Implications of hot desking in companies

The working environment has changed significantly in recent years. Previously, concepts such as coworking or teleworking were regarded as innovative and even disruptive. Nowadays, however, they are a regular feature in many companies.

A number of other emerging concepts are growing rapidly due to the new needs and characteristics of today's companies and one of them is hot desking.

This article explains everything you need to know about what hot desking is, its features and advantages and, above all, how you can make the best possible use of it in your company.

What is hot desking

Hot desking is a methodology of flexible workspaces where employees do not have an assigned workstation but instead choose a workspace for a specific day or specific hours. 

During that time in the company, the chosen workstation will provide everything necessary for the employee to carry out the day’s work. This will include a desk and chair to work comfortably, as well as an Internet connection.

At the end of the working day or the time reserved for the hot desk, the employee must leave the space as it was found, so that another member of the company can reserve it for their use.

The hot desking approach is ideal for most companies, especially those with a hybrid working model, as it offers better management of the space available to employees on the days when they have to come to the office in person.

Advantages and disadvantages of hot desking

Here are some of the main advantages of hot desking:

It encourages a collaborative environment

Hot desking is based on a rotational working model, as the employee is located in a different space each day. This can be extremely conducive to fostering teamwork.

Sometimes it will be a great resource if, for example, two or more professionals are working together on the same project and it is better for them to be together for several days as it will improve the production process.

Saves costs for the company

With hot desking, empty spaces are avoided and shared resources are used. Above all, it should be noted that this working model is usually combined with a hybrid method of attendance. Therefore, the company does not have to invest as much in furniture and other items, because there is never 100% of staff in the office at the same time.

It offers a range of spaces

If the company makes good use of this work system, it can direct the distribution of spaces to different environments, where creativity, relaxation, concentration, etc. can be encouraged.

Having a range of spaces available allows professionals to choose which area they consider best suited to the way they work or even their state of mind, thus achieving a perfect balance between professional motivation and personal situation.

Encourages greater individual organisation

Hot desking workspaces should always be tidy. This ensures that the new employee arrives at a clean desk ready to start work and the next person after that finds it just as tidy and so on and so on.

This encourages a positive discipline in any type of work and also helps to keep the office tidy and aesthetically pleasing.

Compatible with other working models

As we have said, hot desking is perfect for integrating with a hybrid model, as it allows employees who come in person to reserve the ideal space according to their needs.

Applicable to different workspaces

Hot desking is not limited to individual workspaces. It can be perfectly suited to meeting rooms or even collaborative spaces, so that a whole team of professionals can work in the same place.

It should also be noted that hot desking also has its disadvantages:

It does not generate as strong a bond between colleagues

The feeling of having your own workspace and almost always being with the same people is lost with hot desking.

Therefore, the company must make an extra effort to encourage employee retention and make their employees feel as much at home in a reserved space as in any other.

It can affect professional motivation and productivity.

If work is not done to reinforce a creative environment in the different spaces available, it can have a negative impact on the professional's inspiration and productivity.

Integrate Foot Analytics to optimise hot desking management in your company

The Foot Analytics platform analyses the usage patterns of each department or area to optimise the number of desks or workstations required for each space. The key decision when moving to flexible environments is the desk sharing ratio, defined by dividing the number of available desks by the number of assigned employees.  

Consider an example of an office where 100 employees are assigned and each employee has one desk (100 desks). What often happens in hybrid working models is that all 100 employees never work together at the same time, so the office always has free, unused space. In such an instance, companies  can choose to reduce the number of positions (desks) to optimise space. This can sometimes be done by reducing rented space or perhaps by using the optimised space for other, more collaborative uses (informal meeting spaces or more rooms). A sharing ratio of 0.7 means that there are 70 desks available for 100 employees, so the company still has 30% of the space that can be optimised. 

So the key question is: what is the optimal sharing ratio which ensures that all employees have their workspace available when they come to the office but, at the same time, optimises the efficiency of the workspace?

The analysis of user behaviour available with Foot Analytics will allow you to anticipate demand and define the optimal ratio not only for a specific office, but also for the floors or areas of each location, based on the presence and recurrent patterns observed. It will help to gain spaces dedicated to collaborative uses, avoid overcrowded areas and optimise the time spent using the spaces, all of which will enhance to the greatest degree the experience of your employees when they are at the office.

Some companies choose to implement hot desking tools to manage demand with space reservation. With Foot Analytics you avoid the necessity of having reservation apps, because you know how many places and resources you need in each space. However, if you want to deploy a reservation tool, there are many booking apps available to take advantage of this working methodology in your company. Best of all, they are all compatible with Foot Analytics software. In fact, they help to improve its effectiveness!