The Duke of Edinburgh's Award choose WiggleDesk

We asked Mairead, a Business Support Manager at The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) to tell us how and why DofE chose WiggleDesk.

What was the workstyle of the DofE before Covid?

Before Covid, all DofE staff based in London worked in the office – which was shared between Operations staff and the Fundraising team – and everyone had their own desk. Everyone instantly moved to working from home in March 2020, which was a big change for the team. We all had to adapt to not being in the office together every day. We also had the challenge of having to move out of our office during Covid and look for a new office – but, with the changes to the way that we were now working, we had to find a space that worked with our new way of working.

What was the approach and the associated challenges ofmanaging remote work during Covid?

As we had moved out of our office and into a new space, people were not going back to an office that they were familiar with – and the move from having your own desk to hot-desking was a big change for some people, but it was a great time to make that change. We needed to find a space and a system to help facilitate that to make the move to our new normal as smooth as possible.  

Choosing WiggleDesk

How did the charity first hear about WiggleDesk and what piqued its interest?  

Someone at the charity mentioned it when we were starting to look for a desk-booking service and after doing some research, we felt that it seemed more user-friendly than some of the others options.

What made the charity decide to choose WiggleDesk over other options?

William was extremely helpful throughout all discussions about WiggleDesk which put our mind at ease. We gave him everything that we needed, and he just sorted it all out for us. The system was also very simple to use, which is what we needed. We knew that the system of booking a desk to work at was going to be a big change for everyone, so we wanted something that was going to be as straightforward as possible.  

Implementing WiggleDesk

Can you describe the process of implementing WiggleDesk within the charity? Did you encounter any challenges and how were they resolved?

We moved from our temporary measure of using a spreadsheet to book desks to WiggleDesk, which was always going to be far better. We rolled out WiggleDesk towards the end of 2021 so – as there was a spike in Covid at the time – it was a gradual introduction as the office still wasn’t being used too much.  

From William’s clear instructions when showing us how to use the system, we have created a clear how-to guide which everyone who uses the office receives. Most people were able to pick it up very quickly – and those who struggled after being shown how to use it got the hang of it quickly.

After using WiggleDesk

How has WiggleDesk changed the way the charity manages hybrid working and desk booking?

We never had to book desks before, so this is a complete change – but we have embraced it. In fact, we are now rolling this out to another of our offices, as we have seen that hybrid working and hot desking works, and WiggleDesk is key in making this work the way that it should.

What specific results or metrics can you share about the impact of using WiggleDesk within the charity?

WiggleDesk allows us to measure office usage. This will be beneficial for when we look at the space that we have and decide how to make the best use out of it. It also allows us to add team tags to the users, which means when we look into the stats further, we can see which teams use the space the most.

What features of WiggleDesk does the charity find most valuable and why?

Everyone who needs to use WiggleDesk can quickly and easily sign in with Microsoft, which means not needing to remember another password, so everyone should always be able to access it. It allows everyone to book for themselves – which means, apart from initially adding people, they can all just book what they need without the need for one person to deal with all the bookings, as we have booths and a meeting room that people are also able to book.

Recommendation

Would the charity recommend WiggleDesk to others, and if so, why?

I would definitely recommend WiggleDesk to others as the simple set up makes it easy to use and it covers everything that we need. We have now been able to add another building to our set-up, which means that we can have one desk booking system with everything in one place that everyone can access.  

What types of organizations do you think would benefit most from WiggleDesk?

Any company that has moved to hot desking would benefit most from WiggleDesk.

Conclusion

Do you have any final thoughts or comments about the charity’s experience with WiggleDesk?

I would just like to thank William for all his help and support to make the process of implementing a new system for our team as smooth as possible.