Hot Desking Psychology and Relationships in the Office

Posted Tuesday 4th December 2018

What do you think about hot desking? Do you see it as a practical, common-sense, and affordable way to work? Or do you see it as a challenge – one that you were not born to meet head on?

Everyone has an opinion about hot desking. However, some people have delved into hot desking psychology and discovered some interesting facts about how it works. The nature of relationships between office workers has long been an interesting topic. However, hot desking has changed the way we work more than almost anything else.

Do we connect differently with people when we hot desk?

The short answer is yes. Hot desking makes us more likely to sit next to people we wouldn’t associate with during the normal working day. It matters little whether we sit next to someone from the same department or from a different department. We will still be sitting next to people we never did in a regular office layout.

This can make us feel uncomfortable at first. Change is something many of us resist. Yet there are significant advantages to associating with different people each day. Firstly, you’ll make more connections, learn more, and make new friends. Secondly, if you do encounter someone you don’t get along with, you’ll know you can sit somewhere else the next day.

Strengthening relationships throughout the business

Some people are natural loners, while others thrive on working in teams. Hot desking still gives us the ability to work in different way – the ways we prefer most. Yet we can also connect with others when it suits us and the work we are doing.

While many people do feel nervous about hot desking to begin with, those nerves will eventually settle down. Adjusting to any new working experience takes time. The trick is to realise relationships throughout any office space – even a shared one where people from several businesses work – will change when hot desking is introduced. Imagine meeting new people from businesses in similar industries to yours. It would previously have been far more difficult to meet like-minded people, yet hot desking has the power to put everyone together in the same office.

There can be challenges involved in hot desking. However, if you approach it with logic and knowledge on your side, you can benefit in numerous ways. You can also benefit from new and strengthened relationships, which is perhaps the best bit of all.