I’ve been kept up late at night recently for two reasons. Firstly, the AirBnB in the adjacent building has a bathroom light that would be more suited to NSW police helicopter searches and despite a strong rotation of guests, they appear to not be phased by the retina-stinging light it emits. Secondly, in the churn of your daily life as an advertising professional, how does one ensure the creative juices are kept flowing? Furthermore, how do you protect and nurture the important creativity of your teams and how do you turn negativity into a gold mine? All troubling questions, I’m sure you’ll agree.
The former could naturally be solved with slightly more socially conscientious neighbours, but the latter presents us with a slightly trickier problem.
Far be it from me to offer up the myriad of things that could potentially maintain/improve creativity, but rather, I want to focus on the environment in which you and your team apply their craft. So the question is… Hot desking – just part of the ongoing marketing buzzword bingo or an effective way to run a small business or enterprise?
Hot desking encourages a “conscious uncoupling” from the traditional office setup and encourages more flexibility. With two-thirds of companies to hot-desk by 2020, here are some of the pros and cons that are worth considering with a flexible work place:
Pros
- Saves time, space and money
- The money saved can be spent on training, social events (let your imagination be your guide)
- Creates a more collaborative environment and increases interaction between staff
- Presents a tidy and minimalist appearance – good for visiting clients
- A flexible solution for remote office workers and consultants
- Share space hot-desking provides exposure to other people, thoughts, ideas and perspectives
Cons
- Staff can miss having their own personalised space. Boo-hoo, right?
- Staff can (sometimes) resent disruption to the office hierarchy
- The business may need to increase IT resources to deal with hot desking
- Health and safety can be an issue for employees who have particular needs
- Utilities expenses will increase
- Will need to have an admin person to help running the initiative
- Need sufficient space and facilities to keep everyone happy
Personally, I have found hot-desking an imperative during my cold and lonely years as a freelancer. It has provided me with reassurance when I’d resigned myself to an island in a digital wasteland, it has provided a soundboard for rubbish ideas and fundamentally it’s helped keep the creative tap plumbed in.
I’m interested to hear from you if you:
- Currently hotdesk. What is the number one benefit to you?
- You think hot-desking is a waste of time. Why do you think this is?
I look forward to hearing from you.
On a side note…
What’s that? Do you want to take the first step to hot-desking like a PRO? Well, funnily enough, our good friends at Studio 9 run a shared space studio where you can hot or cold desk with fellow creative minds. We’d love for you to start the next big thing right on our doorstep and who knows, we might even be able to help you get there. Get in touch below if you’re interested and would like to know more!
Link to Paulina’s Studio 9 Instagram site here www.studio9space.com
