13.11.2024

How to Make Hot Desking Work in Your Office

Hybrid working has become a mainstay of the modern workplace, with companies embracing flexible working arrangements to meet the diverse needs of their employees. Hot desking has emerged as a popular solution to optimise office space when part of the team is remote working, bringing numerous benefits to the business and the employees.

However, hot desking can also bring its own set of unique challenges. As such, it’s important that thorough planning is undertaken to ensure a successful hot desking environment in your office. In this guide, we’ll explore helpful strategies to create and implement an efficient hot desking policy, so you can create a productive and harmonious working environment.

What is hot desking?

Hot desking is a system used by some offices where employees don’t have their own assigned desks. Instead, they’ll use any available workstation, usually by booking one in advance, but sometimes by choosing one when they arrive at the office. This approach can be a huge benefit in a flexible work environment, where employees may split their time between the office and home.

What are the benefits of hot desking?

There are numerous benefits of hot desking. One of the main advantages is that it provides a cost-effective way for businesses to use office space. When part of the team may be out of the office working from home, the office may have lots of empty desks. Implementing hot desking can help to reduce wasted space, allowing offices to reallocate space for other purposes, such as breakout areas or meeting zones, or move to a smaller office to save on overheads. This can help to retain a functional office environment while significantly lowering operational costs.

Another benefit of hot desking is that it can help to foster a dynamic, flexible working environment. Employees can choose their desk based on their needs for the day – whether they need a quiet corner to focus on their projects or if they would prefer to sit near their colleagues for collaboration. In addition, by rotating desks, employees could find they interact with people they may not usually sit with, resulting in better cross-department collaboration and innovation.

What are the challenges of hot desking?

Hot desking can also come with some potential challenges. One possible downside is that hot desking vastly reduces personalisation and ownership of a workspace. If employees aren’t able to personalise their desks, this could lead them to feel disconnected from their environment, which could negatively impact job satisfaction and engagement.

The lack of a designated workspace can also lead to difficulties around staying organised, especially regarding accessing tools, equipment, and documents. This could lead to frustration for the employee as they spend time tracking down what they need or attempting to organise files.

Another challenge of hot desking concerns privacy. Hot desking will typically take place in an open plan office, which can lead to problems for people that need quiet or confidential conversations. To mitigate this, businesses can designate separate, quiet rooms where people can go if they need to focus or have private discussions.

Another potential challenge with hot desking is ensuring there is enough availability for all staff who require a desk. This problem can be easily avoided, though, by implementing a reliable booking system, so everyone will know they will have a space to work before they travel in to the office for the day.

How to set up a successful hot desking system

There are a few steps to take to set up a successful hot desking system.

Planning your hot desking system

First, you will need to ensure you thoroughly plan what your hot desking system will look like and how it will work. You could start by talking to your employees to find out what they would like to see from the system. You should also use this opportunity to ensure hot desking will be suitable for your business. Ask employees if they would be happy to work on a hybrid basis without a permanent desk in the office and get their feedback on how they think the logistics could work.

Designing a flexible office layout

An effective hot desking system will need to have an office layout that promotes flexibility and collaboration. So, you will need to design a layout that involves a variety of workspaces that cater to different working styles and tasks.

For example, you may need some open areas with larger shared desks for collaboration, as well as quiet zones, perhaps with dividers between the desks to allow for more focused work. You should also consider breakout rooms and separate meeting rooms, that can foster creativity and teamwork without infringing on other people working.

When designing your office layout, consider the flow through the office. Common areas such as kitchens, meeting rooms and toilets should be easily accessible to allow for smooth movement between different places.

Creating shared storage solutions

When planning your hot desking, storage should be a key consideration. You may want to add secure lockable storage, where each employee can store their own items, equipment and files when they’re not in use. This can help to keep workspaces clean and tidy, as well as provide security for employees.

You should also consider communal storage areas for frequently used office supplies, such as pens, paper and extra desk accessories. These should be easily accessible, with items clearly labelled to make it easy for people to locate what they want, when they need it, without having to keep their own personal supply.

Supporting employee comfort and productivity

There are a few extra considerations for your hot desking system, to help support employees’ comfort and productivity throughout their working day.

Ergonomic office equipment for shared workstations

Ergonomic design should be included across all workstations, to help employees avoid injuries at work. For the best ergonomic workstations, equipment should be adjustable, so each user can adapt it to their needs. This could include height adjustable chairs and ergonomic office stools, adjustable laptop stands, wrist rests and foot rests for additional support.

You could also consider providing sit stand desks for your employees. These will allow employees to easily transition between sitting and standing, promoting active working and easing pressure on muscles and joints. At Leitz, we have a range of sit stand desks that can accommodate different needs, including a small sit stand desk on wheels, which can be the perfect addition for your hot desking equipment. This sit stand desk has a compact design and is mobile, so can be positioned wherever space is available.

Our compact sit stand desks pair perfectly with our pegboard desk organiser, which fixes directly to the desk and provides instant vertical storage. This can hold items such as a headset, notebook and pens, freeing up desk space and helping to keep temporary workstations organised.

Implementing clean desk policies

Encouraging clean desk policies is essential for a functional hot desking environment, as it ensures the workspace remains organised and professional for all employees. Your clean desk policy should involve asking employees to leave their workspaces tidy at the end of every working day, including removing their personal items, throwing aways rubbish, and returning shared equipment to its storage place.

You should put together guidelines for your clean desk policy and distribute this to all employees, clarifying expectations and why clean desks are required. You may need to send out reminders via email or put up signs around the office to prompt people to leave their workspaces tidy.

Allowing for personalisation

Personalisation of workspaces will be limited in a hot desking environment, but not impossible. You can allow employees to bring some small personal items, such as plants, photos or desk accessories to the office so they can create a more familiar and inviting atmosphere. This can help to enhance their comfort and sense of belonging in the office.

If you take this approach, you should set aside space for people to store their items when they’re not in the workspace, allowing for clean desks at the end of every day. This will help to avoid cluttering of shared spaces and keep items safe while they’re not being used.

Managing hot desk logistics and scheduling

Ongoing management of your hot desking system will require a few considerations.

Utilising desk booking systems

An efficient desk booking system is a key part of a hot desking environment. There are various systems available that will allow employees to reserve workspaces in advance, reducing conflicts over the availability of desks. Many systems will implement real-time availability and will allow individuals to pick and book the type of workspace they need for that day.

Many systems also offer reminders for bookings, so no reservation is wasted, as well as recurring bookings, which can be useful for hybrid workers who know they will always be in the office on certain days of the week. The right desk booking software will keep reservations organised and streamlined, ensuring the success of the hot desking system.

Monitoring desk usage

It’s important that desk usage is monitored to ensure the hot desking system is functioning efficiently. You should aim to regularly check how many desks are being used, the types of workspaces that are in high demand, and peak usage times. This can provide valuable insights into how the space is used, so you can adjust resources as needed.

For example, if you can see that certain types of desks, such as sit stand desks, are frequently being booked up, you could consider adding in more of this type of workstation. Or you may be able to see that desks are constantly being completely reserved, which may mean you need to make space for more desks – you should aim to get feedback from your employees to ensure no one is missing out on a workstation if they want one.

Leitz has a huge range of ergonomic office accessories to support ergonomic working, both at home and in the office.

You can read more about flexible working and employee wellbeing below:

How to Support Good Employee Health and Wellbeing

How to Support Diverse Needs in a Workplace

10 Ways to Create the Best Hybrid Working Environment