Hoteling vs. Hot Desking

Although many sources cite office hoteling and hot desking as synonyms, they should not be used interchangeably. Hoteling is reservation-based unassigned seating, whereas, hot desking is reservation-less unassigned seating.

Hot desking started in the 1980s and has received negative reviews for decreasing worker satisfaction. People didn’t like not knowing where they would be working when they showed up to the office, or if they would even get a space. As can be imagined, the more unassigned spaces without any reservation system, the more chaos and dissatisfaction there was.

Hoteling has taken the best ideas of hot desking and applied centralized scheduling for space management so that everyone can reserve their workspace in advance. This guarantees people have what they need to be happy and productive at work, while still providing flexibility and economies for the organization.

Benefits of Hoteling

Some of the benefit of a hoteling environment are:

  • Reduces real estate overhead by allocating workspace efficiently
  • Accommodates a mobile workforce and promotes telecommuting
  • Improves exploitation of shared spaces and reduces desk vacancy
  • Provides greater flexibility in where and when to work
  • Decreases energy consumption and costs
  • Cuts down on IT, phone, furniture and other resources for permanent stations
  • Increases employee satisfaction and improves talent acquisition/retention
  • Unifies space management by employing centralized booking technologies

Ensuring staff and clients have a place to collaborate is one of the most important necessities in any organization. But it’s not enough to just have the rooms; you have to provide effective room management.

It’s important that people can quickly and easily schedule the rooms and resources they’re looking for if a hoteling strategy is to succeed. Visix room management solutions give you the tools you need to ensure your workforce’s hoteling experience is the best it can be.

>> Find out how our E-Paper Room Signs can help with managing your shared spaces.

>> Download our infographic for 8 Benefits of Office Hoteling with E-Paper Room Signs.