5 Benefits of Hot Desking for Companies and Employees
18 May 2020
What is Hot Desking?
Hot desking is a desk sharing trend that arose around the 1990s. In offices with hot-desking, workers take whatever desk is available, instead of having one assigned space.
In the modern workplace, agility is crucial. Businesses are constantly looking for ways to support flexibility and foster teamwork and innovation. While the practice of hot desk booking has been around for the past 20 years or so, it didn’t become commonplace until recent years.
Hot desking can cut the costs of running an office by up to 30%, so it’s a popular choice among employers. Hot desking offers benefits for employees, too. Below are the top 5 benefits of hot desking for companies and employees.
1. Increase collaboration
Hot desking encourages people to move around the office, and this leads employees to talk to team members they normally wouldn’t interact with. It allows staff from different parts of the office to collaborate on projects.
2. Tidier workspaces
Your office will likely be tidier if you use hot desking because staff is unable to leave their personal items, such as knick-knacks and stacks of papers, behind at the end of the workday. Hot desking forces employees to become minimalists. Although people are unable to add a personal touch to their workspaces, the result is a much cleaner and more organized office.
3. Autonomy
Hot desking gives employees autonomy because it allows them to change their day-to-day environment and remaining mobile. This gives them a lot more flexibility and autonomy over what their daily work environment looks like and feels like. People are no longer tied to their desks.
4. Lower costs
Traditional offices provide employees a specific spot to work in, and that space remains unused if the worker is out of the office, traveling from work, or working from home. Hot desking cut down on this type of wasted space by allowing organizations to downsize their space and optimize the use of existing space. Not all employees need to have their own permanent desks.
5. Improve performance and the circulation of knowledge
Static seating arrangements tend to lead to people working in silos, while flexible seating arrangements made possible via hot desking help to improve performance and encourage the circulation of knowledge. Hot desking improves communications by leading to more face-to-face interaction and accelerating decision making.
You might be concerned that hot desking could hurt productivity since people may need a quiet workspace to concentrate and focus their work. This is why it’s important to maintain a flexible, easily reconfigurable space that can be used for different tasks, from concentration-heavy solo work to team huddles.
Book Hot Desks Quickly and Easily with Resource Central
If you’re looking for ways to improve the flexibility and productivity of your workplace, Add-On Products can help. Our meeting room booking system, Resource Central, can be used to book meeting rooms, hot desks, catering services, and any other resource or service that suits the needs of your organization. Resource Central integrates with Microsoft Outlook®, Exchange and Microsoft 365.
For more information, or to take Resource Central for a test drive, sign up for a free trial or free online demo today!
Book Hot Desks on Your Mobile Phone
We also offer a workspace app booking solution that can be accessed from your mobile device, so you can book resources while on the go. Here you can search and book available workspaces and hot desks near your team using an interactive floor map for a visual overview of the office.
