The pandemic spurred major shifts in corporate culture. One of the most notable changes has been the adoption of hybrid work schedules. Instead of spending 40-hour workweeks at the office, employees now spend some days remote, too.
Office hoteling emerged as an option to address the needs of a hybrid workforce. For many businesses, it makes sense to maintain a physical office. What’s changed is the percentage of employees that actually come into the office day to day. Enter office hoteling. With this structure, businesses keep an office and pool desks for their on-site employees. This article will explore the surge of interest in office hoteling and why it's attractive to office owners and teams.
What is office hoteling?
Office hoteling is almost exactly what it sounds like: reserving a space at an office for a period of time. Imagine the last time you booked a room at a hotel. Office hoteling is a similar concept. Employees check online to see what spaces are available, choose their preferred spot, and claim it for their own. Depending on their team's scheduling rules, someone may stay in a spot they have booked for a day or a week (or longer!). Either way, workers can reserve a spot with office hoteling and feel confident it will be available when they check in.
Of course, office hoteling doesn’t only support workers. This kind of system is beneficial for companies, too. Without dedicated desks, businesses that offer a hybrid office environment can be more selective about the space they occupy. After all, they don’t need to accommodate the entire workforce — only a percentage. There are myriad benefits to adopting an office hoteling structure. Fewer desks than employees generates demand, limits costs, and empowers employees to design their own workday. It has all the perks of a permanent office with the flexibility of many co-working spaces. In short, office hoteling gives people choices they didn't have before.
How office hoteling works
So, what does office hoteling look like in practice? The key is a reliable booking system powering employee reservations. To book a desk, employees need to know what areas and dates are available. That frees workers up to be strategic about their schedules. Here’s how an employee might approach booking space in the office:
- Consider the structure of their week — meetings, calls, assignments, etc.
- Choose what kind of space they'd like to work in each day
- Log into their company's scheduling tool to see what space is available
- Submit a reservation request to the scheduling system
- Receive an email confirmation of their desk reservations for the week
- Availability is updated in the system based on their reservations
When the employee comes into work, they’d check in with their reservation information at a front desk and take their seat for the day. Every hoteling system shares this same structure of checking availability, making a reservation, checking in, and checking out.
Why office hoteling is popular
There's a lot of buzz around office hoteling, and for good reason. This process benefits workers just as much as their employers. For employees, office hoteling allows people to reserve space for the kind of work they need to do. For a Zoom brainstorm, for example, it may make sense to reserve a private room with a whiteboard. Some work might demand a quiet, distraction-free zone. Group work could mean needing a larger space with seating for a full team to join. Booking based on desired amenities or environment is just another benefit of this style of flexible office.
With office hoteling providing so many benefits for their teams, it's easy to see why companies want to learn more. The good news for employers is that office hoteling is a surprisingly easy system to adopt, and it's scalable. Companies can try hoteling with a few desks or dozens — the effect is still the same. Keeping a space available for rotating visits can make a huge impact:
- Hoteling drives demand by keeping the office full or nearly full
- Having fewer employees on site frees up resources
- Remote and hybrid employees can enjoy company culture and community
- A smaller space and fewer desks means lower overhead costs
How are hot desks different from office hoteling?
Hot desks are another hybrid office concept that’s on the rise. Hot desks are different from office hoteling because spaces are first-come, first-served (hence the “hot” idea, like playing hot potato). Where hoteling allows employees to book several days in advance, hot desks are much more spontaneous. The organization may share desks, but there’s no guarantee that you’ll have a spot to work on any given day. Meanwhile, reservations are the key to successful office hoteling. When you book your seat, you know for sure it's listed in your name for that day.
What you need to launch hoteling
To launch a hoteling system, businesses only need an office space and an interactive booking tool. As long as teams follow the reservation process, experimenting with hoteling has the potential for a high reward.
The last few years have heralded significant changes in corporate culture, and it looks like office hoteling could be a part of the “new normal.” If reducing costs, increasing flexibility, and building community are all side effects, that may be a very good thing.
