Whitespace Consultants

What a tangled web we weave…

Posted On: 12/07/2015 | In the Category: Office space planning

Most spiders will not tolerate anything invading their web; they will eat anything that comes near, even other spiders…

We’re a bit like that with our own workspace (well not the eating fellow humans), but, just like the humble house spider, we like our own space, even if we’re not in it all of the time.

Studies reveal that on average just 58% of desks are occupied during the traditional working week in the UK!  This means that businesses are potentially tying up huge amounts of money in redundant space!

The nine-to-five shift is slowly vanishing as more and more companies allow their employees to work flexible hours, which means they no longer need to be desk bound, removing the need for a fixed workspace for each and every member of staff.

Hot-desking is a popular way to make the most of the space available in an office as employees don’t have ‘ownership’ of a particular desk and instead could potentially sit at a different desk every day.

Although, whilst there are benefits to hot-desking, it’s not necessarily easy to implement as people can be quite ‘spider like’ in their approach; protecting their workspace and not wanting to remove personal belongings such as family photos. Also, depending on how your office is set up, employees could start to compete over the ‘best’ desks such as those by the window or next to the air-conditioning.

The success of this type of workplace solution will depend on the needs of the users, their work and in some cases their personal needs.

Effective office space planning can make hot-desking more successful as space can be maximised, maybe by removing partitions or creating dedicated ‘zones’, freeing up space you never knew you had.

However, once you have the space available, there are a few points you need to consider to make this new way of working as successful as possible.

  • Make sure the work stations are uniform and easy to use so your employees can just ‘plug in and play’ in the morning and not waste time or become frustrated setting up their workstations
  • Invest in staff lockers so they have somewhere secure they can store personal belongings if they need to
  • Have designated areas where employees can sit when they need a quieter space and where people can work on projects in small teams
  • Get the whole company involved and encourage staff at all levels to hot desk where possible
  • Introduce the concept gradually as it will be a big change for many people, ask for feedback from employees to find out what aspects of it work and don’t work

Eliminating fixed desk space and implementing hot-desking means businesses can become more agile and more importantly potentially save thousands in the cost of their premises.

So, if you’d like to unravel that web of workstations in your office, contact us on 03300 415 119

Bookmark and Share