Desking. Let's figure this out, together.

Ditch dedicated desks. They cost money, they take up space and they create barriers in a hybrid / flexible work setup. Dedicated desks within an open space will create a feeling of emptiness or loneliness if the majority don't come in together.

Nobody wants to be sitting alone. Would you rather sit in office A or office B?

Office A

Office B

Many buzz words have been floating around regarding how to manage seating or desks in the office. But do you actually know the difference between Desk Hoteling and Hot Desking? Even if they might sound similar they are actually quite different. Take a look at how we define them and see which best fits your needs and company culture.

Hot Desking: is a practice in which the office offers first come first served seating; or basically when an employee arrives to the office he or she could potentially pick up any available space and sit there for the day, without needing to make a reservation and without any fancy technology to help. Sounds easy enough... However, in this scenario, employees won't know where they'll sit or next to who. There will be no tracking of proximity between colleagues in case of Covid-19 outbreak and this has no meaningful thought on strategic seating or collaboration. This solution suits companies who have very large open spaces and can offer a seat to whomever comes to the office on the day. On the bright side, this can spark some creativity by leaning in to the randomness of who people sit next to and what they might discover.

Desk Hoteling: is a practice in which employees pre book desks. Similar to when you make a reservation on a train and get assigned a specific space to sit. You just pre select a space in advance and sit there on the date chosen. This option is great for companies who don't have endless amounts of space or want to optimize the seating they do have in the best way. This method of pre booking desks works hand in hand with a hybrid workplace setup. Your employees just need to find a space for the day they'll attend the office and book it in advance.

Having desk hoteling at your company does require some sort of technology though. But at least, in this scenario, no one arrives to the office without having a space, and even though this isn't a dedicated desk it does create some sort of stability unlike hot desking.

With yoffix, companies can set maximum or minimum days at the office and also how far in advance they want their staff to pre book their seating space. We also offer metrics to understand office utilization and offer a waiting list on overbooked days. Taking it one step further, yoffix also offers office maps or floor plans so that employees know exactly what they're getting and who they will be sitting by, which allows productive and collaborative work between colleagues.

Either way, even if you want to call it one way or the other, we won't fault you. Like we said before, we'd be happy to find the flexibility that suits you and your team. If you'd like to learn more about this topic or check out how the system works just click here.