Hot desking solutions are sold as apps, and the app is the last of three things a workplace manager needs. The first is a ratio: how many desks for how many people, which is a number the attendance decides rather than the vendor. The second is a rule: which desks are shared, which are kept assigned, how a desk is booked and by when, and what happens on the day the floor is over. The third is the record: who sat where, so the busiest day is measured and the rule can be checked against it a month later. This guide takes them in that order, because a hot desking system bought before the ratio is known is a booking calendar for a floor nobody has sized.
The ratio the attendance supports
140 desks with 180 people assigned, 84 in on an average day and 126 on the busiest, supports 7 desks per 10 people: the peak over the headcount, times ten. That is the hotdesking ratio the floor can actually run, before any policy changes the attendance. The free space utilization worksheet on this site works it from your own counts, and it is the figure every hot desking solution should be configured to, rather than the other way round.
The rule: shared, assigned, booked, and what happens when the floor is full
A hot desking policy is a short document with four decisions in it: which desks are shared and which stay assigned, how a desk is booked and how far ahead, when an unclaimed booking is released, and what a person does on a day the floor is over. The desks kept assigned change the ratio the rest must carry: 120 desks with 20 assigned leaves 100 shared desks for 160 people, 6.25 per 10. The return to office policy template on this site works that arithmetic from your headcount, days, desks and clustering, and the paid plan builds the document from it.
The record: who sat where, so the busiest day is measured
A hot desking app earns its keep by the record it leaves, not by the map on the screen. Each booking is one person on one desk on one day, and filed against the desk the bookings become the attendance count: how many were in on Tuesday, how many on the busiest day of the month, which desks are never booked and which are fought over. That count is the input to the ratio, and without it the ratio is a guess that was right once. Office hot desking solutions that do not export the bookings as a table leave the manager without the one number the next lease decision needs.
Reading the vendor lists
Every list of hot desking solutions ranks the interface, the floor map and the integrations, and none of them ranks the two things above. Ask each product two questions: does it export the bookings as a table by desk and day, and can the desk record hold assigned and shared desks side by side with the ratio visible. A product that does both is a hot desking system; one that does neither is a calendar. HardFM Pro keeps the desks, the bookings and the counts, exports all of them, and publishes no other vendor's figures on this site.
Questions people ask about hot desking solutions
How many desks does hot desking need?
As many as the busiest day needs, plus the desks kept assigned. On the worked example, 126 people at peak from 180 assigned is 7 desks per 10 people, worked by the free space utilization worksheet from your own average and peak attendance. The ratio comes from the attendance, not from the app.
What should a hot desking solution keep?
The desk list with shared and assigned desks marked, each booking as one person on one desk on one day, and the attendance counts that fall out of the bookings, all exportable. HardFM Pro keeps those against the building for $24 a month for the whole team.
Is hot desking the same as hoteling?
Hoteling is hot desking with a reservation made in advance; hot desking in its original form is first come, first seated. Most offices run the reserved version, and the record is the same either way: the desk, the person, the day.