How to deal with hotdesking
What I've learnt about hotdesking
I have been hot desking for over six years since my company moved away from individual offices. Over this time I have experienced the pros and cons of hotdesking and learnt many things to help make the experience as positive and productive as possible.
Looking around the web I've found lots of information for companies on how to introduce hot desking, but I've found very little on how an individual can deal with it. Hotdesking can be upsetting to some people so I hope by sharing my experiences that I can help you make the experience a positive one.
Photograph from Mike Burns
What is hot desking?
According to Wikipedia it is the temporary physical occupation of a work station or surface by a particular employee.
Hotdesking is simply when staff do not have their own desk and make use of shared facilities. However, how it is introduced in different companies (or even divisions) could be very different.
For instance all staff may hot desk or it may just be for certain staff who are frequently out of the office. Staff may hot desk within a specified area of a building or throughout several different cities. It maybe necessary to book a desk or it could be take a desk on arrival. Therefore if you are working in a hotdesking business you should find out what hotdesking means to your business.
If you are introducing hotdesking you should take the time to work out what works best for your organisation and not just introduce what has been done by others.
Things to realise about hotdesking
People generally don't like change and moving to hotdesking is often a big change and one that continues every day as you need to sit at a different desk or with different people. Your company will have good reasons to introduce hotdesking as it will take signifianct effort to make this change and won't do it on a whim. Most of the time hotdesking is introduced to reduce costs or improve productivity and both of these support the company's financial position and therefore benefit the security of jobs.
Why might hotdesking be introduced:
* in office based businesses the accommodation can be the second largest expensive after staff costs
* a large proportion of staff could be frequently out of the office or away from their desk (you can read an analysis of desk usage of desks here)
* there is a need for flexibility in team arrangements
* may provide access to tools to everyone e.g. software, scanners without buying copies for everyone
Although it can be difficult to move from your own space consider the following:
* you don't need a 'home' in the office and by reducing your ownership of space you make it easier on yourself to leave the company if you find another job you like
* you can get to meet new people in the company
Interesting posts on hot desking
There is a lot of information around the web on hotdesking and as I identify posts I find interesting I will include them here.
- 13 tips to successful hot desking
Tips for individuals to make the most of working in a hot desking environment - Beyond hot desk communism
Discusses an alternative to hot desking - Mind how you move that chair - its hot
Article from Daily Telegraph about the growing trend for hotdesking (2002) - Is Hot Desking a Cool Idea -- or a Catastrophe?
An article on CBS Business Network about hotdesking (2008) - Reducing office space through flexible working
An article about how to provide more space for work using less property - Activity-based work the new must have
Differences between hot desking and activity based working - What do you need for hotdesking?
Reviews the essential items needed when you hot desk
Benefits of hotdesking to the employees
Although it can be difficult to move from your own space consider the following:
* you don't need a 'home' in the office and by reducing your ownership of space you make it easier on yourself to leave the company if you find another job you like
* you can get to meet new people in the company
* you get access to tools that may not be available if you had your own desk
* you have a choice over the environment that you sit in, instead of it being selected by management
* you can sit with team members at certain times e.g. project start up
There are many different opinions on hotdesking, here is your opportunity to share
What is your opinion on hotdesking?
Dealing with hotdesking
Okay, hopefully you've accepted there are benefits of hotdesking, but you still need to deal with it and that can be difficult, so here are some tips:
* understand how the system works; do you need to book a desk, can you sit anywhere
* understand how technology helps (or hinders) the hotdesking; do you plug in a laptop, can you transfer your phone calls
* discover how much personal storage you have and if there is project storage
* approach it with a positive attitude, even if you are nervous about, the company won't changes its mind just for you so stop fighting it
Items to help you hot desk
Everyone needs to develop their own systems for hotdesking, here are some items that may give you ideas on how you could develop yours.
Videos about hotdesking
There are many different experiences about hotdesking and here are some expressed on youtube.
I will be updating this page with new experiences and thoughts about hot desking, but please feel free to provide me feedback or ask any questions.
