Hot desking

So two weeks ago I/we moved offices to our new ‘flexible working’ environment. Basically hot desking (albeit in rather smart new climate controlled offices).

I will admit that I was pretty nervous about how this was going to work and really feared that the whole thing would be nothing short of an abject disaster of unmitigated chaos and social strife.

However, whilst there have been some teething issues, for the most part I would class the whole thing as a broad success. It’s been funny watching and learning as people come in, pick a desk (a new one almost each day for me) and get on with work.

Mostly people sit with people they know and like or even don’t know but think they will like and then subtle shifts as other people who people generally don’t so much like the idea of move in and then move away or other people slowly gravitate to other areas. And a general theme seems to have developed of randomly having lunch with whoever you seem to have sat with, far too often in some nice café for longer than strictly necessary.

I know feedback from individuals who have been the sole hot-desker in an office has been relatively negative but when everyone is doing it, it seems to work really well and creates this hive of social frenzy and networking. Of course none of this is helping this situation.

And after only two weeks of this new arrangement I can’t imagine going back to having an assigned desk. I mean seriously, how dull is that? Wouldn’t you rather come in and choose to sit next to the hot girl in the office, or at the desk with the window seat, or at the desk which faces away from a close wall so you can surf the internet with impunity?

Ok, so there are drawbacks of having to unpack all your stuff onto your desk in the morning and clear your desk at the end of everyday but it keeps things tidy and enforces self organisation. And at it makes a pedestrian day at the office a little bit more fun.