Hot desking obviously isn’t a new practise, and with post covid working patterns and businesses looking to make efficiencies on office space costs, hot desking is commonplace in many offices. Read more for our ultimate guide that gives you all you need to know.
So what is it? Basically hot desking is a workspace system that allows employees to choose where they sit onsite, and for how long. This can unlock the potential of your physical workspace, promotes a more dynamic way of working whilst potentially boosting co-worker collaboration.
Prior to the covid pandemic, hot desking suffered a little with connotations of being a stressful start to someone’s day as they raced to find a workspace in an under resourced area of the building. But today it is widely accepted as the seating system of choice. Mostly driven by technological advance, workers can now choose where they can do their best work.
What are the benefits of hot desking?
In a word, flexibility, both for the work force and the business. Cost efficiencies also allow organisations to optimise their spaces. Today’s office sees fewer folks onsite each day, which means workplace leaders can be smart about their space to cut wasted space and save money. A key part in this strategy, hot desks have become more widely used as more people return to work.
Here are some more benefits of hot desking:
Flexibility – gives the workforce autonomy over what their daily work environment looks and feels like
Collaboration and productivity – can promoted a positive impact on productivity and collaboration
Cost savings – potential ability to cut down office size and outgoings
Tidier workspaces – People tend to be naturally tidier, with fewer personal items or paperwork cluttering desk space.
The challenges of hot desking
Tech – Hot desking isn’t just a case of shrinking office space and setting up fewer desks, it requires the support of desk booking software to avoid the game of musical chairs.
Humans – We are creatures of habit and comfort. A key challenge could see resistance from employees. Communication is key!
Is hot desking right for you?
Everything in life comes with pros and cons, simply because no one thing can work for everyone. Despite the odd challenge here and there, hot desking still outweighs all the rest
The best practices to set up hot desking
Any office layout takes time and planning. The list below is a starting point to success.
- Invest in a desk booking solution – an effective policy drives acceptance and efficiency.
- The right desk features for your office – ie Desk booking by the hour, Workspace maps, amenities, desk analytics.
- Set up your floor plan – as well as employee cohesion you should consider quiet areas, collaboration spaces, and desk booths that folks can choose from.
- Drive acceptance – communicate clearly and regularly with your people before you implement your new hot desking policy.
- Create a best practice guide for employees – Ensure everyone understands how to use the new hot desking system by creating a best practice guide or even an easy to read tip sheet.
- Keep it clean – implement a cleaning schedule into your hot desk policy.
- Collect data, feedback and evolve – Collect regular feedback to ensure long-term success and improve employee happiness and productivity.
In our post covid working world, a new normal is slowly being formed, while it is so very far removed from 5 or so years ago, new practises are emerging that have driven many pro’s and con’s into our workspaces. While hot desking is by no means new, these changes have evolved to make hot desking a far more productive practise, which should be considered by many businesses to drive employee satisfaction, cohesion as well as drive cost efficiencies.