What is hot-desking and is it right for your business?

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Hot Desking

Over the past years, the workforce has changed drastically as employees are spending less time in the office and working virtually anywhere. But how is this possible? Advances in technology have improved the practicality of flexible working and changed the way individuals can work remotely. In particular, the concept of hot-desking and how it has changed office space needs.

So what is hot-desking?

Oxford English Dictionary defines hot-desking as:

“The practice in an office of allocating desks to workers when they are required or on a rotating system, rather than giving each worker their own desk.”

The concept seems self-explanatory, however, such flexible working is not for everyone.

So how do you know if it is right for your business?

According to Stocks, the starting point is a broad base of questions to determine what the company needs are, not just in terms of furniture, but what the corporate objectives are, how the company works and what they really need to achieve from their office space ‐ no matter the size.
Flexible working poses a series of questions:
  • Does the office need to take a certain form?
  • Can the office space be optimized?
  • Can we do things differently and more efficiently?
Typically, the answer is yes, but it depends on the framework of the company.
The next step is to manage the human resources in terms of linking what the staff does and how they do it. For instance, if you have a team of 15 that is expanding to 25 people and there is no office space, the practical thing to do would be to look at the workers that do not need to be in the office at all times.
It’s important to ask questions about them as well:
  • Where are they based?
  • Where do they live?
  • How long does it take them to get into the office?
  • Which aspects of the virtual office might make their working lives less stressful and more productive?
Again, the key is in determining just how people work as there is no point in advising a practical solution for furniture that is mobile and flexible if the workforce is not going to use it.
Stocks states that you have to take into consideration where the best places are for people to work and how the organization can keep a motivated workforce that ensures the company achieves the desired result.
In the simplest terms, for hot-desking to be successful, the company needs to make the best of its two major tools, people and technology!
Watch this short video of a day in the life of a hot desk member! 

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