How to make desk sharing work
Moving office is a major event for most businesses so it is important that when you arrive at your new premises, both you and your employees are happy.
If your new office design lends itself to desk sharing, it is well worth taking some careful steps towards ensuring that all of your staff are comfortable with the new arrangement. After all, changing the habits of a workforce will certainly not happen overnight.
There will always be some employees who struggle more than others with the change and will challenge the new office arrangement by resuming old habits.
Follow the points below on how to make office space sharing work to your benefit:
Operate a clear desk policy
Establish a time limit for use of a desk. For example, if an employee is going to be out of the office for more than a couple of hours, they will need to clear their desk and store any personal items in a locker – which should in turn be provided by the company.
Create a positive environment
Decorating the office with attractive wall art, plants, a water cooler etcetera will all help to make your staff feel more at home and provide them with compensation for the lack of personal items on shared desks. Providing staff with an ergonomic office layout and comfortable, fully adjustable chairs will also help towards staff morale and the acceptance of working in different positions.
Choose laptops
If your staff are desk sharing it makes far more sense to invest in laptops as opposed to desktop PCs. Laptops will enable your staff to move to any work area and take any specialist software installations with them. This will allow more job flexibility and will prevent staff from laying claim to one specific area, but make sure you include a keyboard, mouse and a laptop stand when possible.
Introduce flexible working hours
Offering employees the choice to work from home or on the move, or by offering staff the opportunity to work compressed working weeks are further ways you can effectively reduce the daily demand for office space.
For further information on how to carry out a successful office move download the office relocation checklist.
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