Hot desking is a concept for organizing workplaces in which employees flexibly book a workstation every day instead of working at their usual place. The idea behind this is that on an average workday, some desks are left empty because someone is sick, on vacation, out in the field, or working from home. So why keep these empty desks when they can simply be booked by other employees?
Instead, employees look for a free place every day and leave it in its original state at the end of their working hours. However, the prerequisite is always that the working time model is really so flexible in practice that not every employee needs a fixed desk every day. The concept is a possible variant of desk sharing.
One major advantage is the potential cost savings: if a company has to maintain fewer workstations because employees use them flexibly, less office space has to be financed.
Expenditure on office equipment and work materials is also reduced. From the employee's point of view, hot desking offers more flexibility, for example in arranging working hours according to the current task. Some employees also enjoy the variety that free choice of workplace can bring. The changing contact with different colleagues can also be positive for employee networking and cooperation.
Hot desking can cause additional stress for employees. Teams could be separated and places of retreat for concentrated work could be missing. There is a risk of sometimes not being able to find a free desk due to high workloads. This can lower employee productivity and satisfaction. It also becomes more difficult to store personal items or resources needed for the individual task in a meaningful way if the workplace is constantly changing.
The concept is suitable if a company already offers flexible working hours, part-time, mobile working or the option of home office. Because in these cases, it is often realistic that fewer workstations are needed on a day-to-day basis than there are employees employed by the company.
The company's IT infrastructure should, for example, allow location-independent working so that employees can log in easily from any workplace and from outside using their personal access. It must be possible to book the workstation easily and clearly. Workstation booking can be implemented with the help of software without major integration effort.
Hot desking is part of hybrid working - the working model of the future - which has already found its way into the culture of modern companies. It is necessary to quickly find a workplace that exactly fits the needs. The challenge for companies is to ensure that all options for flexible working are available.
Hot desking software Locaboo makes finding a free workspace easy and with little effort. Teams can organize themselves and work together. Retreats or meeting rooms can be booked and released easily. Internal policies, such as authorizations and booking rules, round out the offering.
