Working from home has its perks, but it won’t hurt to admit that we miss our offices and our work stations and of course colleagues. The individually personalized work desks, some kept the elements at minimal, like a small planter, or some made a point to utilize all the sticky notes, to each their own. But in the wake of the CoronaVirus, work from home is what companies small or large should adhere to.
Fast-forwarding to now, apropos to COVID 19, although offices are opening, no companies will be able to house all their employees like before to maintain social distancing. Now, To reduce cost, save space, and follow the guidelines COVID 19 effectively, companies are embracing a more flexible approach with hot desking. If the concept sounds new to you, well, this blog will help you understand the same.
What is Hot Desking?
It is a system for organizing an office, mostly about the desk or workstations. By incorporating hot desking in your office, your employees share the same workspace, and it means sharing the desk or the workstation. It can also be explained as a short term or on-demand desk reservation system where the employee can make the same day or in advance.
Furthermore, the employees can reserve the same workstation over different days of the week. They can also book the same for days in a row or a month or over a particular project, also called Desk hoteling. Hot desking is most suitable in hybrid workplaces, where the companies are frequently moving from conventional to flexible, modern environments that support the shifting nature of work.
In a scenario where the employees don’t come to the office daily for a 9-5 shift, assigning them a permanent desk makes no sense. It is a waste of resources and money. Hot desking in this situation is a fitting solution.
Hot desking and COVID 19
COVID 19 has unknowingly given rise to the trend of hot desking.
Companies are opening their offices as they begin to resume their work. By implementing touchless visitor entry and asking health questionnaires to employees at the reception. Investing in technology as capacity management can give a live count of people in your office premises so social distancing can be carried out effectively. Since the offices cannot operate with their total strength of employees, only a fraction can come to premises and others have to work from home.
With the help of hot desking, you can plant a flexible strategy to decide the deks that are bookable. For the best seating arrangements, many companies are maneuvering the checker-board desk method where every alternate desk is bookable so that employees can maintain a distance of six feet. The management can be sure of the usage of the workstation, and it is easier to sanitize them when another employee books the same.
Then, when employees plan to work in the office, they can reserve a desk just for the day that they plan to be on-site. Hot desking and work from home were a choice before COVID 19, but now these practices are mandatory. When incorporated effectively, hot desking can be very advantageous to companies as well as employees.
Here are 5 hot desk benefits for companies as well as employees.
#1 Boost collaboration and productivity
With Hot desking, employees move around in the office and interact with members outside their team. This encourages team collaborations on new and different projects and increases more cross-functional interactions. Moreover, the interaction also boosts the circulation of knowledge
#2 Safe and Hygienic Workspaces
The workstations will indeed be cleaner and safer to be used by different employees since none would be able to leave their stuff such as knick-knacks or stack of papers. It is a great way for your employees to go minimalistic. Without the personal touch, the workstations are easy to sanitize and safe for the next batch of employees.
#3 Work and Life Balance
Coming into office as per the reservations made, gives employees the freedom and flexibility to work in a day to day environment. It is a break from the usual office routines and helps them be more productive. This also gives employees autonomy as it allows them to change their day-to-day environment. Further, the employees can also spend quality time with their families and work accordingly.
#4 Hot Desking Saves Company Money
Investing in state-of-the-art office decor and furniture including workstations and IT infrastructure drains a lot of money. Companies can cut down on these expenses and even on large spaces simply by implementing hot desking. It optimizes the workplace with existing resources since not all employees need individual workstations.
As an organization, you should also know there are just a few downsides to hot desking.
- Putting everyone together and getting rid of the cabins, the office may lose the sense of hierarchy. hot desk arrangement eliminates the traditional empowerment that comes with leadership.
- Some of the employees perform better in a routine, hot desking might disrupt their productivity.
- It may also happen that employees miss their personalized touch on the desks and workstations.
Conclusion
Hot desking as mentioned above can be advantageous to both companies and employees and the disadvantages are also manageable. All you need is an existing technology that will seamlessly implement hot desking in your office.
At CoRecpetionist, we offer tailor-made solutions to suit your company’s goals and needs. A visitor management system can transform the way your office manages its reception operations. If you want to know more about our features and how we can help you streamline hot desking contact us today.
We also offer a 14 days free trial period, you can avail of it today!
