Reverse Hoteling: Best Practices for the Hybrid Office

Reverse hoteling is an innovative approach to flexible seating that can bring significant benefits to modern offices, particularly those embracing hybrid work models.

Facility managers (FMs) who need to optimize for hybrid work may turn to reverse hoteling if they need to offer permanent, assigned desks along with more flexible options. By blending assigned desks with on-demand flexibility, reverse hoteling offers a solution that can optimize space utilization, enhance collaboration, and support employee well-being.

Reverse hoteling can be an effective hybrid work strategy. Read on to find out what reverse hoteling is, the biggest benefits, and best practices for implementing reverse hoteling into your hybrid office to ensure a smooth transition.

Introduce reverse hoteling in your hybrid office with Office Space’s Desk Lending feature.

What is reverse hoteling?

Reverse hoteling is a type of office hoteling that makes space for some employees with assigned seating while still maintaining a flexible office.

In this work environment type, some employees will have their ‘own’ assigned desks, with a key distinction. Namely, when the employee is out of the office—whether they’re on leave or vacation or have a hybrid working schedule—their desk becomes a bookable desk that enters a desking pool for other employees to use.

Whenever the employee returns to the office, they return to ‘their’ desk as well. It should be handled and cleaned according to the company’s hopefully explicit desk sharing guidelines. 

As such, reverse hoteling is a form of flexible seating that allows for both shared and assigned desks.

Note that any type of flexible seating, including reverse hoteling, should be managed by powerful space management software.

Understanding reverse hoteling & other desk management systems

As flexible working becomes the mainstay of our post-pandemic ‘new normal,’ companies are looking for desk management systems that can help improve employee experience and ease the transition to hybrid work. Reverse hoteling is just one such strategy.

Hoteling vs reverse hoteling

Despite having similar names and similar concepts, hoteling is a slightly different desk lending concept that removes all assigned seating within an office.

As we’ve covered, in reverse hoteling, some employees still have their own workstations, which only go into the desking pool when they are away from the office.

But in ‘regular’ hoteling, there are no assigned desks. All desks are always in the desking pool, and employees can reserve desks—and often conference rooms and meeting rooms—in advance, just like you would hotel rooms.

Because there are no assigned desks, hoteling bypasses the issues and limitations of reverse hoteling.

In both cases, the hoteling office model requires a desk booking software that can remove the complexity of effectively managing bookable desks to achieve its desired impact.

What is the difference between hoteling and hot desking?

Hot desking is a bit more of a free-for-all. 

In this workplace strategy, there are no assigned desks, and desks can’t be booked in advance. The office space is a true first come, first served environment.

Instead, employees check-in to whatever workspace is available on any given workday. 

What is the difference between reverse hoteling and flexible working?

Instead of comparing the two side-by-side, it’s better to view reverse hoteling as a form of flexible work. It’s a growing trend that lets employees work where, and often when, they feel most productive.

We know that employees of all generations in the workplace are clamoring for more flexible work options. Studies also show work flexibility is important for employee well-being. The majority of workers say they’d leave their job for another that is more flexible. So to stay competitive, progressive companies had already been transitioning to flexible work, even before the pandemic brought it to the forefront. 

Reverse hoteling is just one strategy for bringing this flexibility to workers in a practical way. 

Benefits of reverse hoteling

Companies now need the best possible tools and practices for implementing hybrid and flexible working strategies. Many companies also want to offer a mix of assigned and bookable desks. For these reasons, reverse hoteling remains an excellent option for the modern workplace. It’s more than just a way to fill empty desks; reverse hoteling also offers:

Better space utilization

Real estate costs typically make up a significant portion of an organization’s overall budget. Cutting back on the number of desks for employees can help maximize occupancy and increase cost savings, as available desks can balance with actual in-office employees.

In other words, valuable deskspace doesn’t have to sit empty just because a worker happens to be out for the day.

Improved collaboration

Any type of desk sharing that gets people moving around and sitting with different teams can lead to a more dynamic workspace. 

Like Steve Jobs famously noted when he became CEO of Pixar in the late 1990s, siloing workers according to their departments can stifle creativity and growth.

On the other hand, reverse hoteling practices force employees to sit with different teams, groups, and departments. This helps them gain better insight into all aspects of their organizations. The result is often better collaboration and more employee engagement.  

More employee buy-in

Moving to hybrid work setups can present many new challenges for an organization, including potentially low employee buy-in. For many employees, having their own assigned seat is simply part of the office experience. Giving up ‘their’ desk may feel like a big change.

For this reason, reverse desk hoteling is a great middle ground for employees who want the familiarity and comfort of their own workspace while still contributing to the company’s efficient use of space. This balance makes the transition to a flexible workspace smoother and allows employees to choose their work styles.

Reverse hoteling best practices

Employees should always follow proper reverse office hoteling etiquette, no matter what hoteling office model their organization is using.

That said, reverse hoteling demands additional best practices in order to work well. 

Facility managers, space designers, and/or decision-makers need to provide employees with explicit guidelines about how to use their shared desks. 

Cleanliness must be paramount 

In the post-pandemic work environment, workspace hoteling may present an ‘ick’ factor for some employees. They may be concerned about safety, cleaning protocols, and who else will even show up to the office.

To deal with these reservations, organizations may want to implement clear ‘clean desk policies.’ This could include things like banning employees from specific desks if they don’t follow cleanliness guidelines.

Employees should have precise rules around how to clean and sanitize their workspace at the end of their shift. Preferably, they should also be submitting a log update. This way, everyone can keep track of if/when their desk was cleaned.

Cleaning teams will also need access to up-to-date seating schedules in order to ensure the right desks are clean at the right times.

Companies can also take advantage of tools like Safeguard, which helps ensure employees are in good health before booking and/or checking in a workspace. 

Be cautious with confidential information

Shared work areas also need to be clear of confidential information. 

Ideally, reverse hoteling workplaces will have cloud storage for documents in place. This way, employees can access their work from any location in real-time.

And while perhaps a potted cactus or two might be ok, most office hoteling areas should only have the bare minimum on the desk. Typically just a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

In most hoteling models, it’s preferable for employees to have their own laptop. This way, they can simply plug into their workspace instead of sharing a desktop. 

That said, when employees are regularly plugging in, FMs and building managers may need to take extra steps to ensure their networks and building automations systems are secure.  

Implementing an office hoteling reservation system

Reverse office hoteling software can help ensure everyone can easily find and book into available spaces. That said, implementing even the best office hoteling software can still be a challenge.

To avoid scheduling conflicts and keep things running smoothly, FMs will need powerful workplace management software that gives them complete control over who can book each desk within their facility. They also need the ability to restrict who can book a desk based on a combination of filters. These filters can include things like employee name, job title, department, and more.

Implementing a reverse hoteling system will also be easier when it provides certain key elements to remove friction for employees wanting to access the workplace.

Visibility

Office hoteling adds a level of complexity to using the office.

A desk booking system, therefore, needs to ensure everyone knows at a glance if a desk is in use, who is booking it, and when it will be free again in real-time.

Offering this visibility to employees can help them better understand how and when to be using the office.

A Visual Directory® for better wayfinding is also helpful when employees’ locations change from day to day.

Trackability

Understanding how employees are utilizing the office and where people are actually sitting day-to-day is invaluable data. FMs can use these insights to make data-driven improvements over time.

FMs can use daily desk booking reports to view current day, historical, or future daily bookings. This helps to ensure hoteling is working well for everyone.

This data can be handed off to custodial teams to ensure desks and spaces that have been used are cleaned before the next day’s use. Much like a hotel, it makes sense to only do daily cleanings of rooms and desks that have been used.

Integrations

Ideally any desk or room reservation system will integrate with Slack, Microsoft Teams, or whatever other systems are already in use.

Employees should also be able to access the desk reservation system on multiple platforms—not just on a mobile app, but also on desktop and touch-screen kiosks in the office.

Incentives

Finally, if employees have the power to opt into reverse hoteling rather than being mandated, companies may want to use incentives to encourage participation. Flex time or similar benefits are often logical trade-offs here.

Making cleaning policies clear and ensuring best practices are in place can also help ensure employee uptake.

What is a shared workspace?

A shared workspace can mean different things to different employees—from shared desks and workspaces to shared projects and schedules. Whatever the definition, it can create many benefits for an organization, but also many challenges.

Shared workspaces therefore demand good software to manage these complexities. This is along with practices like reverse hoteling that can help dynamically manage the hybrid workplace of the future.

Reverse Hoteling Made Easy with OfficeSpace

OfficeSpace offers robust IWMS software, including Desk Lending, to make reverse hoteling easy for both employees and employers.

Desk Lending streamlines the entire process, from booking and managing available desks to gaining valuable insights into space utilization. Our intuitive platform empowers employees to find and reserve desks effortlessly while giving facility managers the tools they need to optimize their workspace and ensure a seamless hybrid work experience.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to maximize your workspace potential. Contact us today for a free demo.