does anyone hotdesk

[southeatsastras]

how does it work then? not happy

did it for two weeks, many moons ago.
it did not go well.
i got the same feeling that i get when my much taller DH drives my car, and doesn't put the seat and mirrors back in the correct position.

We kind of "hot desk" - I work in a community mental health team and we share desks (2-3 people per desk) We do work shifts though so it is generally ok. The problems we have are one or two "territorial" people - go crazy if anyone sits at "their" desk etc.

We generally manage to have our own drawer. It is a pain but as most of us are fairly easy going it doesn't cause major hassles. (it is tricky if you work the same hours as your desk-sharing partner)

we're resisting the idea at the moment. As far as I can gather, you work at any desk available rather than your own space. It's a way of squeezing more people into less space. Works best if there's a lot of coming and going.

I did & I hated it

Nothing was mine

I had a box of stationery so I could do my job - but even the box was never in the same place - it got shoved all over the place

I hated it

Oh yes Humphrey and people think you might like to clear away 4 cups of cold coffee before you start work, and also you won't mind if they nick your pens out of your personal drawer. (actually it is more of a pain than my first post suggests!)

same as onepieceoflollippop

I do generally, although for the last few weeks since someone left I have had the same desk every shift.

Before that it was a different desk literally every shift - everybody else seems to start earlier than me, so I just got whatever wasn't being used & had to sit with a different team some days. It was a PITA, finding my stuff (vanished sometimes) & moving it, remembering which keyboards have @ in the right place & which don't, fiddling with the chair etc etc etc.

(New people starting soon so will be back to fighting for space)

I don't like it either

(Why are you southeatsastras?)

Hi,

I used to hotdesk (finished work a year ago).

I only worked 2 days a week, so they were never going to let me keep my own desk.

I think it can work okay if the people sharing the desk respect each others space.

I used to put my photos etc on my desk, then lock them away when I was done for the week. It became a bit of a faff, so I stopped bothering after a while.

The only thing that annoyed me was when someone used my stationery and didn't replace it. On the other hand, it gave me an excuse to wander round the office 'collecting' more .

What are you most worried about?

As a sales rep it is pretty standard as you are generally on the road most days only going into the office maybe once a week and generally different team members are in on different days. It wouldn't have made sense to have an allocated desk for each of us. Our 'office' is our car.
How did it work? There were a number of desks that had telephones and network points so that we could pitch up and create our own workspace - first come first served. So on some days when there was a team meeting and all of us were in there weren't enough hot desks for everyone and those that were in later had to trawl round the office to find out who was on hols/off sick.

It is OK if done properly and in conjunction with other flexible working. At our place we get a big cabinet to keep our files and personal possessions in. Our phones are "hot phones" and my number transfers with me to wherever I am hotdesking. I can even transfer it to my blackberry. I could be anywhere and I'd be able to programme a phone to take my number. I also have a tablet PC. To be honest I rarely go to "base" these days and we could probably cut down the number of desks more.

Since we've been doing it we've all found that our work/life balance is better, with obv more scope for homeworking.

DOwnside is that people leave coffee stains on the desk. Boak.

BUT if you are left-handed & can invent a shoulder problem, they will provide you with a left-handed keyboard, a magic mouse with a HUGE wheel, & a chair which must not be adjusted, & then nobody else will want to sit in your place anyway

Or have a hysterectomy that means you can't move about much for a couple of months, you get your own space with that too.

I do - I'm fine with it, only work 2 days pw

The hot desks are in the nicest part of the office and they are always kept clean and clear

I reckon having a desk makes most people hoard crap and be less efficient with their filing etc.

i suppose i can see why they need to do it but i've only just started and have everything arranged. i only do 10 hours a week but it's spread out so that over the summer and school hols i'm pretty much full time (and more).

manager has told me i can share with a bloke that only works monday and tuesday so that means i have to work the rest of the week which isn't really convenient.

so many posts! guess alot hotdesk these days

well, that doesn't seem fair
i don't think that would be a legit reason for a change to your working hours- effectively changing your terms and conditions
the hot-desking in and of itself can be fine though

i'll try to be optimistic and maybe ask for a laptop