Hot desking is a flexible work environment in which employees can reserve a desk for the day. This allows employees to collaborate on a project, work at a satellite office, or simply gain a new perspective. This is frequently for short-term, on-demand desk appointments made by employees the same day or a day in advance. Desk hoteling, on the other hand, is a type of flexible seating arrangement that allows employees to reserve a desk for a specific amount of time. These are frequently longer-term reservations for days, weeks, or even months.
Hot desking is common in hybrid workplaces where employees can pick where they work. If an employee does not come into the office every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., it is not necessary for them to have a permanently designated desk. This would result in protracted periods of desk vacancy, making inefficient use of pricey office space.
While flexible work schedules and hot desking were previously based on business culture, COVID-19 has effectively made them mandatory.
COVID-19 and The Surge of Hot Desking
Businesses are adapting as they begin the gradual process of returning to the office. They’re putting in health surveys to make sure employees aren’t sick before coming into work. They are investing in capacity management solutions to ensure that staff can keep their social distance. Only a small percentage of employees can work safely in the workplace, giving employees the option of working where they are most productive: at home or in the office.
Then there’s Hot desk Singapore. You can choose which desks are bookable using this flexible seating technique. Many businesses are implementing a checker-board desk strategy in which every other desk is bookable so that employees can stay six feet apart. When employees plan to work in the office, they can reserve a desk only for the day they intend to be there.
The COVID case extends beyond employee social alienation. Hot desk Singapore provides accurate information about desk utilisation, allowing you to sterilise the area before it is booked by someone else the next day.
However, hot desking existed long before COVID swept the world, and the benefits will outlive the pandemic.
Is Hot Desk Singapore Safe During COVID-19?
Hot desking during coronavirus may appear contradictory, but when addressed appropriately, it has the potential to be an exceedingly hygienic choice.
The obvious source of concern is the steady flow of people using the same location throughout the day. Throughout the day, a hot desk may have as few as one occupant or as many as eight. While they are never present simultaneously, each new presence presents the possibility of new germs. Disinfection is required between tenants. For many businesses, a simple option is to build in 15-30-minute intervals between users to sanitise and sterilise.
Another major safety concern is when there is a verified case of coronavirus in the workplace. Contact tracing must be prioritised, beginning with common spaces. Create a record-keeping system to keep track of who has occupied a desk, when, and for how long.
Hot desking, like every other part of the workplace in the current atmosphere, has the potential to succeed with the proper strategy. If you can keep your employees secure and make them feel protected, hot desking can provide opportunities for a safe return to work and a return to a productive routine.
Hot Desk Guidelines to Keep Employees Safe Amidst COVID-19
1. Personal IT Equipment
The first obvious change must be that IT equipment becomes a personal matter. Staff will require their own laptop in order for hot desking to be safe. If users choose to use an external keyboard and mouse, one must be supplied to each user and kept in a locker or carried between home and the workplace in an appropriate bag or case.
Phones should be removed from hot desks as well, and staff should use mobile devices or softphones wherever possible. If your phone system requires a handset on the desk, keep antibacterial wipes and, preferably, a personal issue phone headset on ready to help make hot desking safer during COVID.
2. Clear Desk After Every Use
Nobody wants to work at a desk that is cluttered with other people’s photos, pens, pots, and fluffy toys. Desks must be ‘reset’ each night for hot desking to function correctly, with personal possessions being carried home or kept in a locker.
Office cleaners should be asked to clean every desk, every night, as part of the hot desking restrictions during COVID-19. If the surfaces are left clear at the conclusion of each shift, this will be much easier.
3. Maintain Social Distancing
It seems apparent that social distancing will be here to stay for the foreseeable future. To make a coworking space hot desk safe, sit down at your existing desk with a tape measure and figure out the best way to seat individuals in order to maintain the required distances. Consider a system of ‘red’ and ‘green’ desks that can be clearly labelled.
4. Create a Rota System
Hot desking is conceivable, but bouncing from desk to desk in a single day will be a thing of the past. The office’s capacity will be reduced compared to when the government urged everyone to work from home. When you’ve determined how many “green desks” you have, consider implementing a booking system so that customers may reserve their desk before arriving at the workplace. This is one approach to avoid breaking hot desks. By exceeding your initial safe capacity levels, you are violating COVID-19 standards.
Unless you can properly clean a desk in between users, consider labelling a desk that was used in the morning as ‘dirty’ until the cleaners arrive and reset it for the next day.
5. Other Hygiene Practices
To limit the transmission of the infection when returning to the office, extra hygiene precautions must be followed in all places. Cleaning should be done on a daily basis, especially if you are hot desking. Before and after use, chairs, desks, and any other equipment left on the desk should be washed down.
Request that personnel perform this upon arrival and departure, and offer suitable products to do so. You should also schedule regular supplemental cleaning in addition to the regular office cleaners. Some companies are considering adopting disposable desk pads, on which any personal belongings can be placed during the workday. When the work is completed, the pad is discarded to ensure the safety of the coworking space hot desk.
6. Meeting Rooms
While not precisely hot desking, meeting room capacity should be considered, and huddle areas should most likely be converted to single-user desks for the time being. Consider what you need to make conference rooms work effectively in light of decreasing meeting room capacity and a rise in the hybrid work environment (where some workers work from home and others work in the facility). Large display panels, wide-angle webcams, and software that allows users to rapidly set up room-based video conversations could be examples. A functional conference space will become an increasingly significant aspect of the office after COVID-19.
Hot desking must be too inconvenient for employees in order to be efficient. Create simple and safe rules and standards. A buffer for cleaning. Processes for signing in and out. Floor plans are constantly reviewed and adjusted. Little things add up to large results.
How to Use Hot Desks to Safely Return to Work
If done appropriately, a hot desking return to work could be one of the safest. Maintain a distance and separation between personnel. Thoroughly clean your workplace. Make a mechanism for tracking and tracing. Each incremental component of a hot desking solution contributes to a reduction in coronavirus risks.
Always take health and safety in mind while making a hot desking decision. Employees will be able to return to work more easily once they understand and believe that hot desks are a safe solution. This is especially true for employees who are hesitant to return to work and may feel more at ease knowing how hot desking benefits their health and wellness.
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