Besides the advantages of Hot Desking, there are also some challenges to overcome. Below you find a short list with the most prominent problems of hot desking.
Uncertainty of having a workspace
The core of hot desking is the absence of static workplaces. Employees are supposed to come into work and decide ad hoc at which desk they want to work that day. While this likely won’t cause any trouble at smaller businesses, it may have an impact on employees of bigger companies, especially when the office has multiple floors. Your employee might take the stairs to a specific floor, only to find that all the workspaces on this floor are already occupied.
This problem can be solved by implementing a desk management tool. With software such as GoBright’s, employees can book a desk from home through the app and be sure of their seat in the office for the day. This way, they won’t waste time looking for an appropriate seat at the office. Additionally, GoBright offers interactive Mapping screens, on which employees can see which desks are available and optionally book a desk.
Adaption takes time
The principle of hot desking is flexibly choosing your desk when you enter the building. This could also be the biggest disadvantage of hot desking, if not well thought out. This can result in uncertainty about where you will be working that day. While this may be of minor inconvenience for smaller organisations with only one floor, the problems arise in bigger corporations. They usually have more floors or even buildings where people can work, resulting in the possibility that an employee arrives on a floor only to find that it is already full. They then have to physically look for a place to sit before they can start work.
When you make use of GoBright Desk Booking, you can book your desk in advance, eliminating this uncertainty. Our platform offers an interactive map (in the portal and in the app) that visualises the workspace and gives employees the opportunity to book the facilities they need. In addition, you can place GoBright Mapping Screens on your floors. This way, your employees can see in the blink of an eye whether there are seats available and where they are located.
Hierarchy disruption
Depending on your work culture, employees may experience hot desking as an unwelcome disruption of the established hierarchy within your office. For some businesses, the hierarchy is not that important. However, when it is an important aspect of your business culture, you might want to consider adjusting the approach to hot desking to fit your office.