Trying to streamline a small business can be tough. From balancing employee schedules to fielding the costs of a brick-and-mortar store, keeping a company running efficiently is no simple task.

Luckily, a rapidly-growing trend called hot desking is taking over as the latest and greatest way to organize offices. Keep reading to learn more about hot desking and how it works, or jump straight to the infographic to get our tips on how to make hot desking work for your company!

Hot desking is an office trend where employees use desks that are available that day, rather than being assigned to a permanent desk or seat. As its name suggests, hot desking is a hot topic for businesses of all sizes. In fact, nearly two thirds of companies intend to implement shared desks by 2020.

Some companies may have started hot desking in an effort to cut the cost of leasing an office space. Instead of spending money on a larger office floor plan to accommodate every employee all the time, hot desking capitalizes on employees who may not spend every day in the office to create a more efficient work space.

Hot desking works by using varying employee schedules to create an office space where desks can be shared by anyone. It’s all about availability: if Employee A works from home on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and Employee B works from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays, both can use the same desk in the office because they will never be in the office at the same time.

Some companies take advantage of technology to manage a hot desking environment. Using software to “check in” to a desk or reserve a workspace for the day is an easy way to streamline the sharing system and prevent employee overlap.

Hot desking often works best when paired with a more traditional system of desk usage. Many companies use a mix of hot desks and owned desks to accommodate for employee preferences or use variations of the sharing system like “zoning” and “hoteling.”

“Hoteling,” as the name implies, lets employees reserve a desk in advance. This method is perfect for companies who are introducing hot desking or are looking to streamline an office layout without creating pressure to stampede for seats.

“Zoning” creates designated team spaces for employees who regularly work together. With offices that have several types of employees (graphic designers, marketers, accountants, etc.), this variation is a way to create a strong team bond while offering the flexibility of a shared desk system. Instead of sitting next to team members with job descriptions that match your own every day, hot desking may create the opportunity to work near colleagues who may not even be in your department.

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Photo by Alex Kotliarskyi on Unsplash

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