.

2. Desk booking & workplace wayfinding

Flexibility is only empowering when it’s organised. Desk booking apps let employees reserve their spot, see where their team is sitting, or find quiet zones based on mood or task. It also means that Facility Managers can track usage and adapt layouts dynamically.

3. Noise zoning & adaptive spaces

Open-plan designs aren't inherently bad, but they need structure. Sound masking tech, acoustic sensors, and smart zoning allow offices to flex between collaborative buzz and focused silence. Think of it as giving people a volume knob on their day.

4. Hybrid-ready AV and meeting equity

“Can you hear me?” shouldn’t be the soundtrack of a hybrid call. High-quality microphones, auto-framing cameras, and inclusive layouts ensure remote participants feel equally involved. Tools like Zoom Rooms and Microsoft Teams Rooms now support intelligent framing and transcription, making the office a place where hybrid meetings work.

5. Smart signage and spontaneous interaction

Use real-time digital signage to promote the community: highlight who's in today, upcoming events, or ad-hoc lunch-and-learns. Encourage spontaneous coffee chats, project brainstorms, or cross-team mixers that remote work can’t replicate.

Culture doesn’t live in code, but it does need space

Yes, culture is built by people. But it also needs the right conditions to thrive. Offices must be designed for belonging, mentoring, casual exchange, and moments of creativity that are hard to schedule but powerful to experience.

In other words, giving people a reason to show up.

“When we’re trying to get people back into the office, we still are executing the office in the same way that it used to be. We just can’t jam the toothpaste back in the tube.” - Jennifer Moss

This doesn’t require a full rebuild. Even small, intentional changes can go a long way:

• Curating zones for heads-down work, collaboration, and casual connection
• Using sensors and occupancy analytics to understand how spaces are used
• Making social spaces visible, inviting, and part of the workflow
• Protocols for shared spaces. For example: “Quiet hours in this zone from 10am–12pm.” Or “Headphones only for music or video.”

When people have the freedom to choose how and where they work within the office, engagement goes up, and resentment fades.

“Reduce the pace and give people that mental adjustment time that is needed genuinely, to take care of their lives before you change
[their lives].” - Sujay Saha

Takeaway: The Commute Must Pay Off

In 2025, the commute has become symbolic. Employees aren’t just travelling to a building, they’re deciding if it’s worth it.

If they arrive only to spend the day on video calls or struggle to find a quiet spot, that choice feels like a burden, not a benefit. A workplace that also offers a professional, client-ready environment can make a real difference.

When employees know they have access to impressive spaces for both internal collaboration and hosting external meetings, the commute feels more worthwhile and productive.

But if the office is a place where real collaboration happens, where ideas spark and relationships grow, then the journey makes sense.

That’s what the best RTO strategies understand: people want to feel that their presence matters. That showing up adds value, not just for the company, but for themselves.