Hot-desking in the office from hell...

[Somerville]

I am very lucky to work mostly from home (freelancer), but a decent client wanted me in their office all week.
Good God, I have new respect for office workers.
Especially in open plan offices with hot desking. Which seems to mean that all the long-term staff have bagsied a desk, and freelancers have to squeeze in to whichever workspace is empty due to its regular occupier being off site.

Today I was lent the desk of a man who is either a secret eater, or just doesn't give a fuck. I have never seen so many crumbs in a desk drawer. - not envy.

Also, I can't work out their etiquette for the tea-round, and definitely drank more than I made, so I think they all hate me.
I'm not asking if I'm being unreasonable, because I'm not! Companies encouraging noise and mess on the basis that it encourages collaborative working is just miserable. Ugh.

My office all calls were done from laptop with headsets and you could listen to music through headset too as noise cancelling. I geniunely loved the hot desking and miss it in my new company where I am allocated a desk (but interestingly no drawers or space to keep possessions), I have to deal with all people coming into office due to position of desk and sit next to an annoying person all day. I much preferred being able to sit wherever I chose/ was free.

I'm a 'millenial' and must ask after reading this post (though I always thought hot-desking sounded like hell before anyway) WTF is the point of it?

It just sounds messy and disorganised. Like mini moving house every bloody day.

What's wrong with just having your own desk?

WTAF is the point in moving around every bloody day????

JustPutSomeGlitterOnit - if you have 100 staff, of whom only 25 are ever in the office at one time, there's no point in having 100 desks. It's a big cost-saving. Some companies introduce it to actively persuade people to work from home more often.

I hate it too. We are lined up facing a wall and it’s constant distraction of people walking behind me as that’s the corridor. We are allocated a drawer for all possessions and I find myself grabbing around someone’s legs trying to squeeze my stuff into the drawer. I get no work done for lack of concentration

cointreau I see, so mainly for saving £££.

But surely everybody has a desk they prefer and fall in line with others, and so everyone has 'their' desk anyway? It would just also be somebody else's desk too...?

Isn't it annoying not having a desk organised with all your bits, and packing and unpacking every day?
Sounds messy and time consuming. It'd just make me want to work for a different company!

I just don’t think you need all that stuff. Now I still keep my stuff in my bag and “unpack” it onto my desk in the morning.

I keep a few papers I’m working on to refer to in a folder with my laptop and notebook and pencil case in my bag with my headphones.

No one had their “preferred” desk and we did all move round. It really was good. They were just white desks which moved up and down with screens and docking stations.

Keep your paracetemol and swanky tea bags in your locker.

I miss it.

What is it that people use every day (in an ordinary office not a lab or something) that they need to have at “their” desk. We had a shared stationery cupboard with staplers and stuff, lots of printers, kitchens with plenty of mugs and coffee machines and so on.

We were encouraged to store things electronically and recycle paper when we’d finished so there weren’t piles of paperwork left around. There were lots of cupboards to keep brochures or equipment in.

My old office didn't officially hot desk (because the try didn't want to do all the h&s sthff) but as a part timer I often either had to share with someone who worked different days or would not have an allocated desk. So I would arrive and have to find somewhere to sit, preferably with a computer that worked (that might mean trying several desks), clear the desk (it was supposed to be a clear desk office), find a chair...and even if I did have an allocated desk they would.
often put a visitor in it because in ten plus years no one could remember my working days.!!!

At one point I was practically in the car park, not near anyone else and miles from my team. My new line manager then had the audacity to say that I wasn't a team player...

I'm not saying it was why I left but...

YANBU, I also work from home,with occasional hot seating in an open plan. If i go in when it's quiet, not so bad.

It's not too bad, I kind of enjoy being around adults after being a SAHP for so long, but I have sensory issues and when a few people are talking at the same time on phone/chatting I can't concentrate at all. People desk eating near me make me want to vom/pass out, which I know isn't "normal" but I have to leave my desk for a few minutes or I feel very sick, especially if the food is smelly, and crunching /smacking sounds make me want to stab someone! if I worked in such a place full time I'd try to get desk eating banned, I'm sure everyone would love that!

What is the thinking behind hot desking?

Many years BC (before computers) I worked in an open plan office which was great. But we all had our own desks.

Nanny it's a territorial thing. We like to mark our space. That's irrelevant to accounting but it helps avoid people feeling depersonalised.

Hotdesking is hideous (millennial here). My organisation claims to have flexible working but doesn't really unless you have the right boss, so the reality is you can't work from home and have to hot desk.

Part of my job is making sure people have the right equipment at their desks and are comfortable (especially those with medical issues) and it's just so much harder to do when someone is at a different desk everyday. Hot desking is basically cost-cutting, not only on space but on equipment, there's a real reluctance to buy anything specialist when staff move constantly. Hotdesking also masks a lot of issues caused by working at computers since different setups can mean staff don't get symptoms every day so are less reluctant (and able) to pinpoint why they're in pain. It's a nightmare and seems to be becoming more of an issue as far as I can see.

Sorry more reluctant not less. I need sleep

Someone mentioned upthread a 75% occupancy rate within their office - that is actually quite high.

There is a gizmo now available which records exactly how long a particular workstation is occupied, and sends the info back to facilities. From an employers point of view, why have the space and desks for 100 people, if you only ever have 50 being used. Could virtually halve the rent and business rates, as well as other costs.

It is territorial though - the girl in the corner can't have all of her pink fluffy toys on her screen, and photos of children everywhere, if she hotdesks.

Also, the back up needs to be provided. The cleaners should clean each desk properly each night, there should be sufficient breakout/collaborative working space - and I like the idea of everyone being issued with their own mouse and keyboard, as someone mentioned earlier.

Personally, I like my own desk though!

Many moons ago I was temping when hot-desking was new. I had a few days working on reception in one company where the reception desk, which was permanent, was in a central corner (if that makes sense). It struck me that at least 1/3 of the permanent staff spent most of their days walking round in circles trying to find other colleagues!

Regarding the tea thing, if I've drank more than I've made one day then I always wash up 'to make up for it!'

We don’t have assigned desks and I start late after the childcare drop off. Fortunately I head the team so they just leave me my desk mostly!

We have proper hot-desking and I love it. The desks only have a screen and docking station, and there's lots of anti-bacterial wipes for cleaning down the desk before you leave/when you get in. Everyone has a fixed locker for coat/bag/brollies, and a decent sized locker on wheels to keep your laptop, keyboard, mouse, notebooks, pens, post-its, cups etc (it looks a bit like an inflight trolley!). The desks are height adjustable (you can stand while you work if you want), the mouse and keyboard are wireless. Any phone calls are taken through your laptop with a headset. There are soundproofed 'phone-booths' with a just a table and stool to take phone calls scattered throughout the office, and people go to the lounge for coffee/chat/informal meetings.

It can be tricky to judge when best to get in - too early and yes, you can choose where you sit but then have no say on who ends up sitting beside you; better to come a bit later if there are chattier people you want to avoid sitting beside!
I like the variety, and how clean it all is - and starting everyday at an empty desk is unexpectedly nicer than I thought it would be. The personal lockers are made of metal - so people pimp them up with fridge magnets/photos etc, so I guess that helps avoiding it feeling too impersonal. We have 4 desks for 5 people. It is really only busy on Tuesdays, its seems fewer people work from home that day (most people work one day from home - which is actively encouraged), or have it as a non-working day (a number of people work 80% or 60%).

The 'proper' hot seeking arrangements sound bearable. But what going on it the office I'm
in isn't that!

Nonetheless, today was somewhat of an improvement. I was at a desk that hadn't had its mark left on it by a previous occupier. Unfortunately Crumb Man was in the office, and proceeded to eat a packet of Yum Yum's in a way I can only describe as a slurp. He then proceeded to talk about his online dating progress - shudder for the poor mites dating him.

My poor DH used to work in an office where Radio One played permanently. At least he knew all the latest music! I’ve worked out that I actually work better in absolute silence, your office would kill me, OP and I’m afraid I would spend a while cleaning, the crumbs would drive me nuts.

I get the idea behind hot decking, a mate does it in the Walkie Talkie building, it’s HORRIBLE!

You know there's big productivity issue in the UK atm and no-one is sure why it's so low? I completely and wholly blame open-plan and hot desking. It is fucking impossible to get any serious, thinking work done. It suits light, repetitive admin tasks only.

@Swedish respectfully totally disagree. My team worked on projects which were not light repetitive admin in an open plan hot desking environment and big things were achieved. It is about focus (and wearing noise cancelling headphones) not closing people off in offices. Also pods and break out spaces are factored in so there is always somewhere to go for a meeting or creative session.

My new office is open plan with allocated desks and creativity is much harder. People get stuck in their ways as well as their desk position.

We have hot desking, at work, and it's fine get in early and get whichever seat you want

That is exactly how hot-desking should not work.

I'm sure "big things were achieved.". But how much more could have been achieved if people had had their own desk? I too work in a creative environment where we're sold the "it's great for collaboration" line. Yes, to a point. But staff end up having to catch up at home with the work they couldn't get done in the office.

Oh yes, Swedish, I worked for 3 hours yesterday evening. Before anyone says that this was my choice - not really. I was underprepared for a meeting today, because the office environment was so distracting. It was the last thing I wanted to do - I've got a baby who I'm missing very much all day.