What is Hot Desking ? How will a Hot Desking App help an organisation?

Hot desking which is also called as flexi desks, would be term you’ve probably come across as various conversation since the covid 19 led pandemic broke 2 years back. And many companies are talking of a new hybrid model of work.

What is hot desking? 

The ‘hot desk’ model is a method of managing office desks  in which the seat are not allocated to specific members of staff. Rather than be assigned a desk which they use exclusively, team members can use any available workstation.

When one employee finishes their shift, the workspace is available for a different employee who is beginning theirs. This requires less physical space, which is often at a premium in city locations.

Hot desking refers to utilising any of the available set of desks in a marked-out bay/area in office by an employee on first come basis.

The idea is to bring flexibility to your workspace – allowing employees to move around the office floor to accommodate different daily activities, to work directly with their team or collaborate with different colleagues, and to work in the area that is most appropriate for your current projects or goal

 How It Works :

 By simply using non-allocated desks or workstations within your workspace, hot desking gives your team the freedom to sit where they want, when they want. This can seem overwhelming to manage, but with desk booking technology, desks can be easily booked in advance via a web app or a hot desk booking mobile app. A good desk booking system will have easy ways for employees to ‘check in’ to their booked desks – using a QR code functionality.

There are provisions to incorporate organisation business rules like one bay or section is dedicated to a specific function and only members from this function can book their hot desk seats in this bay.

 The History of Hot Desking

The term hot desking is said to have come directly from the concept of ‘hot racking’ – a naval practice where sailors with opposing shifts shared the same bunk, thus saving space.

Hot desking began in the 1990s, with a Chicago-based IBM business unit engaging in the practice in 1993. In theory, hotel business models inspired the idea, lending the phrase, hoteling

In the modern workspace, desk sharing and hot desking has seen a surge in popularity, as businesses embrace the concept of a flexible working. Clearly, the future is flexible, but why exactly is flexibility in the workplace important, especially when it comes to desks?

 The Benefits of Sharing Desks

 There are many reasons to embrace hot desking in the workplace. From cutting costs to increasing collaboration between colleagues, here are some of the main advantages of a hot desking system:

• Better space utilisation– managing your workspace more efficiently can bring about many positive changes, including significant cost savings and an increase in productivity.  By collecting data on how many desks are used in your space, you can create the perfect hot desking ratio of employees to workstations, promoting ultimate efficiency and cutting costs in the process.
• Increased collaboration– by asking employees to share desks and freely move around the office, you grant freedom to your workforce. Mixing up teams, moving teams around the space, or allowing colleagues whose paths rarely cross to sit next to each other, can all help increase conversation and collaboration across the business.
• Agility and flexibility – if you want a more flexible workplace overall, hot desking is a great place to start. From quiet spaces to areas that allow more chat and brainstorming between colleagues, sharing desks is the first step towards increased agile or flexible working in your office environment.

How to Hot Desk Effectively?

 The key to an excellent hot desking app is to ensure the technology used is simple, easy-to-use and built to last. Seat management tools  provide everything needed to most efficiently manage shared desks via Web app or mobile app . Mobile first use is getting a traction in a modern workforce due to use of booking a desk even during your commute to office.

Neoffice offers single app for all workspace booking – right from hot desking, Scheduling, Meeting room booking, Car park slot booking, Cafeteria seat and book my meal to a contactless visitor management system. Read more about us on www.neofficesoftware.com