Ideas for making hot desking less painful

[MercedesDeMonteChristo]

We are shortly moving to a new office and he decision has been taken to hot desk. I am a fan personally, but I know others aren't and I am in charge of the move (though not the decision maker).

I want to set people up for as much success as possible and we are a small team of 16 so I expect people might fall into regular seating patterns.

Every desk will have

• Screen
• Keyboard
• Mouse

I want to add

• laptop stand
• matching adjustable risers for the screens (currently some have them, some are using paper reams etc)
• lockable hot box

Then I want to have a sort of welcome bag on the first day on each desk and so far all I have come up with it

• screen wipes for anyone who might want to wipe keyboards etc

What else can I add to the welcome bag and have I missed anything from the set up?

Things like the printer are going to be a whole lot closer than they are in our current space.

My team and I hot desk across 3 sites, and we have the chiropractic bills to prove it! Never in one place for more than a day so have to carry our whole office with us every day. Snr managers who implemented the system have their own desks in their own offices on a different site and “don’t understand why hot dealing is causing problems”.

The only solution is lots of cakes, sausage rolls and chocolate scattered around the desks liberally imho.

There are no neighbourhoods - we are 16 people. We are downsizing from a huge space to a smaller one with far more breakout and alternative work spaces.

All 16 people are not the same height/weight etc. But currently as I mentioned we people have their screens on box files or reams of paper etc. The new set up will be far far better than what we have with adjustable laptop stands and adjustable screen risers etc. Those who have ergonomic adjustment tools will still have them.

The nature of our organization is diplomatic so people tend to be involved in decisions and consulted, it is just the kind of organization it is. We have screens, keyboard, mice, phones - we are just accessorizing to make the space more workable with risers etc.

How long does it really take to adjust a chair/screen (given no particular impediments)?

13 out of 16 are already happy with this, we have lots of drinks, coffees, lunches and the new building will allow this even more.

Puppy you'll be pleased to know that lack of snacks, drinks and other such goodies is not something that we battle with here.

Hate hot desking and will not work for a company that has it. It does not encourage working collabaretley as people are scattered all over the place, plus people waste time looking for you as they don't know where you are based. In my line of work i need to sit with the same people each day such as the buyer and the planner as need to talk them about things. Also we have discussions that are quite confidential which other people cant hear. We need to be near the finance team aswell as need them to make and do things quickly. Have seen it in other companines and most of the time people dont bother going in, they work from home most days which defeats the purpose of working collaberatevly. Its not a lean way of working as wastes time which in turns waste money. humans by nature want their own space and to make it their own so by habit will go to the same desk each day, someone always wants to desk by the window or hates sitting in an area with a draught. Then you have desk ergonicmics to deal with . As people are saying if you have more than enough desks for everyone assign them their desks and leave two free set up for hot desking. You will make everyone more happy

It is 800sq ft and there are 16 of us. We will all be able to talk to our teams or anyone else we need to. We will be able to find each other and even the communal space is round the corner from our office. This is not an office of 400 people.

My office hot desks, but there aren’t enough lockers or proper desks with monitors for the number of people who work there. It’s a massive pain in the arse. I have to lug everything back and forwards from home each day.
I get in early and so almost always have the same desk, with monitor. Why the fuck it can’t just be my desk as I am there 90% of the time I don’t know.
If I get in later than 9am all the desks are taken and I have to work on one of the communal ‘breakout’ area tables, which, quite frankly, feels like being back In primary school. I hate it. If know I am going to be late in I generally work from home instead.

Whenever I have worked at a desk I like to get it "just so", and have my drawers nicely arranged with my papers (and snacks/drinks!) and have some personal effects on the desk. Hot-desking is IMO the devil of office work, and should be avoided at all costs.

I'd let people have their own space, but then make an effort to improve socialisation in other ways.

Whilst in theory we could all wfh everyday, we don't. We tend to do so maybe once a week and Fridays can be desolate. As stated 13 out of 16 actively wanted this, with only 1 actively against.

Senior managers in our place have their own offices, and are very rarely in them as they are the ones most likely to be at clients offices for meetings, travelling etc.
Bloody annoying when you are squished on to a shared table and behind you is a lovely big office with desk, table, sofa etc sitting empty.

If the company has a hot desking policy it should apply to everyone.

Our policy does apply to everyone. The CEO and EA (me) may have allocated desks, though we are both happy to move around. He hates sitting in his office now and will often just come and sit at a desk anywhere. We are also both likely to use the communal space because we like buzz and he is obviously out quite a lot so anyone could use his desk if we do indeed allocate. There are booths we can use in the communal areas if we have anything confidential to do.

Most of the research into hotdesking has found mostly negative consequences - apart from cost.

You will also need to think about you policies regarding workers with disabilities if you want to avoid an employment tribunal. What happens to specialist furniture, equipment and placement (near toilets in quiet areas etc) that are part of their "reasonable adjustments".

Each desk should have it's own internet cable and a good idea to have some kind of Kensington cable so that people can lock their laptop up when they're away from their desk. In our office we have tubs of anti-bac wipes so that people can help themself when they want to wipe the peripherals.

With regard to a mobile charger - don't forget people have different types of phones so it would have to be one of those gadgets that have various heads on it. What about a multi-port USB hub instead, or a portable power bank?

I echo others that having hot desking in an office where there are more desks than workers is a little bit crazy, especially if most people will sit at the same desk anyway.

The CEO and EA (me) may have allocated desks,

What kind of message would that send? I would encourage you both to lead by example and hot desk with everyone else.

Even move around consciously and see how it goes.

Watching the others get to grips with hot dealing from your own fixed desk might be 'interesting'.

Those adjustments would be made. The new space is actually far more appropriate than the current one. We have some involvement with disability legislation so we would seek the necessary advice and implement what we have to allow someone with a particular need due to disability to work effectively.

Our policy does apply to everyone. The CEO and EA (me) may have allocated desks

Well, then, it doesn't apply to everyone.

I understand you and the CEO are happy to move around - but there's a big difference between having an allocated desk and choosing to sit somewhere else when it's convenient to you, and being forced to move around whether you like it or not.

Almost always, the advocates of hot-decking are those who don't have to do it themselves!

^hot desking. My autocorrect doesn't like hot desking either .

As I have said, we would both prefer to not have fixed desks for ourselves and will actively be hot desking but also using the available space to work agilely. Some level of confidentiality means sometimes we might have to but we are both committed to hot desking along with everyone else.

to work agilely

Agile working! Shall I start a bingo card?

You have 18 desks and 16 staff. Why on earth bother?

I absolutely hate hot desking. I spend far more time digging out my stuff, adjusting the chair, cleaning crumbs/dirty keyboards and trying to log on than I ever did when I had my own desk. I just never feel like I belong anywhere and, for me, that's really important.

I think if you look at the threads on here the majority of people hate open plan and hot desking. It's generally decided by senior people who actually have their own office and spend the rest of the time in meetings so the random shite that follows this set up generally doesn't affect them.

Are you extroverted OP?

Getting chairs set up properly is a black art, IMO, and I have better things to do with my time at work than spend ten minutes fannying around with a chair and then being niggled for the rest of the day because it’s not right. Ditto taking things to and from a locker and cleaning cruft of keyboards.

I am struggling to see the advantage for such a small organisation, TBH. Everyone knows everyone if you’ve only got 16 people, and it’s not on for two people to get fixed desks. If it’s so great, why aren’t you up for it?

If you are going to try it, a clear desk policy by the end of the day must be rigorously enforced. Lockers must be large and close to desks, and management must be committed to as little paper as possible.

cant the 13 hotdesk and the others sit at their own desks?

Because not everyone likes or works well with 'buzz'.