Glossary

Workplace booking glossary.

Clear definitions of the terms you will encounter when setting up flexible workspaces, hybrid offices, and resource booking systems.

Term

Activity-Based Working

A workplace strategy where employees choose from a variety of work settings based on the task at hand, rather than sitting at one assigned desk all day.

Term

Booking Automation

Rules and workflows that automatically handle booking tasks like recurring reservations, no-show releases, waitlist promotions, and notifications.

Term

Booking Conflict

A situation where two or more people attempt to reserve the same resource for overlapping time periods, requiring detection and resolution.

Term

Booking Lead Time

The amount of time between when a booking is made and when the reserved resource is actually used, often controlled by policy.

Term

Booking Policy

A set of configurable rules that govern how resources can be reserved, including lead times, maximum durations, cancellation windows, and access restrictions.

Term

Capacity Planning

The process of determining how much office space, how many desks, rooms, and parking spots an organisation needs based on actual usage data and growth forecasts.

Term

Check-In Verification

A process requiring people to confirm their physical presence at a booked resource, typically within a set time window, or the booking is automatically released.

Term

Clean Desk Policy

A workplace rule requiring employees to clear all personal items from their desk at the end of each day, enabling desk sharing and maintaining security.

Term

Desk Booking Software

A digital tool that allows employees to reserve workspaces in advance, see real-time availability, and manage flexible seating arrangements.

Term

Desk Hoteling

A desk booking system where employees reserve a specific desk in advance, rather than choosing one on arrival like hot desking.

Term

Desk-to-Employee Ratio

The proportion of available desks to total employees, used to determine how many shared workstations are needed in a flexible office.

Term

Flex Space

Office areas designed to be reconfigured for multiple purposes, such as meetings, collaboration, quiet work, or events, depending on current needs.

Term

Floor Plan Mapping

A visual representation of an office layout within booking software, allowing employees to see and select resources on an interactive map.

Term

Ghost Meeting

A meeting room booking where nobody shows up, leaving the room occupied on the calendar but physically empty and unavailable to others.

Term

Hot Desking

The practice of not assigning permanent desks to employees, allowing anyone to use any available desk on a first-come, first-served basis.

Term

Hybrid Work Schedule

A work arrangement where employees split their time between remote work and in-office work on a regular, planned basis.

Term

Multi-Tenant Booking

A booking system architecture where multiple organisations share the same software platform while keeping their data, users, and settings completely separate.

Term

Neighbourhood Zoning

A workspace layout strategy that assigns teams or departments to designated zones within a flexible office, combining team proximity with hot desking.

Term

No-Show Rate

The percentage of bookings where the person who reserved a resource does not show up or check in, wasting the reserved capacity.

Term

Occupancy Sensor

A hardware device that detects whether a workspace is physically occupied, using infrared, motion, or other technology to provide real-time presence data.

Term

Parking Management System

Software that manages the allocation, booking, and tracking of parking spaces in an office or commercial building.

Term

Resource Conflict Detection

The automated process of checking whether a requested booking overlaps with existing reservations and preventing double bookings in real time.

Term

Return to Office

An organisational initiative to bring employees back to physical office spaces after a period of remote work, often involving new hybrid policies.

Term

Room Scheduling

The process of reserving meeting rooms, conference spaces, or other shared rooms through a booking system to prevent conflicts and maximise usage.

Term

Shared Resource Booking

A system for reserving any resource that is shared among multiple people, including desks, rooms, equipment, vehicles, and parking spaces.

Term

Space Utilization Rate

The percentage of available workspace being actively used, calculated as occupied hours divided by total available hours.

Term

Visitor Management

The process of tracking, registering, and managing guests who visit a workplace, including pre-registration, check-in, and resource allocation.

Term

Workplace Density

The number of employees per unit of office space, typically measured in square feet or square metres per person, used to assess crowding and comfort.

Term

Workplace Experience Platform

An integrated software suite that combines desk booking, room scheduling, visitor management, and other workplace tools into a single employee-facing app.

Term

Workspace Analytics

Data and reporting on how office spaces are used, including occupancy trends, peak times, underused areas, and booking patterns.

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