subject: Concepts For Better Management Of Office Spaces [print this page] Hot desking is a model for sharing work space in an organisation in which the number of employees is greater than the number of desks. In a hot desking environment, each work station has its own computer which has a virtual desktop, allowing different workers to log in.
Alternatively, employees can find an empty desk and plug in their own laptop. The improved allocation of space that this arrangement provides is extremely useful for employees who work in shifts, or for firms where the staff are often out of the office. From a business point of view it is a very attractive way to cut costs significantly.
Hot desking has grown in popularity with the rise of remote working, as companies are increasingly keen to acknowledge the need to reduce their carbon footprint. No longer are employees required to be in the office every day, so the sharing of desk space is logical.
When a company decides to use this process, it is important to engage with employees from the outset to ascertain their views. This is imperative because for the system to succeed, it must gain the support of those who are most affected - the workers. It is a huge change to what they have become accustomed to over their working life, where everyone had their own assigned desk. This was effectively a sign of their importance and value to the company. Therefore, in order for a hot desking system to be accepted well by the workforce, all the benefits should be outlined, including the potential to work from home. In the past this would have been extremely difficult, but as technology has advanced, it is now much more viable. Thanks to the internet, and more specifically high speed broadband, employees can access their correspondence and company intranet from home.
As well as reducing the amount of time employees spend commuting each week, hot desking can allow businesses to have smaller offices, reducing the extremely high cost of real estate in cities. A similar concept is office hotelling. Again it involves the the improved use of desk space, partcularly for businesses in which the employees aren't in the office all the time.
The major distinction between this and hot desking is that it allows workers to reserve a desk beforehand. This means that when you arrive in the office, you always have a cubicle waiting for you so that you can start work immediately, instead of having to hunt around for a free one. Office hotelling is basically a more refined method of utilising office space, not simply relying on a first come first served basis.
Both hot desking and office hotelling are excellent ways for businesses to reduce costs, not to mention improve the quality of life of their staff. It is not surprising therefore that more and more companies are seeing the benefits of these concepts and implementing them in their offices.
