🔑 How the assignment hierarchy works
Think of it as a simple pecking order:
🪑 Individual desk assignment — Always wins. If a desk is assigned to a specific person, that's final.
🏘️ Neighborhood assignment — Kicks in when there's no individual assignment on a desk.
🌐 Open (available to all) — If there's no individual or neighborhood assignment, anyone in the company can book it.
🤔 What exactly is a neighborhood?
A neighborhood is a colored polygon you draw on your floor plan that groups desks and resources together. You give it a name, pick a color, and assign it to a group of people — by department, by a custom HRIS attribute, or to specific individuals.
Any desks inside that polygon automatically belong to the neighborhood — no manual linking needed!
💡 Example: Draw a blue polygon around a cluster of desks on Floor 2, name it "iOS Pod," and assign it to everyone whose HRIS team attribute equals iOS. Now those engineers can book any unassigned desk in that zone.
🧬 Assigning a neighborhood by department or custom HRIS attribute
When you create a neighborhood, the Assign to dropdown lets you pick from:
🏢 Department — the standard org-chart grouping
🧬 Custom Attribute 1, 2, or 3 — any of the three custom attributes synced from your HRIS (e.g.
team,sub-team,cost center,location,manager— whatever you've mapped)
Pick the attribute, then pick the value (e.g. Custom Attribute 1 → "iOS") and Gable will automatically include any employee whose HRIS record matches.
🔌 Prerequisite: Your HRIS must be connected to Gable and the custom attributes must be mapped before they'll show up in the dropdown. Talk to your CSM or check the HRIS integration settings to confirm what's flowing through.
💡 Why this matters: If your org doesn't map cleanly to "departments" — for example, you organize by pod, product line, cost center, or office location — you can now build neighborhoods around the way your company actually works.
🛠️ Creating a Neighborhood
Open your floor plan in edit mode
Go to the Neighborhoods section
Click to create a new neighborhood
Give it a name (e.g., "iOS Pod")
Pick a color to make it stand out on the map
Assign it using the dropdown — choose Department, one of your 3 custom HRIS attributes, or specific people, then pick the value(s) to match
Draw the polygon around the area you want, then click Add
✅ All desks and resources inside the polygon are automatically included.
💡 Pro tip: Feel free to add all your desks first, then create neighborhoods after. The polygon will automatically scoop up every desk inside its boundaries.
📖 How Neighborhoods Affect Booking
Once neighborhoods are set up, the booking system handles the rest automatically:
🎯 Employees see desks available to them based on the hierarchy (individual > neighborhood > open)
🧬 Membership is evaluated against live HRIS data — when someone's department or custom attribute changes in your HRIS, their neighborhood access updates automatically
🔐 Access control (badging, WiFi) also prioritizes spaces assigned via neighborhoods
🏷️ If a desk doesn't have an individual assignment, the neighborhood assignment shows up instead on the floor plan — so everyone can see which team area it belongs to
🔄 Moving Desks & Neighborhood Membership
Neighborhood membership is based on where the desk physically sits on the floor plan:
➡️ Move a desk into a neighborhood polygon → it's automatically added
⬅️ Move a desk out of a neighborhood polygon → it's automatically removed
No manual updates needed — just drag the desk, and the system takes care of the rest!
🗺️ Floor Plan Visualization
Neighborhoods show up on your floor plan as colored polygons with their name displayed. Use the Layers panel to customize what you see:
🏘️ Neighborhood labels — Toggle names and boundaries on/off
👤 User labels — Toggle individual assignment labels on/off (e.g., for private offices)
Desk bubbles also display assignment info. No individual assignment? The neighborhood assignment shows instead — making it easy to see team zones at a glance.
⭐ Key Things to Know
🔒 Hierarchy is strict: Individual > Neighborhood > Open. Always.
🧬 Assign by what fits your org: Department, one of 3 custom HRIS attributes, or specific people.
🔌 HRIS-powered: Custom attribute neighborhoods require HRIS to be connected and the attributes mapped.
🏢 One group, many neighborhoods: A team can span Floor 2 and Floor 4. Members can book in either.
🙋 Exceptions are flexible: Add any person to any neighborhood, regardless of department or attribute.
🔄 Desk moves are automatic: Drag a desk in or out of a polygon and membership updates instantly.
🚪 Meeting rooms count too: Resources inside a neighborhood polygon show up in the resource count and list.
🌐 Unassigned = open: No group on a neighborhood? Anyone can book there unless there are specific desk assignments.
❓ FAQ
Can I assign the same desk to multiple neighborhoods? A desk belongs to whichever polygon it sits inside. If polygons overlap, the desk's physical position determines its neighborhood.
What happens if I delete a neighborhood? The desks revert to the next level in the hierarchy — either their individual assignment or open availability. Nothing is lost!
Can a user be in more than one neighborhood? Absolutely! If Engineering has neighborhoods on Floor 2 and Floor 4, engineers can book in both. Individual exceptions also stack — add someone to as many neighborhoods as you need.
Do meeting rooms follow neighborhood assignments? Meeting rooms inside a neighborhood are tracked as resources, but their booking access can be configured independently. A meeting room can stay open to everyone even if it's inside a department's neighborhood.
How do I see which desks are in a neighborhood? Click the neighborhood in the Neighborhoods tab (in either drawer) — it'll zoom to the map and show the full resource list. 🔍
💬 Still have questions?
Reach out to us using the chat bubble in the bottom right corner or via email at support@gable.to and we’ll be happy to help.