This is not your parents’ work environment.  How many of you actually telework compared to your parents just 20 to 30 years ago?  Teleworking has become increasingly popular, both in the private and public sector, thus the onslaught of new vocabulary to describe the fact that you go to an office and don’t really have a specific desk to sit at.  This is known as “hoteling” or “hot-desking.”  Hoteling is based on making a reservation or getting an assigned desk/seating to use every time you go to the office, while hot-desking is based on a first come, first served basis.  Desks are not assigned and you get to chose where you sit.  Hot-desking is typically used by organizations where employees outnumber desks.  Obviously, if you want a specific desk, then you need to get to the office earlier than your co-workers!  

This has become a very popular method of doing work by allowing employees to have a better work-life balance.  You can work from home and not have to commute, thus cutting down on your expenses.

The model for hot-desking was developed in the early 1990’s.  However, technology was not fully developed and therefore the system was not embraced by companies.   Hot-desking started to take off once technology improved, along with communications    and a more mobile workforce.  This concept was actually a spin-off of the Navy’s hot-bunking, in which a sailor who just finished his shift would take up the warm bunk of a sailor just starting a shift.

How many of you work in an organization where hot-desking is being utilized?  What do you think of it?