BY ALLISON DUNCAN5 MINUTE READ
If you are sitting in a cubicle or—lucky you!—behind a desk in a space with a door —then the concept of “hot desking” may still be foreign. It was to me, until recently. And, frankly, I’m not too hot on it.
I learned all about hot desking when I recently relocated to Minneapolis from Chicago to join an integrated creative agency on their amplification team. It was a selling point at first—aside from the “Minnesota nice” people and the award-winning work. My new colleagues and I are untethered by a designated desk and are free to work wherever we want—the newly renovated headquarters, a coffee shop, home, while traveling, or anywhere we can be most creative and productive.
Sounds pretty cool and progressive. Right?
Well, as I soon discovered, hot desking has been around for a few years and among some of the more brutal criticisms was this in 2015 in Slate: “It’s basically the practice of assigning desks ad hoc based on who’s there at any given time, because you don’t have space for everyone.”
There’s at least some truth to that.
“The trend is driven by the need to minimize real estate costs and provide workplace design solutions that mirror the differences in the ways people work,” says Pete Bacevice, director of research at HLW, a global architecture and design firm. But, he cautions, companies should not make the switch unless they’ve analyzed the benefits and drawbacks.
“Desk sharing is most effectively implemented when organizations undertake a rigorous research process to understand the diversity of work style types and assign people to a pool of shared seats based on the nature of their jobs,” says Bacevice, who is also a PhD research associate at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
An analyst who spends much of their time in heads-down work would probably not do well in a desk sharing situation, no matter what their personality type is, for example. But a sales representative who is meeting with clients in offsite locations and is in the office less than 20% of the time would probably do okay if they get the right space available when they need it.
This spring, Nike Communications, a creative communications agency in New York like the one I joined in Minnesota, unveiled its unconventional office redesign by Homepolish.
“We designed a lot of spaces to feel like working from home with a living room, kitchen, dining table, and even a wine room,” says Nina Kaminer, president of Nike Communications. “PR work is very collaborative, and this prevents some of the silos from traditional desks and cubbies or offices. Our open benching system puts everyone together with no differentiation as to rank or experience, even me.”