Hot Desking vs. Hoteling: Which Strategy Is Right for You?

Planning a return to the office during COVID-19? Some ways that you can maintain proper distancing between workstations and limit the number of people in the office at the same time include implementing staggered work shifts and using shared desks.

Hot desking and hoteling are both flexible work arrangements that support unassigned seating in the workplace and enable you to share fewer desks among a group of people. The concept of hot desking has been around for years, but it has gotten more popular recently with COVID-19.

The Downsides of Hot Desking

Hot desking is popular with employers but not so much with employees. Hot desking can make people feel unsettled because workers don’t know where they will be sitting until they arrive at the office and find somewhere to sit.

Workers might have trouble finding a workspace right away when they get to the office, especially if they get into the office later than others. This could mean that the first 10-20 minutes after a person arrives at the office are unproductive because they have to spend some time walking around to find an appropriate desk.

Another issue with hot desking during the pandemic is that you don’t know if the workspace has been cleaned and sanitized properly before you use it. That being said, having a dedicated desk for each employee simply doesn’t make sense in a work environment where employees spend a good portion of their work week working from home because then desks would sit empty.

Hoteling, a Superior Alternative to Hot Desking

To get the best of both worlds, organizations can adopt a practice known as hoteling. Hoteling is a similar shared desk concept, and the term is often used interchangeably with hot desking, but it doesn’t mean the same thing.

With hoteling, desks can be reserved in advance for a specific duration of time. Hoteling eliminates the disadvantages and uncertainty associated with hot desking while enabling organizations to reap the same benefits.

Using a mobile booking tool like the Workspace booking App, employees can find and book a desk before they arrive at the office. The Workspace App features an interactive, color-coded floor plan that shows which desks are available and where they are located. They can also see who has reserved each desk so they can choose to reserve a desk near specific colleagues they need to collaborate with. Employees can tap on the desk they want to book and make a reservation.

You can also affix QR codes to hot desks and then employees can scan them with their mobile devices in order to book them or check in once they arrive. In addition, Resource Central can be used to generate a report for cleaning staff that lets them know which workspaces need to be sanitized and when, so they can clean them before the next worker arrives.

Implement Hoteling with Our Desk Booking Solution

Are you considering implementing hoteling at your workplace? Hoteling makes it easy for workers to reserve workspaces when they need them. Your organization can enjoy the cost savings and flexibility that hot desking offers without the hassle.

With Resource Central, workers can view desk availability at a glance and easily book a workspace. All bookings are automatically synced with Microsoft Outlook^®, Exchange, and 365. Users of the Workspace booking App have the option to display or hide their desk bookings from their Outlook calendar, in case they’d rather not show as occupied on their calendar during the time their desk is booked.

Want to explore how implementing hoteling with Resource Central and the Workspace App can benefit your organization’s return-to-work plan? Contact us today to schedule a free trial or free online demo.