"Hot Desking" is where you do not have a specific desk allocated to you in the office.

This practice is adopted by companies wishing to save money in office space and facilities. This is ideal for businesses where most of the employees do work outside of the office, on client sites or at home.

The desks are allocated on first-come-first-served basis which can be like musical chairs. Come in last and you might not get a seat.

To facilitate hot desking, employees may be issued with laptop computers and mobile phones. Put a laptop computer in a bag with a ream of useless paperwork and you are looking at a slipped disc. A mobile phone is ideal to ensure that your employees are contactable any time, any where.

It is also easy to become alienated. A hot desking 'agent' may return to the office eager to 'network' only to find an office full of people they have not seen before.

If you work in an office where you are allocated a small cubicle of your own, buy a plant, make it your home and get to know your neighbours.