At Urban 9-5, our pros are here to provide more than just design advice and products. While all our staff are experts in all our unique office furniture and can provide all the expertise you require, we’re also proud to offer years of experience in workplace efficiency and basic concepts.
This means we’re always on top of the latest trends in the field, one of which is something the use of the “hotdesk,” also called hotdesking. What is this, and might it benefit your company? Let’s look at the pros and cons.
Hotdesking Basics
Hotdesking, a trend that’s sweeping many modern office places, is the practice of having zero assigned workstations in the office. Instead, employees share rotating desk space with others.
The theme of hotdesking is based on some basic data: Up to 40 percent of dedicated employee desk space is unused on the average day for a variety of reasons. If this is the case, is having individual desks really an efficient use of space? For managers who don’t think so, hotdesking has become a new fad.
Using this theme, fewer desks in the office are able to serve the same number of employees. With the involvement of presentation tables, portable devices and other technology, there can still be plenty of workspace. For offices with lots of millennials who enjoy space and don’t want to be tied to a given assignment, this can be a good option.
Benefits
A few of the potential draws of hotdesking include:
- Saving overhead: If we assume that 20 to 40 percent of desk space is not being utilized, eliminating this waste eliminates overhead from maintenance, cleaning and other areas.
- Optimized space: Using this format, employees can select space that meets needs for a given day or week.
- Socializing: Employees who sit with new people every day and interact more will lead to greater cohesion in the company, and often better collaboration.
Possible Cautions
However, there are a few potential pitfalls involved in hotdesking:
- Looking for space: Not all employees do as well in a flexible environment where they have to search for space every day, and this anxiety can be bad for some.
- Hygiene: Different employees have different desk habits and hygiene practices – if you’re considering hotdesking, make sure everyone is okay with this sort of thing.
- Routines: Hotdesking can make routines and standard practices tougher in some offices.
- Personalization: A personal desk offers the ability to add a few unique elements of personalization, whether it’s a family picture or some other kind of memento. This is more difficult in a hotdesking situation.
To learn more about hotdesking, or for information on office seating, office desk options or any of our other office furniture, speak to the pros at Urban 9-5 today.