Some like it Hot Desking

Do you remember that time that office desks were like homes? With all the family pictures, gifts, and gadgets? Well, that time has changed. Now it is the time of the Hot Seats Trend or also called Hot Desking. 

This trend is the workplace of the future, or, actually, for some realities, it is already the present. It is the forward thinking that bosses hope will inspire a new generation of results-driven team-players.
Hot desking, which became popular in Europe and has spread to Silicon Valley tech start-ups and big companies in the last years, is very controversial among people who believe it’s a worker’s right to have an assigned desk. Some do like it and find it inspiring and motivating, and also incentivizes thoughtful behavior and cleanliness. Others think it is annoying, like those university times when every hour meant a different class.

Deloitte did it in 2015. By getting rid of offices, Deloitte has been able to create more space for meeting rooms and other collaborative efforts. This a huge change to office culture and when you get to the core of it, it really depends on what type of office culture you have. Younger people were thrilled to start this challenge.

Square, in its headquarters in San Francisco, has a complete open-floor. There are so many environments in there that the day flies quickly because employees are constantly moving. Square does not want people to sit in one chair all day, because that’s not good for them and it’s not good for collaboration. They want to create intersections of people and ideas. And they promote it by implementing hot desking.

They do so also at Fashism, the online fashion and community retail site, because they believe it creates good energy. It is just contagious to be around people who are passionate and excited by what they do and see them moving around.

Not only new and young startups do it, but also giants like American Express, GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft, and PricewaterhouseCoopers decided to change some office layouts giving no permanent desks to some of their workers. Citygroup is also keeping up with this pace, and announced last year that its Manhattan office will, in addition to better coffee and faster elevators, feature an open-seating plan.

Hot desking is a new reality and companies are adapting to it. This free-range approach, in which employees (and their laptops) shuffle between open tables, couches, and stations, encourages greater collaboration and innovation among co-workers.
And there is no right or wrong in how doing it.