The pandemic lockdown witnessed the surging adoption of work from home and zoom meetings. Initially, the benefit seems to be enormous: no travel before and after work, no waste of time on office jokes and gossip; lesser office space and expenses … 2 years on more and more companies started to notice the negative effects too: lack of team building, connection, and collaboration … Companies now ask their employees back in the office fully or partially, and open office plans and hot-desking are becoming a new trend of working life. Employees can choose to work when and where they want, and companies have their teams back together in one office.
Gold ergonomic office suite sit-stand desk & accessories home working
What is hot-desking?
Hot-desking simply means desks are used by different people on an ad hoc basis. Each hot desk typically comes with a large screen monitor, easy-to-reach power sockets, and a network connection port. Staff will normally be given access to a shared printing and file server as well.
Pros
- Maximize space efficiency;
- Reduce office rental and maintenance costs;
- Ideal plug-and-play solution for external consultants and freelancers;
- Encourages cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Cons
- Hot desking is not suitable for companies with high-level privacy requirements;
- Lack of dedicated ‘base’ for users to store their personal belongs;
- Some employees might feel they were not treated/valued properly by the company due to a lack of personal space;
- Some employees might argue team collaboration is an excuse to get staff back in the office because hot-desking won’t guarantee their teammates are always sitting next to them;
- Super quick team interactions are not always possible;
How to get the best of both worlds?
We suggest every open-plan office should have a few sit-stand desks as hot-desking on top of its normal desking. Because of the added health benefit of height-adjustable desks, employees who use them feel they are more valued by the company. While their usual personal desking offers them privacy and quick team interaction.