In-office buildings all over the world, there are different office strategies. The most common are office hoteling and assigned seating. Assigned seating is the most common traditional office strategy, but it has given way for office hoteling. Don’t know the difference? Here are some interesting points about the two office settings, their characteristics, pros, and cons.
Office Hoteling
This office arrangement requires employees to share common areas and also workstations. It has no assigned space for each worker hence the term hoteling. This type of office strategy comes with a lockable storage area or desk drawer where employees can store personal items such as laptops, keys, and documents, etc.
Hoteling entails checking and pre-booking office hotel space, which may be required for meetings, like in an actual hotel. Even when the room has empty unoccupied desks and workstations, they must first check with the central booking to unlock their space.
Benefits of Office Hoteling
Increased Control Over Workstation
The major benefit of office hoteling is that you get more control over your workstation. The office hoteling strategy allows you to choose the most suitable space for yourself and not be assigned a desk by someone else, who may or may not know what is best for you. It’s more of self-control than anything else and it works well with all types of businesses where people need personal control over their individual office space.
It’s Flexible and Cost-Effective
Hoteling is a flexible office arrangement that works well in different settings such as home offices, co-working spaces, or serviced offices. Hoteling also offers cost savings by allowing employees to share the same desk when not working. Companies can save on utility bills, rental costs, and furniture costs.
Drawbacks of Hoteling
Reservation Issues
Its effectiveness relies on software and good record-keeping. If the co-working space doesn’t maintain good record-keeping practices, you may lose your reservation. This can be very disastrous when you have a looming deadline.
Problems Making Reservations for Big Teams
When dealing with big teams of over ten members, it may be difficult to make reservations that can accommodate them all. The method only works well when the reservations are made earlier.
Assigned Seating
On the other hand, office assigned seating is more traditional and comes with a pre-assigned workstation for each worker. They are typically assigned by seniority or position in the organization and employees cannot switch desks unless there’s an official reassignment of seats based on their performance reviews.
Benefits of Office Assigned Seating
Security and Privacy Paramount at All Times
One benefit of office assigned seating is that workers have a sense of security knowing exactly where their workstation is located without having to look for it each day.
Privacy is another benefit of the office assigned seating since each worker has their own dedicated space without the distraction of others working near them or sharing a desk with someone else. At times, it may be necessary for workers to share workstations but they will never know who’s sitting next to them until they start sharing their space.
It’s Convenient for Workers
Assigned seating allows each worker to focus on their work without distractions. It’s the most suitable setup if your employees are mostly deskbound or have limited mobility. Assigned seating works well in offices that involve a lot of meetings that need to be conducted within office walls since it is convenient and easy to schedule spaces according to a schedule.
Drawbacks of Assigned Seating
It’s Not Flexible
Unlike office hoteling, assigned seating isn’t flexible and has no individual control over personal workstations. It only works well when the needs of employees are static and most workers tend to be seated for long periods during their day. Assigned seating is more suitable in organizations where there aren’t a lot of meetings, where employees are mostly deskbound, or when workers have limited mobility.
Workers Tend to Be Unhappy with Assigned Seating
Another drawback of this form of office arrangement is that you can’t assign a workstation to someone who needs mobility support since the seating is pre-assigned.
In-office assigned seating, workers tend not to be happy because they can’t decide where they want their desk located and workers are also unhappy when it comes to the issue of privacy. This is because they are working with people who aren’t their direct reports or clients, which can affect productivity levels and workplace morale in general.
Office Hoteling vs Assigned Seating
The main difference between office hoteling and assigned seating is that hoteling offers flexibility, while the traditional model doesn’t. Office hoteling allows workers to change their desk location anytime they want, while assigned seating doesn’t. Another difference is that office hoteling works well when the needs of employees are dynamic and changing often, while assigned seating suits workers whose work requirements don’t change much or those who have limited mobility.
In addition, unlike office hoteling which offers a level of privacy for each worker since they get their own assigned desk, office seating is less of a privacy issue and more about convenience.
Now that you know the two office arrangement models, you can select the best one for your office scenario. Make the decision today as it may be what will propel you to the next level.
