8 Must-Have Hot Desking Accessories For Hybrid Work [2023]

Unsurprisingly, more and more companies are adopting the hybrid work model. According to a 2022 study by OwlLabs, over 62% of employees are already working hybrid. 

What’s great about hybrid work is that it promotes flexibility. Hybrid employees experience a better work-life balance and have more control over their schedules — often performing better as a result. 

However, the hybrid work model also comes with a significant challenge: desk space management. With employees coming to the office on different days, you’ll need to ensure they can find an open desk that suits their productivity needs, without having to first scramble to find a space.

Fortunately, the right tech stack and accessories designed to support the hybrid work environment can help. In this article, we’ll review some of the best accessories that make the hot desking experience efficient and employee-centric.  

Quick Summary:

This article discusses the following eight hot desking accessories:

1. Dry-erase boards, which help hybrid employees collaborate and jot down their ideas. 
2. Laptop stands so employees can adjust their laptops to eye level and reduce their likelihood of experiencing neck pain. 
3. Sit-stand desks, which allow employees to work from a sitting or standing position. 
4. Sanitary wipes and anti-bacterial hand sanitizers, which keep desks clean and help prevent the spread of illnesses. 
5. Desktop vacuum cleaners so employees can remove dust and other small particles from their desks. 
6. Desktop chargers and power outlets so employees don’t have to worry about bringing them if they forget them at home. 
7. Office storage units in which hybrid work employees can store their personal belongings. 
8. Backrest chairs to help your hybrid employees adopt a proper sitting posture. 

Let’s dive in.

What is Hot Desking?

Hot desking is a work arrangement system in which different employees use desks in the office at different times. It’s perfect for hybrid work models which include a blend of on-site and off-site employees, who don’t always need dedicated desks. 

Unlike desk hoteling, this system uses a first-come, first-served basis: there are no assigned desks, and employees have complete freedom over when they’d like to work in the office and where.

It’s a highly effective system when combined with the right hybrid work policies — in fact, 58% of employees agree that hybrid work improves their productivity. 

Some companies even allow hybrid employees to change desks multiple times per day. Once the hybrid work employee finishes their work, the desk becomes available once again to anyone else in the office. 

Useful Resources For Further Reading: 

1. Hot Desking vs. Hoteling vs. Desk Sharing: Differences, Pros, and Cons 

2. Hot Desking vs Activity-Based Working: A Complete Guide [2023]

8 Best Hot Desking Accessories for Your Office

Offices should optimize each hot desking environment for comfort and productivity — and this means providing hybrid employees with the proper tools.

Here are 8 hot desking accessories you can use to get the most out of your hybrid workplace hot desking setup. 

1. Dry-Erase Boards

A dry-erase board is an essential productivity tool for a hot desking environment. It lets your hybrid employees write down their ideas during collaborative work sessions, ultimately helping others visualize their thought processes. 

Once the collaborative session is over, the employees can erase their notes so that other employees can use the board. 

Where to Find Them:

• Mr. Pen- Magnetic Dry Erase BoardGhent Melamine Dry – Erase Whiteboard
• Quartet Standard Melamine Whiteboard
• XIWODE Large Dry Erase Board

2. Sit-Stand Desks

It’s not healthy for anyone to sit all the time. Prolonged sitting can lead to health problems such as obesity, cancer, heart disease, or diabetes. Working long hours while seated can also hurt employees’ backs and ruin their posture.

In a study of sedentary office workers, there was a rapid onset of neck and lower back pain issues. Within a year of office work, 42% to 69% of individuals reported neck pain while 31% to 51% reported low back pain. 

What’s worse is that 17% and 27% of office workers reporting new onsets of neck and lower back pain, respectively, said that their pain progressed from acute to chronic.

Consider including sit-stand desks as part of your hybrid workplace. Each employee can adjust their desk to the height that’s most comfortable for them as they work. 

Where to Find Them:

• UPLIFT Standing Desk V2 & V2-Commercial
• Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk
• FlexiSpot E7 Pro Plus Standing Desk

3. Laptop Stands

Alongside sit-stand desks, you can use a laptop stand to help your employees feel more physically comfortable.  It has ergonomic benefits you need to consider.

A laptop stand allows employees to adjust their laptop to their eye level, resulting in better posture and reduced neck pain. With a laptop stand, employees can say goodbye to hunching their shoulders to type or read the text on their screen. 

Where to Find Them:

• ObVus Solutions Laptop Power Stand
• Rain Design mBar Pro+
• Lifelong Upryze Ergonomic Laptop Stand

4. Sanitary Wipes and Anti-Bacterial Hand Sanitizer

Employees in an office should commit to keeping desk spaces clean for everyone. It’s important for proper hot desking hygiene. On top of being a form of respect, this is a great way to reduce the spread of germs around the workplace. 

Make sure that each workstation has enough sanitary wipes for each employee to clean their desk and keyboard once they finish work. That way, the desk will be ready for the next employee who reserves it. 

Having anti-bacterial hand sanitizer at each hot desk is also a good idea. It helps employees kill germs on their hands during their work sessions. 

Where to Find Them:

• DUDE Wipes Flushable Wipes — 6 Pack, 288 Wipes
• Clorox Free & Clear Cleaning Wipes
• Purell Aloe Hand Sanitizer

5. Desktop Vacuum Cleaners

A desktop vacuum cleaner helps employees quickly remove dust and other particles from their office desks. It can also suck up other things, such as bits of paper, crumbs, pollen, and hair. 

Where to Find Them:

• ODISTAR Desktop Vacuum Cleaner
• Brigii Mini Vacuum Cleaner
• Dorobeen Cordless Air Duster, Blower, And Vacuum Cleaner

6. Chargers and Power Outlets

To make the workday more convenient for your hybrid employees, reduce the amount of equipment they need to bring to the office, especially if you move your office.

One way to do that is to ensure a charger and power outlet are available at each employee’s hot desk. 

Where to Find Them:

• Hyperjuice 245 W GaN Desktop Chargers
• Satechi 75W Dual USB-C PD
• Baseus GaN3 Pro 4 Ports Desktop Charger 65W

7. Office Storage Units and Coat Racks

Hybrid employees use a different desk each time they work, so they can’t leave personal items behind. 

You need an office storage unit where employees can drop off their belongings and pick them up after work. You could also add a coat rack so that your employees have a place to hang their coats. 

Where to Find Them:

• IDASEN Cabinet with doors and drawers
• Winsome Halifax Storage Unit
• Prepac Furniture Elite Floor Cabinet
• MACKAPAR Coat Rack with shoe storage unit

8. Backrests

Backrests for chairs can help alleviate back pain for your hybrid employees and make sure they maintain good posture while working. They can keep their backs healthy while staying productive. 

Where to Find Them:

• Cushion Lax Extra Dense Lumbar Pillow
• Everlasting Comfort Memory Foam Back Cushion

Maximize Hot Desking in Your Office With OfficeRnD Hybrid

Adapting to the hot desking work model can take some time and preparation. But with the proper technology, you can make the hot desking process more organized to keep your employees productive. 

An essential part of successful hot desking is using the right hot desking software and making desk reservations a hassle-free process for your employees. Otherwise, finding an available spot in the office can become a nightmare for them. 

That’s where OfficeRnD Hybrid comes in.

The easy-to-use hybrid work management platform lets your employees get a complete view of your company’s floor plan, find available desks, and book a spot within a few clicks. As a result, they don’t waste time scrambling to find a desk each time they enter the office. 

After selecting a spot to work in, employees can invite other team members to join them, thus boosting collaboration You can also integrate the tool with your existing tech stack and allow workers to book desks in Microsoft Teams or Google Chrome.  

Plus much more.

Start for free with OfficeRnD Hybrid and elevate your hot desking experience or book a live demo with one of our workplace experts. 

FAQ

What Are the Characteristics of Hot Desking?

The main component of hot desking is no assigned desks for employees. Hybrid employees can decide which days they’d like to work in the office and which they’d like to work from home. 

What Do You Need for Hot Desking?

Various technological tools and office supplies are helpful and even necessary for successful hot desking and it’s good if facility managers know about them. These include an internet connection, chargers, docking stations, desk cleaning supplies, note-taking whiteboards, sit-stand desks, and laptop stands.

Having personal spaces where employees can relax (such as game rooms or spaces with an office water cooler and coffee machine) is also beneficial to hot desking. 

Last but not least, you need hot desking software such as OfficeRnD Hybrid to organize and manage the work arrangement as smoothly as possible. 

How Do You Personalize a Hot Desk?

Different ways to personalize your hot desk and make yourself feel more at home include the following:

• Adding pictures of loved ones.
• Putting up sticky notes with your favorite quotes.
• Decorating your hot desk with plants. 

However, you must bring those items home when work’s over since someone else will be using the desk after you.

What Are the Ground Rules for Hot Desking?

Here are the eight ground rules that companies must follow to make hot desking work:

1. Allow employees to book an office desk in advance.
2. Ensure each employee cleans their office space after they finish working. 
3. Don’t allow employees to book the same office space each day. 
4. Employees must be mindful and avoid being loud around others at their hot desks. 
5. Don’t allow employees to eat food at their desks.
6. Set up meeting rooms where employees can make private or important calls. (here’s a free Excel meeting room booking template)
7. Have employees store their personal belongings in your office’s storage room. 
8. Advise employees not to leave any personal items on their hot desks. 

You can write down these ground rules in a hot desking policy that you can share with your hybrid employees to help them understand what you expect from them. 

How do you Make Hot Desking Better?

To make hot desking better, it is important to balance the number of people and shared desks, and to provide a variety of workspaces including spaces for solitude, huddle rooms, touchdown spaces, open kitchens, and alternative collaboration spaces.