Hot Desking: What, Why and How?

Remember when an office job consisted of 9-5, Monday-Friday, always in the office with the same desk every day? Those days are long gone. There’s now hybrid workplaces, 4 day working weeks, co-working spaces, smart offices, and those are just a few of the new trendy workplace phrases popping up in blogs and LinkedIn polls lately. To add another to the list of workplace hot topics right now, we have hot desking. Now you might be saying there is nothing new about hot desking and we would happen to agree, but this time around we feel it may get a bit more uptake.

What is hot desking?

Hot desking is a flexible workplace model where employees use any available desk rather than having a permanently assigned one. Employees can typically book a desk in advance or choose an available space when they arrive.

Hot desking is commonly used alongside hybrid working to help organizations use office space more efficiently, give employees more flexibility and better understand how their workplace is being used.

What are the benefits of hot desking? 

There can be a lot of advantages to introducing the hoteling concept into your organisation, both for employers and employees. But here’s just a few of the top benefits:

• Space efficiency
  Hot desking is a great way to be really efficient with the space you have in your office, particularly in a time where many companies are opening at reduced capacity or are required to have a certain distance between desks. If you introduce it alongside a hybrid working policy, you’ll find that you probably need fewer desk spaces (as there will be fewer people in the office), allowing you to make your office space feel more open and spacious or create new areas such as break out zones.
• Change of scenery
  Because employees no longer have their own desk, they can change up where they sit each time they’re in the office. One day they may want to sit by the window for some refreshing sunlight while they work; another day they may want to sit in a quiet corner to really get their head down and focus.
• Enhanced collaboration/creativity
  Simple things like changing where you sit can work wonders for giving you a boost of creativity. One of the other great things about hot desking is it gives you the chance to sit by different people each time you’re in the office which can provide so many opportunities for enhanced collaboration and creativity. You often find that the best creative ideas come from bouncing off ideas with colleagues that aren’t in your team/department.
• Tidy office space
  Goodbye office clutter! Now that no one has their own desk, there’s no need for clutter to build up as you’ll have no choice but to keep each desk space tidy for the next person to use it. Studies have shown that there’s also a 167% improvement in persistence and attention span in tidier spaces; so it’s a win-win - tidy office, improved productivity.

How does hot desking work?

Hot desking works by making desks available for different employees to use instead of assigning each person a permanent workspace. Employees may choose a free desk when they arrive or use a desk booking system to reserve one in advance.

For hybrid workplaces, desk booking can help employees plan when and where they’ll work while giving workplace teams better visibility of how office space is being used.

How can you manage hot desking?

Successful hot desking needs more than available desks. Employees need the right equipment, a simple way to find and book workspace, clear expectations and somewhere to store personal belongings.

Here are four things to consider when introducing hot desking:

• Connectivity
  Firstly ensure that your office space is set up so that desk spaces meet the needs of your employees. Think about what they need to connect to such as WiFI, phones, monitors, plugs, etc. Do all desks need access to these? Could break-out zones be phone-free?
• A place to store personal items
  As your employees will no longer be leaving items at their desk, think about what storage solutions you could have for their personal items that they may want to leave at the office. Think lockers, storage boxes, drawers, etc.
• Make desk or room spaces bookable
  

  A desk booking system gives employees a simple way to find and reserve the space they need before they arrive.

  Spaces by Sign In App lets employees book desks, breakout areas and meeting rooms from their smartphone, whether they’re planning ahead or booking on the go. This makes hybrid working easier to coordinate while giving workplace teams better visibility of how their spaces are being used.

• Set some rules
  Once you’ve introduced the hot desking/hoteling concept into your organisation, it should be pretty straightforward but you may want to introduce a few rules to ensure employees respect it. Nothing strict, it’s a flexible working concept after all, but simple things like ensuring everyone cleans their space after they’ve used it, will be worthwhile introducing from day one - particularly in the current climate.

What is the difference between hot desking and desk booking?

Hot desking is the workplace model; desk booking is one way to manage it.

With hot desking, employees don’t have permanently assigned desks. A desk booking system lets them reserve an available workspace for a particular day or time, helping teams avoid uncertainty over where they’ll work when they come into the office.

Make hot desking easier to manage

Hot desking works best when flexibility doesn’t create uncertainty. Employees should know where they can work before they arrive, while workplace teams need a clear view of how office space is being used.

Spaces by Sign In App brings desk and meeting room booking together with the wider workplace experience, helping teams coordinate hybrid working and make better use of their space.

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