Handelsblatt Media Group, Düsseldorf

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New Work at Handelsblatt

Smart Office Infrastructure from Waldmann and LIZ

Around 1,000 employees of the Handelsblatt Media Group work in a seven-floor, state-of-the-art media building called "La Tête" in Düsseldorf's Le Quartier Central district. Since moving into the new building, the editorial offices of Handelsblatt and WirtschaftsWoche as well as administrative functions and subsidiaries have been united there. To create easy accessibility and a pleasant working environment for employees, the media house is equipped with the latest technology. Since 2021, this has included the Smart Office System LTX from Waldmann, including a workstation booking system. » LEARN MORE ABOUT LTX


The Trigger

The move was a major adjustment for many as staff moved from a conservative office world with many individual offices to the open-plan media house. The well thought-out and spacious design made the changeover easier. With its lighting solutions for workplaces and conference rooms, Waldmann contributes to the new well-being factor of the Handelsblatt Media Group. Apart from the editorial teams, everyone found their own fixed workstation. Then the pandemic came and turned the working world upside down, sweeping the entire premises at "La Tête" as well.

As early as April 2020, all employees were asked how they imagined their new working day after the pandemic. The result: hybrid.

For the facility management it was clear: from an economic point of view, only a shared desk system would make sense in a working world between office and home office. And this was to be approached in an organised manner in order to give the employees a secure feeling during this change.

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The Choice

The people in charge already knew Waldmann from the building project, and the workplace booking and analytics software from Waldmann's start-up LIZ was convincing because it was able to take individual customer needs into account. For example, the strictly separated home zones of editorial and advertising sales. Desk sharing is currently very generous with a quota of 10 heads on 7 desks. Since the Waldmann LAVIGO free-standing luminaires were already available, all workstations were supplemented with CHEKOV desk sensors, which indicate whether a workstation is already booked or not, even on site and without the app in hand.


The Facility Management

The data collected via the placed sensors and the Workspace Manager are particularly valuable for the facility management of Handelsblatt Media Group. In this way, the utilisation of the various home zones can be kept precisely in view: Where is it crowded, where is the occupancy rate always low? All this provides indications for necessary changes in the office landscape. For this reason, KIRK ceiling sensors from Waldmann are currently being added to the meeting rooms: they make the rooms easily bookable for the employees and show the facility management the actual utilisation. This provides helpful information about the rooms: Are they too small, too few or even too many?

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The Employees

In a place where investigative journalism is at home, a system based on multisensory technology is, as expected, initially met with critical questions. However, all reservations were dispelled in advance. The works council was also convinced of the added value and won over as a supporter of the system.

The app is perceived by the employees as very clear. They were all given an introduction to the booking system to make it even easier to get started. Thanks to the option to indicate whether one is in the home office, the teams can now easily keep track of where their colleagues are on a daily basis. The desired workplace can also be stored and is automatically suggested for selection during planning.

In addition to the Düsseldorf location, the Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin locations will also be integrated into the system. This will make the working world of the Handelsblatt Media Group even more flexible.


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Lighting solution:

LIZ Booker
LIZ Workspace Manager