During the pandemic, working from home has brought with it new trends to organize the return to the office. The hybrid model is already a firm bet in many companies, where employees book through their physical work station via an app the days they work from the office.
Between the rise of remote work, open office plans, and shared coworking spaces, hot-desking has become a staple of modern working life. More than a trend, it allows people to work when and where they want, and is a tool used by self-employed individuals and established companies to stay productive and connected, wherever their work takes them.
Hot desking has myriad benefits, from convenience and flexibility to intangibles like community and creativity. But how does it work, and is it right for your company?
Hot desking is a desk sharing trend that arose around the 1990s. In offices with hot desking, workers take whatever desk is available, instead of having one assigned space.
In the modern workplace, agility is crucial. Businesses are constantly looking for ways to support flexibility and foster teamwork and innovation. While the practice of hot desk booking has been around for the past 20 years or so, it didn't become commonplace until recent years.
Find a desk, plug in, and get to work: Hot desks provide space for professionals to work as needed, in both private and shared office spaces. That means that the particulars for hot-desking may vary depending on the environment.
The benefits of hot desking vary depending on your work style and what you need from the arrangement. Where freelancers appreciate having a place to work and meet potential clients, business owners like the flexible lease terms and the ability to hire or send employees to workspaces in different cities.
Some advocates of hot desking argue that the arrangement can encourage collaboration by facilitating the employees to interact with different people rather than speaking to the same colleagues every day. Of course, in a hybrid work model, this will only be relevant to those in the workplace rather than those working remotely. Nevertheless, it can be a useful advantage, helping to spark the kind of fresh discussions that lead to innovation and improvements.
One of the more overlooked plus points associated with hot desking is its potential to make the office a tidier place. The explanation here is simple – when people do not have their own dedicated desk spaces, they do not tend to leave things lying around in the office. Personal workstations can quickly and easily become cluttered over time, which has been shown to impact productivity, what can also make the workplace a lot less appealing to look at.
Hot desking gives employees autonomy because it allows them to change their day-to-day environment and remaining mobile. This gives them a lot more flexibility and autonomy over what their daily work environment looks like and feels like. People are no longer tied to their desks.
A major plus point associated with hot desking is the fact that it is highly compatible with hybrid approaches to work. When employees have the flexibility to move between working from home and working in the office, it can often work out well to provide flexibility in terms of seating too. Not only is this in keeping with office design trends, it is also a sensible policy to avoid allocating desks to people who are not necessarily going to be in the office every day.
Traditional offices provide employees a specific spot to work in, and that space remains unused if the worker is out of the office, traveling from work, or working from home. Hot desking cut down on this type of wasted space by allowing organizations to downsize their space and optimize the use of existing space. Not all employees need to have their own permanent desks.
Static seating arrangements tend to lead to people working in silos, while flexible seating arrangements made possible via hot desking help to improve performance and encourage the circulation of knowledge. Hot desking improves communications by leading to more face-to-face interaction and accelerating decision making.
To serve the growing number of people in the remote workforce and companies implementing hybrid workplace models, Fullink has made access to connectivity solutions such as AV converters, laptop hubs and docking stations, cable converters, power adapters, etc., much more accessible and flexible. These devices and accessories can bring a lot of convenience to users.
The rise of open-plan offices and hybrid work arrangements has led many businesses to adopt hot desking as a seating policy. The practice does have some significant benefits, such as the ability to save space and money. But it also has drawbacks, like a tendency to create more disruption. At its best, hot desking offers great flexibility and can level the playing field, especially if paired with an adapted workstation. But you should also ponder the negative aspects before deciding whether to adopt this approach.
