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?

It is sending the message that we often deal with confidential matters and I would expect most adult members of staff to appreciate that. That said, I will definitely be sitting elsewhere and he will too unless he has to deal with something particularly confidential then he too, will work that way. I do not want a fixed desk and would rather take myself off to a booth when necessary, which is more likely the way that it will work. In practice, we have not actually decided but he will most likely have a base and then move around due to the nature of the material he deals with. That is a business need to some degree. People will also be free to sit there if he isn't.

Sorry, just seen that you and the CEO do plan to hotdesk. But can’t you see that your roles are very different from others within the organisation, and that forcing everyone to hotdesk because it works for 2 people is bonkers?

And that is why we have a private office, with a communal space to provide the buzz for those who do.

If you don't have lockers are you expecting people to lug the box home every day?

I'm mostly fine with hot desking , I like the lack of clutter, but people usually sit in the same seat, unless someone with a desirable spot is wfh/off.
Adjusting chairs all the time is a pita.
Not having lockers or lockable pedestals makes things awful when commuting. I've worked places without enough and that was the biggest back ache.

As already stated it works for 13 out of 16 and further is palatable to a further 2. It wasn't my idea. I think hot desking is great but my opinion was that it needed to be for far bigger organisations and that for 16 people not so much. We are acting on feedback from the staff.

People will also be free to sit there if he isn't.

Sorry to labour the point, but that isn't really in the nature of a hot desk, is it?

I would be inclined to stop using the term 'hot desking' which many people associate with cost cutting by having fewer desks than people. Maybe flexible working or something less emotive.

I just don't understand why you are imposing this on people when there is no need. If there's a shortage of desks then there's some justification for it, but otherwise it's pointless.

If everyone is as enthusiastic about this as you claim, then why not give them the choice? If it's as you say, the majority will hot desk anyway.

We will definitely provide enough desks/hot boxes. We have storage for these so no, people will not have to lug their stuff home and back, though many do already as they take their laptops home to wfh etc out of choice (we can log on from anywhere so using the work laptop is not necessary unless people want to).

I just don't understand why you are imposing this on people when there is no need. because this is what they asked for and we would want to encourage applicants who do want to work this way going forward.

So 13 people were actively coming up to you saying “please please let us hotdesk!”

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

I have no problem with hot decking. I have a serious problem with hypocrisy. The second you allocate yourselves a desk will be the second you lose my support. Either hot decking works or it doesn’t. Decide.

I wouldn't gush about it too much OP otherwise you may find yourself the most unpopular person in the office....

because this is what they asked for

So there's no need to make it mandatory, is there? Let the two or three people who want it have a fixed desk, and everyone else can happily hot desk amongst the remaining 15 or so desks. You can still sell it as a hot desk environment to new recruits.

I think a bag of stash is a bit patronizing rather than useful.

I agree that ample secure storage space is a better use of your funds than welcome bags.

Will the office be entirely paperless? If not, lockable file cabinets for each team member would be invaluable.

As for the concept itself, I am generally quite skeptical; I think an ideal office both has personal space for each employee and flexible group working space for collaboration. I would also take the 13/16 with a grain of salt—you only know that three of them hate it enough to be honest with you, their boss, not that everyone really wants it. I would also be aware that you mind find yourself missing out on good employees down the line.

That said, it's an experiment. Invest in the architecture that will help make this work, not a temporary welcome.

Personally if work gave me a mouse mat and notepad I would put them in the bin find someone else who wanted them. Mouse mats were useful in 1995 when mouses had those ridiculous balls in the bottom that didn't grip on table-tops.

Ditto notebooks. When you're hot-desking you can't accumulate crap, including bits of paper. My notes for work are all in Microsoft OneNote. They're searchable that way, several year's worth of them are all in one place, properly organised, and I can't lose them down the back of the sofa. Also you can't copy / paste into or from a paper notebook. (I am very anti-paper as you can probably tell.)

Anything with something silly printed on it will make me feel fucking patronised, will go straight in the bin; and make me think about resigning.

Fruit would make me assume the company was feeling guilty about taking my old desk away or making me fat with all the bloody doughnuts, seriously people what is it with those tasteless obesity balls? Do people actually like them or just pretend to out of politeness?.

Wireless mouses and phone chargers is a nice idea, but in reality they will mostly disappear over a period of about five weeks and cause confusion about whose is whose in the mean time. You could try an honesty box of phone chargers in the stationary cupboard? I dunno, they will probably all disappear.

Coasters, coffee cups, water cups etc will disappear too; these sorts of things don't get looked after unless people have paid their own money for them. Re coffee cup marks, you're better off making sure you've got desk-tops that won't stain, plenty of paper towels available for spilling moments, and cleaners who clean the desks properly every night.

I am a hot-desker (and I can see its benefits as well as its drawbacks), and the key to happy hot desking is to live lean and not accumulate unnecessary junk. Assuming work provides

• a decent laptop,
• laptop charger
• powered USB ports for phone charging
• adjustable screen (ideally two),
• a keyboard and mouse (realistically needs to be wired),
• some adequate form of telephony (we use usb headsets which I used to think were only for posers but have come to prefer over physical phones)

Then all I need is

• my coffee cup (disposable cups banned in our office)
• a water bottle (idem)
• phone charger
• my wireless mouse (I'm left-handed so the wired one will prob be on the wrong side of the desk!).
• my headphones (for making it absolutely clear when I do not wish to be spoken to)

Ideally the work-provided things above would all go through a docking station and into the laptop via a single USB-C port (we're not quite there at our place yet, sadly) if you can manage it.

a packet of antibacterial wipes!

Have you considered how this might impact on any of your staff that may have autism or aspergers? They may find hot decking extremely difficult.

Ah, just seen PP's suggestion of wireless mouses and spare laptop chargers was intended for home use. Makes sense; headsets and usb C docking stations would be good as well in that case.

Glass of bubbly and nibbles at lunchtime on the first day would do it for me! :-)

What should you give them?
A list of job hunting websites.

Hot desking is SHIT. Especially when you don’t have the fallback luxury of your own desk- you know, like you will.

I think in this situation hot desking sounds fine - more than enough desks, small number of people, plus desks you can adjust and stand at. Its probably an ideal scenario. Decent size lockers are a must. I always think it would be good if everyone had their own chair- because I agree setting it up is a total pita and often you don't bother and end up with sore legs or back without noticing.

There was a lot of fuss back in the day made about working safely at a desk with people getting chronic back problems, and RSI and all sorts. Quite rightly too - these things can cause people huge amounts of health problems. I think hot desking seems to be bringing these problems back. Two of my friends one 5' 1 and one 6' 2 have both developed back issues from hot desking.

Setting up a chair or a desk properly is an exact science. And in big organisation with too few desks, a manager who insists no one work from home, people sitting on soft chairs in break out spaces balancing lap tops on their knees. No wonder all sorts of people developing chronic back, shoulder, arm problem. Then you have some of their colleagues like the poster further up the thread that think they are putting it on just to get a better desk. Staff are just generally fucked off all the time. But hey ho it saves money.

Reading what you've said OP, I'd say tacitly acknowledge that it's hot-desking in name only. That everyone needs to be on board with the clear desks, lock boxes, and so on and that you can't always get your favourite desk every day, but that you kind of know most people will take the same desk most of the time.

Hot desk veteran of many years standing, or rather sitting.

The collaboration with other teams by moving around etc is a myth. People tend to stick to their favourite desks, but they have to be cleared up every night, and if someone is sitting in your preferred desk, you can't ask them to move or give them evils.

Lockers are essential. As is good IT.

We have cleaners but they don't clean the equipment, nor do we have our own. The most you can do is give them a wipe with one of those antibacterial wipes. We don't use landlines, all have an iPhone. Sometimes, if I know a messy eater has been using a desk I am sat at, I give them a deeper clean. No rise in colds or infections.

There needs to be regular inspections of the desk. Are there enough foot rests etc. Also, there will be resisters who will leave their stuff on a desk or will be downright abusive to those sitting in their desks. Photos of their beloved, stress toys, etc. Give them a couple of warnings about clear desk and after that just swoop it up and dump it near the bin.

The pros for me, being able to move away from everybody you cannot stand. New person joins, sits near you, is obnoxious or loud, just move.

It definitely has a detrimental effect on the team, we are fully agile, WAH a lot too, so we tend to be ships that pass in the night.

All offices will be like it at some point. You can't outrun it!

What exactly is 'buzz'? You implement some blue sky thinking and be sure to touch base and cascade all the info.
I have zero respect for people who trot out the usual jargon because they think it makes them sound on trend and clever

IME the biggest complaint about hot desking is the chairs. Especially if someone has been assessed as needing a particularly supportive adjustable one (which everyone should have IMO) They always end up being used by someone else and it’s too awkward to reclaim it.

The last company I worked for (I'm self-employed now, in a different industry) did this. My observations:

Wipes etc are a good idea. The boxes aren't; the whole point of hot-desking is to promote a leaner, minimal work environment. If everyone has a box they're having to cart around it'll just create clutter and mess.

Maybe do a nice welcome thing the day you move in; for example bring in one of those coffee carts that makes/serves real (and nice) coffee for everyone.

Big bins: recycling and rubbish.

Consider asking people not to eat at their desks. Eating at desks = feelings of permanence which is what you're trying to get away from. It's also unhygienic. Drinks are OK as long as people wash up their own glasses and cups.

If desks etc are minimal, plan to spend a bit making the broader workplace environment more inviting and pleasant. Plants, artwork, colour schemes, soft zoning dividers and furniture. If people feel the broader environment is more welcoming, they're less likely to feel that their particular 'bit' i.e. their desk is stark. It'll cost more money (unless your goal is to make the place look and feel like a call centre).

You will encounter issues with territorial behaviour. Both in terms of the office zones and the private room(s). It won't occur straight away and it won't be who you think it's going to be! Just one to look out for.

It's a system that favours dominant, outgoing and systematic personalities. Your ESTJs will take over and your INFPs will hate it and may look to leave.

If it's going to work, everyone's got to do it. Including the CEO. Otherwise you create a two-layer system where the boss gets to enjoy a sense of permanence, but no one else does. That is appalling workplace-culture management; it sends the message that he is secure but anyone else can be moved/removed at any time. It's all too Animal Farm.