---
title: "Hot desking"
url: https://doorjames.com/glossary/hot-desking/
language: en
updated: 2026-09-22
type: glossary
section: resources
description: "Hot desking describes using free desks on a first-come, first-served basis – without prior booking and without fixed assignment."
translations: de=https://doorjames.com/de/glossar/hot-desking/
formats: https://doorjames.com/glossary/hot-desking/index.md https://doorjames.com/glossary/hot-desking/index.json https://doorjames.com/glossary/hot-desking/index.jsonld
bookDemo: https://meet.doorjames.app/public-schedule/99469a6d66d20f7fdd5ee19182a8f8bd (30 min, Microsoft Teams)
---

# Hot desking

> Hot desking describes an office concept in which desks are neither permanently assigned nor booked in advance: whoever arrives takes a free desk. It is the simplest form of shared desks and differs from desk sharing with booking in that it creates neither predictability nor usage data.

## Where hot desking works

In small offices with a clear surplus of desks, hot desking is the most pragmatic solution: no system, no rules, no effort. As long as the probability of not finding a desk is close to zero, there is no reason to book.

## Where it tips over

As utilization rises, three problems appear. First, uncertainty: people travel to the office without knowing whether a desk will be free. Second, placeholding: jackets and bags reserve desks nobody uses. Third, the missing data basis: without booking and check-in nobody knows how heavily the space is actually used – and that removes the basis for any space decision.

## The usual path

In practice many organizations start with hot desking and introduce booking as soon as the first complaint about missing desks arrives. That is a viable path – it should just be a deliberate choice rather than interpreted as failure.

## Related pages

- [Desk sharing](https://doorjames.com/glossary/desk-sharing/)
- [Desk booking](https://doorjames.com/features/desk-booking/)

---
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