Desk sharing or the end of the individual office: a revolution in the workspace

The business world has changed a great deal in recent years, forcing workspaces to adapt, particularly with desk sharing.

This new way of organising work is reinventing the way in which office space is used, providing a better response to the need for agility and collaboration, and to the increasing mobility of employees, who are spending less and less time there.

Let's take a look at the desk-sharing trend, its definition, the difference with the flex office, and its advantages and disadvantages. As a bonus, our advice on how to implement it successfully in your company.

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What is desk sharing? Definition

Desk sharing is a practice that involves defining a new organisation of the workspace, based on the sharing of desks. This means that employees no longer have their own workstation, and each of them settles into the desk or workspace of their choice when they arrive in the morning, with one main rule: make sure everything is tidy when they leave.

For employees, it's an excellent way of breaking the daily routine, stimulating creativity and encouraging exchanges and interaction with other teams.

Desk sharing is ideal when there is a high level of teleworking in the company, or when a significant proportion of employees are regularly away on business or on assignment with customers.

Desk sharing makes it possible to :

• optimise space according to actual needs;
• accelerate the digital transition
• take into account the environmental dimension (zero paper).

Why desk sharing?

Desk sharing is increasingly being considered as a way of organising work, because

• rising property prices,
• combined with the health and financial crisis
• and the widespread use of teleworking,

has put companies in the difficult position of having to pay a high price for empty offices.

So desk sharing is particularly well-suited to the current climate, which has prompted companies to reorganise, right down to the layout of their premises.

The occupancy rate for offices in the Paris Region is between 50% and 60%.

source : JDN

Flex office, desk sharing: what's the difference?

When we talk about desk sharing, we also hear a lot about flex office. But what's the difference between these two ways of organising workspace?

Like desk sharing, flex office involves sharing offices, but goes a step further by arranging different types of space that each person can use according to their needs.

What's interesting for employees is that they can choose the most suitable workplace for the tasks they have to perform:

• a quiet space for all those moments when concentration is needed, for production tasks (writing an article, writing code, etc.) ;
• a convivial space with appropriate colours and furniture for creative moments and brainstorming with colleagues;
• an isolated, sound-proofed area for telephone calls, so as not to disturb or be disturbed, etc.

The flex office also refers to the fact of working in different places (coworking, teleworking at home, in a café, in the office, etc.).

Discover other new ways of organising work:

• freelance administration,
• and corpoworking.

Advantages of desk sharing

As we have seen, desk sharing is particularly well suited to the current needs of companies and their workforces. Here are the advantages

• cost savings due to space savings (rent, furniture, electricity, etc.),
• stronger team spirit thanks to working alongside people from other teams
• increased productivity thanks to regular changes of location and environment,
• encouraging collaborative working and creativity,
• improving the employer brand,
• contributing to employees' well-being at work, etc.

💡 Tip: to facilitate the implementation of Desk Sharing, a shared space management solution such as Sharvy can be a great help! Thanks to it, support new forms of working such as Desk Sharing or Flex office and optimise the occupation of shared spaces in just a few clicks.

Disadvantages of desk sharing

Desk sharing does have a few drawbacks:

• the loss of reference points is difficult for some employees to grasp;
• difficulty in locating team members to work together;
• the inability to personalise the office can reduce the sense of belonging to the company;
• Poor organisation can lead to malfunctions (difficulty in finding a place to work);
• the risk of breakage, theft or loss of computer equipment during transport (if there is no locker), etc.

Examples of desk sharing in France

While the pandemic and the widespread use of teleworking may have encouraged some companies to take the plunge, desk sharing is not yet widely used in France, unlike in the United States or certain European countries.

Here are a few examples of companies in France that have adopted desk sharing:

• Adidas,
• AirBnb
• Axa
• LeBoncoin,
• Philips,
• SNCF.

9 tips for implementing desk sharing

1. Take stock of the current (and future) situation so that you can organise the reorganisation and the number of places required as effectively as possible: what is the maximum office occupancy rate? What are the recruitment needs over the next few years?
   
   
2. Rely more on collective spaces and less on individual desks by installing large tables where several people can sit together.
   
   
3. Involve employees in the planning of the space, the choice of furniture, etc., to encourage them to support the project.
   
   
4. Invest in the right equipment and furniture (minimalist desks, laptops, etc.).
   
   
5. Equip yourself with software adapted to this type of organisation, for example for :
   • dematerialising documents
   • day-to-day collaboration
   • instant communication.
     
     
6. Set up a rota of attendance days for teams, with a system whereby each person indicates in advance his or her face-to-face days.
   
   
7. Provide lockers with padlocks to avoid transporting equipment for those who wish to do so.
   
   
8. Establish operating rules and ensure that they are respected.
   
   
9. Support employees and managers through the change so that the transition goes as smoothly as possible.

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From desk sharing to flex office

Today, with the spread of teleworking and the emergence of new ways of working (more and more meetings, project and agile working, etc.), desk sharing is gradually being adopted.), desk sharing is gradually being adopted by companies, as the occupancy rate of premises decreases from year to year.

The natural evolution of desk sharing is towards the flex office, with spaces adapted to the different needs an employee may have in a typical week, to promote working conditions and well-being.