Does anyone actually like hot desking and/or open plan?

[BMXsummoner]

I’ve recently started working for a company that does hot desking in a very open plan space. Prior to this I had always either had my own office (albeit entirely glassed so anyone nearby could see what I was doing) or my own desk in a cubicle type setup. Reasons I hate it:

• wasting a minimum of 5 minutes every morning and afternoon getting everything I need for the day out of my locker (power cables, headset, notebook, water bottle etc.) and getting set up at my workstation and then packing it all away again at the end of the day
• related, nowhere (like a set of desk drawers) that is convenient to store anything that would make my workday easier or nicer (snacks, extra stationery, painkillers, cardigan for when the office temperature is set to freezing)
• further time wasted if the work station I choose is defective and the monitors don’t work or connect to my laptop
• drab, impersonal workplace where no one can put up photos etc.
• putting up with all the inconsiderate arseholes in the office (the pen clicker, the chuckler, the stinker, the guy who gets 11ty million phone calls a day with his loud obnoxious ringtone)

I fucking hate it. I get why companies might think it’s a great idea (all the bullshit about fostering team work while saving money on floor space) but do any workers actually like it??

I like it. Used to have my own office years ago and much prefer working open plan. As long as there is enough rooms to do zooms etc

We don't have hot desks but are open plan.
I love open plan, to the point if I wfh I put office background noise on you tube so I can concentrate!
I am conditioned!

I have no issue with it. I arrive, sit, plug in laptop and work. All my stuff is in my bag. I sit wherever is closest to the people I like. It’s never occurred to me this is an inconvenience but I’ve worked remotely for 15 yrs so maybe that’s why I don’t mind it at all.

It’s ok. Had it for about 6 years. My problem is that many of my calls are confidential and I can’t make or take them from open space and private rooms/cubicles are severely limited.

I don’t mind it either; all those photos people used to put up annoy me anyway

The open plan I can hack. I just hate not feeling like I have my own space.

Hot desks are great if you were a person who was allocated a crap middle desk

People who bring in personal photos and too much crap that wonders over to your desk are just as irritating as pen clickers and fish eaters

I prefer it, I work part time as do most of my colleagues. Desks are neater and offices tidier. The alternative was sharing a desk as teams became more flexible and reduced hours but there wasn't a desk for everyone to have and sitting at someone else's workstation felt like being a cuckoo surrounded by all their family photos!

I am truly amazed at how I got used to hot desking, I actually like not having the opportunity to develop lots of piles of crap over my desk. We do tend yo have seats we sit in habitually but no issue if someone else at that desk first. Open plan I struggle with more now due to getting used to working in quiet at home and taking calls seems so odd now with other people over hearing /talking around me. I usually dive off to a quiet room if I can. Before generally I liked open an unless there was too much chatter about absolute crap.

Open Plan when I didn’t hot desk was awful because of the noise.

Hot desking is awful because of having to fight for space.

Hot desking plus open plan make me feel less valued as a worker, especially when senior staff get their private little spaces.

I don't, though accept it as a by-product of only going into an office for one or two days a week.

The people with no consideration for others should be tackled. They are work colleagues not your friends and so if they dislike you for it, that's their problem.

I am with you @BMXsummoner , I haven't had a desk job for a few years now but I had to hot desk when I did.
I didnt put photos up or have desk toys but it made my life easier if I could leave documents out ( nothing confidential) .
I used to leave them out in order of importance so when I got in the following morning I could jyst pick up the top one and get on with it .
It also ment I could have the back support on 'my' chair and foot rest that made sitting more comfortable.

It was open plan but set up with desk walls so people couldn't spread put on to my desk , something that drove me mad when they were removed .

I like it, but only go into the office twice a week. I save all of my work that matters for when I'm at home because I just CANNOT concentrate. I've also had people being gobby behind me when I've been on a client call, which I found so distracting.
But I do like the 'agile' vibe of sitting wherever. I think I like that it feels modern, which is a totally twatty thing to say!
I just wish I could store salt and pepper somewhere for my lunchtime salad!

It makes economical sense. Especially now many companies work hybrid. They can buy smaller buildings. We have been doing it 10yrs plus and entirely used to it. I just take out my laptop from my bag and plug it in and make a brew. I don’t need a ton of stuff on my desk and neither does anyone in my team. We all have a locker and a small tub for any desk essentials but I don’t bother

I’ve been doing it for nearly 10 yrs now although last two I mainly WFH. I don’t mind the hot desking as a principle, I found the need to have numerous pictures of children etc a bit much. Although one place I worked never had enough desks so if you got in on time but not early you could end up hunched over in a stupid armchair in a “break out zone” with your laptop on your lap.

I would love an office or booth though. I’ve read things that talk about how terrible open plan is for productivity and mental health. Probably why lots of people are so much happier WFH, me included.

I like it but if been doing it for 10 years before the pandemic. People who cover their desk with personal stuff are just as annoying as the pen clickers (and they are usually the ones who claim to have medical reasons for needing a window desk). Only irritation with it now is that my office doesn't have many small meeting rooms so taking confidential teams calls can be difficult.

I only go to the office a few days a month.

Hot desking means it's nice and tidy instead of the cluttered nests people used to build.

I take a rucksack with the stuff I need.

I haven't noticed it taking loads of wasted time to sit down and get started.

I've worked in open plan for many years. It's normal.

Although to add I only go to the office when I need to see people face to face. Utterly pointless to go there for zoom meetings. I can do that at home.

I remembered reading an article about research on how workers were much happier when given some degree of control over their office environment (i.e. the opposite of hot desking). I can’t find it now but did find this review of research into open plan offices. Conclusion - they’re generally not good for workers.

We have an app you book your seat on - makes life easy as we have our own areas and so generally sit in the same desk each time we are in. Only issue is if I come in on a day that isn't our 'teams' I am never quite sure where to book my desk......

I guess if people rarely go into the office and work from home a lot of the time then the psychological impact of having no control over one’s workspace in the office is much less.

Yes I read something about the happiest workers had a door they could close, a window they could open and a wall they could bash their head against (that last bit was a joke obviously!). Offices/desks round the edges of the room next to windows were ideal but a lot of places now reserve these premium spots for meeting rooms etc.

We had open plan and then went open plan hot desk. We don't have nearly enough hot desks (there is some recommended ratio, like 80% or something, we are WELL below that), people are booking out meeting rooms to work, and often I end up working in the canteen, or another non-desk space, hunched over the laptop. Whats the point of coming in then? If I wanted to work in my kitchen or a cafe I would. I never sit anywhere near my team so still have no idea about who they are or their personalities. We do have desk booking system, but people book and then dont show up, its a disaster.

I liked open plan with my own desk - I think that can foster a lot of culture and relationships as people ask about what is on your desk, or someone chucks a ball around or something. You know who is next to you (although yeah, sucks if its next to the gross person). Even cubicles were nice earlier in my career.

One thing Ive done since going to hot desking just before the pandemic was pack a specific backpack with everything Ill need. Painkillers, extra charging cords, snacks, pens, my office pass. That way I just need to insert laptop and go. I do have a locker but I havent opened it since October 2019 and no idea what is in there anymore!

It's the noise I struggle with in big open plan offices. I don't mind the actual hot decking as long as they're clean & no equipment is missing.

Open plan has advantages that you can hear and chat to people, removes some of the loneliness that people have. But at the same time I think they can be too big and noisy.

I don't like hotdesks. I can ever get the chair to be comfy.