Hot desking -touchy subject

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I am the line manager of a team of 13 .They arent an 'easy' team at the best of times but I am slowly getting used to them as a team.
My big problem is that we only have 10 desks for the 13 people. So they have to hot desk - or rather desk share as we are supposed to say now. Easily said but not so easily done. If there arent spare desks on the team they have to seek out a free desk elsewhere in our (huge) office.
There are a few who have special equipment etc who cant share desks and this increases the amount of sharing done by the rest. Now 2 have said they will not share as it is too stressful for them.

Aaargh - what can I do to get round this problem? I know they will trot off to the union at the slightest hint of insistence from me.I am new to the team and not too sure of my ground.
I just want to sort it amicably .

Is there a way?

So thinking of a rota...there are really 11 people and 8 desks. 5 could have permanant desks, and the remaining 6 peoplecould have a rota on the remaining 3 desks?

Every team in the building desk shares and technically there will be a free desk somewhere as its a very unusual day when everyone is present. But that desk may well be 2 floors and 1 wing away from base.(this is actually a very very unusual scenario but is possible nonetheless)
There is supposed to be a clear desk policy but people are people and baby photos and gonks are still around.Not to mention the dirty sods who refuse to clean their own space so their desk is out of bounds due to being a health hazard.
There is a rota but this is what they are complaining about as not everyone is on the rota due to being unable -or unwilling to take their part .

Is management always like this?I HATE IT

Who is in charge of the office? The clear desk policy needs to be strict if they expect this to work. But that is not your responsibilty alone.

You can't do much about the unables but the unwillings, well...

This sounds barking to me. My employer has (I would guesstimate) about 1 desk to every 3 or 4 people, but that is because most people are not in the office most of the time - they are with customers or working from home. Sure, there are occasional mornings in some offices when if you get in after 8am you have no chance, but they are rare.

But people who do need to be in the same office every day are exempt from that and have fixed desks (in order to have a fixed desk in the most expensive office space (City) you need sign-off from God and his best mate) - surely if your team do have to be there, then they need fixed desks?!

I'd be sending them to the Union myself. I think this is incredible. Your top management sound like complete jerks - do they share desks?

Yes -well you would think that if you have to be there then at the very least you would have a designated desk.
But as it is such a big building and there used to be so many spare desks(before the recruitment boom) this is the way it has to be.
During the school holidays and at the end of the week there are desks aplenty. Its just the beginning of the week in term time that poses the problems.

Im trying to compose an email to the team to ask them to share nicely...

i think in order for the system to work there have to be sanctions for non compliance with the rota system or clear desk policy. it is simply not on for a couple of people to refuse to comply. i would seek advice from your hr and ask them what the escalation process is, and make it clear to people that there will be consequences if they take the piss. it is simply too disrespectful towards their colleagues.

unfortunately if you don't nip it in the bud, things can only get worse...

but as i said get help from hr on how to deal with this.

you have to take this to a more senior level in terms of getting rota set up across organisation and CLEAN clear desk policy rigorously enforced. it can;t be a case of first in best desk - simply not professional.

it must be a problem for other team managers too.

in the meantime make it clear that you acknowledge their stress (I'd be hacked off too if I had to sit amidst other people's crap), and have a meeting to discuss possible solutions.

I don't blame your colleagues, I've desk shared before and HATED it.

Constant problems with the computers, I never knew which printer my work was being sent to, I had to drag my stuff around with me all the time, and I would be sat next to different people every day, so would be more difficult to build up relationships / friendships within my team because I would barely see them from one day to the next (BIG office). It felt like being the new person every day.

You need to ask your colleagues what their main problems are and what you can do to make it easier for them

As a manager - to avoid the riot - I would promise to escalate the issue - then run (out of sight of team) to my own manager and to HR - make them the bad guys, and you can play the 'we're all in this together, now let's all play nicely' role once that is done (and offer smarties for the best ideas from within the team as to how to make it work - but don't try that one unless/until you feel some degree of sense of humour has been restored!)

To help you and your team get to the bottom of the problems, they will have to be very specific about the issues that are causing them to be stressed.

I often find that people will generalise and say things like: "We are all stressed all the time, it will never work"

Essentially, you need to make everyone talk to you individually and to start their statements with "I" (not we, or some of us). Then make them specify what the problem is, how it makes them feel, and exactly when it occurs (and make them identify days of the week and times of the day, not just "during term times").

If you can help them to identify exactly what the problems are and you can get a list of statements like "Karen finds it very difficult on a Monday morning when she needs clear space to call 15 customers"; "Bob needs to have the same space on Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday to deal with the reconciliation files"; "Tracy gets cross when she arrives to use a desk and find that papers / cups / used tissues etc have been left there, and she has to tidy up before she can start work.

Then, you (and your team) can work out how to resolve the specific issues, and identify which times / days / situations cause real bottlenecks.

Then you can go to management with a list of specific requests that you need help with e.g. Strong, enforced policy on clear desks, access to 2 extra desks on Monday between 8.30am and 11.am, etc.

Good luck. It is a really, really tough thing to manage - removing someone's territory can makes them feel very vulnerable. But as others have said, some of these things which seem like idiotic cost cutting measures, are actually necessary to keep people in a job.

I hot desk - but that's fine because I have 2 p/t time jobs, so always get the same desk when I am in, and someone else uses the desk on the days when I am not there. Other than having to consciously limit personal crap, it's workable. But the situation you describe sounds utterly demoralizing, and in the long-run highly time inefficient. Agree with DollyParting about finding out and trying to fix the biggest problem areas.

Hi there,

We have hot desking in our organisation but luckily we have managed to find an alternative solution in our team - mixture of home working / part-timers / lots of travel / meetings means most of us have our own desk. We do all have to maintain a clear desk though - there are regular "sweeps" and removal of anything left on desks at the end of the day, but that is not a problem. We all have a large drawer and you can request a locker if you bring in gym kit or shower at work etc.

When it was introduced we were promised that all the desks would be individually height adjustable. However, on implementation, they were not (cost cutting measure I suspect). This meant that many people's ergonomic needs were potentially not being met.

Please ensure that your staff have an ergonomic / work station assessment to ensure that hot desking is a suitable arrangement for them. Make sure the desks can be set at the right height and the screens can be adjusted to suit. Also, I would suggest that you allocate drawers in a sensible way so nobody with a bad back etc. has to bend to the lowest drawer to get their equipment.

Do bear in mind the health risks associated with swine flu and other communicable diseases and ensure phones and keyboards are cleaned properly between staff.

Good luck!

About 75% of the offices I consult in hot desk, I can see it being almost 100% in a few years time ? You don't need to be looking to escalate this but to manage the non compliance . Dirty desks are not acceptable ? look to your discipline procedure, same with not being on the rota ? Don't ask people if they want to be on it ? put them on it and make it clear its part of the job.

This needs to be '' dressed up '' in nice management speak though ? i.e. '' yes its not my personal preference but its now how the job works'' '' as a team we have a rota''

You sound lovely but need to develop a ''game'' face for the protests lol They are picking up on your
''I don't like telling people what to do''