Desk sharing explained simply: With tips and solutions

Up to 50% of office space is unused every day because employees are working from home. With workplace sharing, there are fewer unused desks and more space for what is really needed.

By Isolde Van der Knaap
0 min reading
October 22, 2025
February 25, 2026
Desk sharing explained simply: With tips and solutions

On This Page

Craft Solutions That Resonate With UsersInnovate to Stay Ahead of the CurveFoster a Community Around Your BrandInnovate to Elevate User EngagementTransform Ideas into Tangible OutcomesEmpower Your Brand with Unique Storytelling

Desk Sharing – TL;DR

  • Desk sharing reduces the number of fixed individual workstations and uses office space on an as-needed basis for focus, team, and meeting zones.
  • Sharing desks reduces operating and equipment costs, scales with growth, and promotes cross-departmental exchange.
  • Success factors for desk sharing include standardized equipment, binding bookings with no-show rules, clean desks, and a 5–10% capacity buffer based on measured utilization.

What is Desk Sharing?

Desk sharing refers to the use of the same office workspaces by several people. A workspace is no longer permanently assigned to a single person, but is occupied by different employees as needed.

The aim of desk sharing is to reduce the amount of space required for individual workstations. Since many workstations are unused on a daily basis due to the high proportion of employees working from home, it makes sense for employers to reduce the number of desks available rather than leaving these spaces unused. The space freed up in this way can then be used for other purposes.

  • Shared workstations are designed to be neutral and are not individually furnished.
  • Employees choose or book workstations depending on their needs and attendance times. 
  • Order, cleanliness, and data protection are ensured by common rules. 

Distinction between desk sharing and other terms: 

  • Desk sharing is often used synonymously with Workplace sharing.
  • Hot Desking: The equivalent of desk sharing in the US and UK. 
  • Coworking: Use of workspaces as a service by different companies or self-employed individuals.

What are the benefits of desk sharing?

Desk sharing allows office space to be used more efficiently and creates room for new ways of working. You can use the space you regain to benefit your team in the form of modern break areas, spaces for collaborative project work, meeting rooms, or phone booths. 

  • Put underused space to good use: If your employees no longer come to the office every day, many desks remain empty. With desk sharing, you can use this space for other purposes, such as breakout rooms, project work, or meeting places for short discussions.
  • Aligning the office with actual usage: Instead of reserving workspaces for maximum occupancy, you can plan based on real data on office attendance. This allows you to avoid permanently empty areas and use the available office space much more efficiently.
  • New contacts between departments: When your employees regularly sit at different desks, they encounter colleagues from other teams more often. This creates exchange across departmental boundaries and promotes better understanding among each other.
  • Easy scalability in case of changes: If your company grows or project teams are formed at short notice, you don't have to rent additional space immediately. New employees can easily find a place in the existing structure, as desk sharing is designed to accommodate changing staff anyway.
  • Reduced ancillary costs: Fewer workstations mean less furniture, less cleaning, and a leaner technical infrastructure. This reduction is directly reflected in operating costs.

What are the disadvantages of desk sharing?

Disadvantages of desk sharing at work arise from a lack of planning and acceptance within your team: a shortage of workspaces during peak times, loss of a permanent workspace, additional effort required for setup, and hygiene issues. However, with good organization, these issues can be easily managed.

Lack of workspaces during peak times

When more employees show up at the office than there are workspaces available, this inevitably leads to frustration and delays.

Desk sharing best practice: In the PULT desk booking system, your employees reserve their preferred workspace in advance. This ensures that their workspace is available when they arrive, even before they start their commute. In the event of no-shows, the seats are released again after a period of time specified by you.

Loss of a fixed workplace

Many people identify with their desk. Having their own space conveys stability and control. When this anchor is missing, a feeling of alienation can arise.

Desk sharing best practice: Offer lockers and cubbies to complement shared desks. Personal work equipment and private items can be stored securely in them. The initial feeling of loss also quickly fades into the background when the new spaces actually benefit employees and enhance their everyday work.

Additional effort at the start of the working day

Without a fixed workplace, the day begins with setting up the workplace: adjusting the table and seat height, connecting the laptop to monitors, and setting up the mouse and keyboard.

Desk sharing best practice: Standardize the equipment at all workstations. The same monitors, identical docking stations or monitor adapters, and easily adjustable furniture ensure that a workstation is ready for use in just a few simple steps. Include in your clean desk policy that workstations must be returned to their original state after use so that they are ready for the next person.

Hygiene and order at shared workstations

Frequent user changes increase the demands on cleanliness. Keyboards, table surfaces, and chairs are subject to greater wear and tear.

Desk sharing best practice: Include cleaning measures in your desk sharing policy. Trash, food scraps, or drink stains can be quickly removed with cleaning wipes provided. Supplement this with regular professional cleaning, which is included in the building service cycle.

How do I calculate the number of shared workstations required?

The most important key figure in desk sharing is the desk sharing quote. It shows how many employees share a workspace in mathematical terms.

The desk sharing ratio is calculated by dividing the number of workspaces by the number of employees.

A value of 1.0 means that each employee has their own space. If the ratio is 0.6, for example, an average of around 1.7 employees share one desk.

First, you should determine how many employees are actually in the office at the same time. The most reliable way to do this is to observe the office over a period of two to four weeks. It is not the average that is important, but the maximum number of employees present at the same time.

Tip: In the desk sharing software PULT Presence, you can track your employees' attendance as soon as their laptop or smartphone connects to the company Wi-Fi. This happens automatically, without any effort on the part of your employees, and works with your existing Wi-Fi network.
‍
Dicsover PULT Presence

The maximum attendance determines the number of workstations required. Take into account fluctuations during vacation periods or due to field staff who work in the office on an irregular basis. Start by planning a buffer of 10% and monitor utilization on an ongoing basis. The data is automatically processed for you in the office insights in the desk sharing tool PULT.

This gives you reliable values that you can use to further develop your space planning. One goal may be to reduce the number of individual workstations as much as possible and observe which other areas are in greater demand.

Making desk sharing viable with PULT

Desk sharing is a response to changing work patterns among your employees, rising operating costs, and the desire for modern office organization.

  • Office space is used more efficiently instead of standing empty.
  • Employees are given rooms and zones that suit their current tasks.
  • Companies gain more planning flexibility without incurring additional space costs.

For desk sharing to work, you need a few rules, well-designed equipment, and, above all, a desk sharing system that organizes the allocation of workspaces for your employees fairly.

  • Workspace booking in PULT: Make binding reservations for desks, rooms, and zones, directly integrated into Slack and MS Teams.
  • Weekly planner: Overview of who is in the office and when, to schedule team days.
  • Office evaluation: Reliable data on utilization, which you can use to secure planning and desk sharing quotas.
  • Parking spaces & visitor management: Easily organize parking spaces and guest bookings.

{{onpage-cta}}

Trusted by 1000+ innovative workplaces

Distribute and book workstations, rooms, and zones fairly. With PULT.

FAQ

Have questions?

How big should the buffer be when calculating workspaces?

In addition to the maximum simultaneous attendance, a safety buffer of around 5 to 10% is recommended. This will help you avoid shortages on days when more employees come to the office than usual.

How do I deal with employees who need a fixed workspace?

For health or work organization reasons, you should make exceptions, for example by assigning permanent seats. This shows that you care and increases acceptance of the model. Reasons may include physical characteristics or specific hardware requirements, such as high-performance video editing computers.

How can personal belongings be stored in a shared desk model?

The best way is with lockers, cubbies, or rolling containers. This gives employees a fixed place for personal items or work materials without blocking workstations.

‍

How can I prevent seats from being reserved but not used?

Establish clear booking rules and a cancellation policy up to a certain point in time. PULT automatically releases reserved but unused seats after a waiting period.

About author

Isolde Van der Knaap

Hybrid Work Enthusiast and Account Executive

LinkedIn

At PULT we're designing the future of the hybrid workplace for companies and their employees. Focused on SME and mid market customers in Eruope, I'm working on everything from Customer Discovery to Onboarding. I'm very passionate about new work and moved to Hamburg in 2024 even though I'm originally from France.

Resources

Learn how to run better workplace operations

Office Insights

Open-Concept Office: Pros and cons, design, and modern concepts

An open-concept office is an open workspace where many employees work together without partition walls. Noise, a lack of private spaces, and constant interruptions are considered the biggest drawbacks of open-concept offices. However, you can solve these very problems through zoning, well-designed soundproofing, and skillful space planning.

Learn More

Open-concept Office: The Most Important Points at a Glance

✓

An open-concept office refers to an open workspace for multiple teams without fixed partitions and is one of the most common office concepts in companies that adopt a hybrid work model.

✓

The biggest drawback of open-concept offices is the noise level: noise and acoustic distractions are among the most commonly cited causes of loss of concentration and declining productivity in open-concept offices.

✓

Zoning, acoustic partitions, and sound-absorbing materials solve the core problems in open-concept offices because they physically separate areas for concentration, communication, and relaxation.

✓

PULT makes it possible to plan open-concept offices: Through Desk Booking and Office Insights, the software shows which zones are actually being used and provides occupancy data for space planning tailored to actual needs.

What is an open-concept office?

An open-concept office (or open-plan office) is a contiguous office area in which more than ten employees work in an open space without floor-to-ceiling walls. It differs from a cubicle office in its open structure and from purely open-space areas in that it has clearly defined functional zones.

How does an open-concept office differ from a traditional office?

Office types can be classified based on how the space is divided. From cubicle offices with individual rooms to combination offices and open-concept offices, the openness of the space increases gradually.

A modern open-concept office combines open workspaces with activity zones—areas each designed for a specific task. It is precisely this zoning that distinguishes this well-thought-out concept from a simple desk arrangement.

For hybrid teams, an open floor plan makes particular sense. When part of your workforce is working from home, shared workspaces allow for much more efficient use of space than permanently assigned individual offices.

What are the pros and cons of open-concept offices?

Open-concept offices offer short lines of communication and high space efficiency, but their main drawbacks are noise and a lack of private spaces. The balance between these two factors determines whether the space is productive or stressful.

What are the advantages of an open-concept office?

The advantages of an open-concept office lie in collaboration and cost savings. Teams can easily coordinate with one another; these discussions take place without the need to schedule appointments, and new employees are able to integrate more quickly.

Added to this is the financial benefit. An open-concept office with shared workstations significantly reduces per-capita office costs, especially in companies where a high percentage of employees work from home.

✓

Short lines of communication: Teams coordinate with one another without organizational hurdles.

✓

Greater space efficiency: Shared workstations reduce costs per employee.

✓

Greater transparency and visibility: You can immediately see who is present and what people are working on.

✓

Faster onboarding: New colleagues learn the processes by working closely with the team.

What are the disadvantages of an open-concept office?

The biggest drawback of open-concept offices is the noise level. Conversations, phone calls, and keyboard clicks all blend together, and it is precisely this acoustic distraction that is one of the most common reasons why concentration suffers in an open-concept office.

In a controlled laboratory experiment, a research team at Bond University demonstrated that typical open-concept office noise increases negative mood by 25% and the physical stress response by 34%—as measured by heart rate and skin conductance—after just eight minutes of noise exposure. In real-world office settings, where employees are exposed to these noise levels for hours on end, these effects are correspondingly more pronounced. (Sander et al., Journal of Management & Organization, 2021)

Open-concept office layouts also significantly reduce face-to-face communication. In two field studies conducted with Fortune 500 companies, the volume of face-to-face interaction dropped by about 70% after the transition to an open-concept layout, while email and instant messaging traffic increased sharply. People who are constantly visible to everyone tend to withdraw inwardly and turn to digital channels. (Bernstein & Turban, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Harvard Business School, 2018). The availability of private spaces is therefore an important factor in well-being.

How do I design a modern open-concept office?

A productive and employee-friendly open-concept office is created through spatial zoning based on activity, effective soundproofing, and space planning based on actual usage data. However, furniture and rules alone are not enough if the basic layout of the space does not suit the way people work.

How does zoning work in an open-concept office?

Zoning divides the open space into areas for different activities. This principle stems from the activity-based working concept, in which each type of work is assigned its own appropriate space:

✓

Quiet areas for concentration and quiet, independent work.

✓

Opportunities for collaboration.

✓

Customizable project areas for teamwork and time-bound projects.

✓

Quiet, secluded areas for breaks and relaxation.

This allows employees to choose a workspace that suits their current task and ensures they have the best possible conditions there.

What type of soundproofing is suitable for an open-concept office?

Effective soundproofing in an open-concept office is achieved through sound-absorbing materials and physical barriers. The combination of elements on the ceiling, on the floor, as well as room dividers and large plants reduces the noise level.

✓

Acoustic partitions between workstations block sound directly at the source.

✓

Large plants with lush foliage also act as natural sound barriers.

✓

Upholstered furniture and upholstered room dividers absorb sound.

✓

Floor-to-ceiling partitions in an open-concept office separate zones from one another both acoustically and visually.

Acoustic panels on the ceiling and walls, sound-absorbing carpeting and rugs, and enclosed phone booths for video calls significantly reduce noise levels.

In cases where noise levels remain high despite these measures, the cause usually lies in the use of the space itself.

How does Desk Booking help optimize space in an open-concept office?

Desk Booking provides the data needed to plan an open-concept office according to actual needs. Rather than relying on assumptions, booking and occupancy data show which areas are regularly in use and which, by contrast, remain empty.

This leads to specific ways to adapt the space that allow for the redistribution and management of its use. For example, if the area designated for quiet work is consistently overbooked while spaces for collaboration remain empty, this is a measurable indicator that the layout needs to be redesigned.

PULT provides the necessary occupancy data: This allows you to analyze the use of your office space, and employees can reserve their seats in the appropriate zone.

How to Turn Your Open-Concept Office Into a Productive Workplace

An open-concept office becomes productive through zoning based on activity, effective soundproofing, and space planning based on actual usage data. The open space is preserved, and its weaknesses are eliminated through the right structure.

✓

With PULT Office Insights, you can see which areas of your space are actually being used and plan renovations based on real data.

✓

Your employees can reserve a workspace in the appropriate zone and see where their colleagues are already seated.

✓

You manage capacity and attendance all in one place.

{{onpage-cta}}

Office Insights

Workplace Automation: What does it really mean for your office?

Workplace automation refers to the automation of daily, recurring office tasks, from desk reservations to visitor registration. For companies with a hybrid work model, the question arises as to which processes can be automated and how this can be done in compliance with the GDPR.

Learn More

Workplace Automation: The Basics

✓

Workplace Automation automates recurring office processes—such as room and desk reservations, attendance tracking, and visitor management—based on rules, without requiring employees to manually initiate each step.

✓

You can identify office processes that are ready for automation by three characteristics: clearly definable rules, a high frequency of repetition, and a measurable susceptibility to errors when processed manually.

✓

SMEs must ensure compliance with three requirements before launching: GDPR-compliant data storage, involvement of the works council (Section 87 of the Works Constitution Act), and adherence to EU hosting standards to avoid issues related to the Cloud Act.

✓

PULT is an all-in-one office management platform that automates desk booking, room reservations, office analytics, and visitor management, and integrates fully with MS Teams, Personio, and Slack so your office runs without any manual intervention.

What is workplace automation

Workplace automation encompasses all software-driven office processes in which a defined rule or algorithm determines the next step.

This ranges from automatic booking confirmations to rescheduling meeting rooms when the number of participants does not match the room size. In this way, workplace automation goes beyond mere digitization measures. Digitization converts paper forms into machine-readable data. Automation handles the resulting tasks on its own.

Which office processes can be automated?

Processes that occur daily and always follow the same or a similar pattern are ready for automation.

Area Manual Process Automated version
Space & Workplace Booking meeting rooms, spaces, and workstations by arrangement, via a list, or by email. Self-booking with automatic confirmation
Space & Workplace Identifying and Resolving Duplicate Bookings Automatic detection and rebooking in the event of capacity conflicts
Space & Workplace Send a reminder for your own desk reservation Automatic push notification to the user
Space & Workplace Coordinate Parking Assignments Using a Spreadsheet Automatic assignment of parking spaces based on predefined booking rules
Visitor Management Visitor Registration at the Front Desk Paperless Self-Registration with GDPR-Compliant Data Collection
Visitor Management Notify the host by phone when visitors are arriving Automatic notifications via MS Teams or Slack
Office Evaluation Track Office Utilization Using Handouts Real-Time Analysis of Office Usage
Office Evaluation Compile capacity utilization reports yourself Automatically generated reports based on occupancy data
Human Resources Management Manage Leave Requests via Email Automated approval process with status notifications
Human Resources Management Create and Send Onboarding Checklists Automated task assignment and access granting upon admission
Attendance & Planning Who is in the office and when? Check with them to find out. Real-Time Automatic Attendance Overview
Attendance & Planning Coordinate office days with the team via chat Rule-Based Scheduling with Attendance Thresholds
IT & Access Manually Set Up Access for New Employees Automatic Assignment of Permissions via SSO and HR Integration
IT & Access Access Control by Reception Staff Automated access control via app or badge
Buildings & Facilities Cleaning schedules based on a fixed weekly plan Cleaning Based on Actual Room Usage
Compliance & Security Manually Maintain Attendance Lists for Fire Safety Real-time occupancy data as the basis for evacuation plans

How does automated room and desk booking work?

For example, an automated meeting room management system detects when two people book a conference room that is actually designed to accommodate 20 people. The system identifies the discrepancy and automatically rebooks the reservation into a smaller, suitable room.

This reduces the number of conflicts over available spaces and frees up time for office managers that was previously spent on manual adjustments. Workplace automation via Wi-Fi check-in takes this a step further: As soon as you log in to the office with your device, the system automatically reserves your desk without a single click.

What compliance considerations must a company keep in mind when implementing workplace automation?

Automating office processes always involves processing data. Therefore, three points must be clarified:

✓

GDPR Compliance: What data does the tool collect, how long is it stored, and who has access to it? Booking data and attendance records are considered personal data.

✓

Employee Participation: As soon as a tool tracks attendance or workload, Section 87(1)(6) of the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG) applies. You must consult with the works council before implementing it.

✓

Hosting: EU hosting with a German or European data center circumvents the Cloud Act issues that arise with U.S. providers without an EU branch.

How do I get started with Workplace Automation?

To automate your workplace, start by identifying all the processes that, although they follow a very consistent pattern, are repeatedly carried out manually by employees. Review these processes and provide your team with software to automate them. The more processes a single software solution can handle, the fewer new tools you'll need to burden your team with.

1

Identify processes: Which processes take more than 30 minutes each day or regularly produce errors? These are the first candidates.

2

Examine the process: Is the current process already the best option? Or could it be streamlined?

3

Select a tool based on its integration capabilities: EU hosting and integration with existing systems are important selection criteria.

4

Roll out the changes gradually: Start with one feature—such as automatic room booking—and then expand to other areas after receiving positive feedback.

5

Review KPIs after 4 weeks: How many booking conflicts remained? How much administrative time was saved? How has office utilization changed?

Here's how PULT puts your office management on autopilot

Your workplace automations work best when they're bundled into a single software solution rather than spread across multiple tools. You can bundle workstation and room reservations, presence detection, occupancy analysis, visitor management, and parking management into PULT:

✓

Desk booking, room booking, and office analytics are all handled in a single tool, without any integration issues between individual systems.

✓

Automatic presence detection via your existing Wi-Fi system.

✓

Office Insights provide data and analyses on office utilization.

✓

Full integration with MS Teams, Slack, Personio, and HiBob.

{{onpage-cta}}

Office Insights

Huddle Meetings: How to make daily team check-ins truly productive

A huddle meeting is a daily or regular team check-in that takes no more than 15 minutes to align priorities and identify roadblocks. The difference from a traditional status meeting lies in its structure and in what you consistently leave out afterward.

Learn More

Huddle Meeting: The Basics

✓

A huddle meeting is a regular team check-in limited to 10 to 15 minutes, with three set questions: What was completed yesterday? What's on the agenda for today? What's currently holding the team back?

✓

The Daily Huddle meeting format works whether held in person or virtually, without an agenda document and with a rotating spokesperson. Anything that goes beyond the three core questions should be addressed in follow-up discussions afterward.

✓

For hybrid teams, team huddle meetings require some ground rules: cameras on, a fixed time zone, a breakout channel for follow-up discussions, and GDPR-compliant policies for recording.

✓

PULT, the all-in-one software for hybrid office management, shows moderators in real time every day who is in the office and who is working remotely. This provides a reliable information basis for every huddle meeting before it begins.

What is a huddle meeting?

A huddle meeting is a short, structured team discussion of a fixed duration (10 to 15 minutes) that takes place daily. The goal is to coordinate efforts. Discussions should be held in separate follow-up meetings. Each team member answers the same three questions:

1

What did I finish yesterday?

2

What do I have to do today?

3

What's holding me back right now?

The concept originates from Scrum, where the daily huddle is known as the daily standup. It is now also used by HR, operations, and sales teams, as well as cross-functional teams that coordinate across locations.

What is the proper format for a huddle meeting?

The huddle meeting format requires three key conditions to be effective: strict adherence to the schedule, the assignment of a facilitator, and a fixed list of participants.

1

Duration and Timing. The Daily Huddle Meeting takes place at the same time every day. Exceptions weaken the routine. The maximum duration is 15 minutes. If you regularly go over that time, you should consider whether parts of the content belong in a separate format.

2

Participants. Only individuals who are directly dependent on one another. Larger departments are divided into smaller subgroups.

3

Facilitator's Role. A facilitator keeps track of time and consistently directs discussions toward follow-up conversations. Rotating facilitation fosters a sense of personal responsibility within the team.

Element Standard Remote/Hybrid
Duration 10 to 15 min. 10 to 15 min.
Format While standing Camera on
Moderation Rotating Specified
Follow-up meetings Right after that Breakout Channel
Minutes Optional Note Short Chat Log

What changes in the team huddle meeting in a hybrid office?

In teams where some members are in the office and others are working remotely, three issues arise that could undermine the format: remote participants become passive listeners, discussions in the plenary session get out of hand, or technical problems delay or prolong the meeting.

Checklist for Hybrid Team Huddle Meetings:

✓

Cameras are required for all participants, including office groups sharing a screen.

✓

Real-time chat in the team chat during the meeting.

✓

Breakout session or a fixed time slot on the calendar for follow-up meetings immediately afterward.

✓

A fixed meeting link and time zone in everyone's calendar.

✓

Facilitating from a remote setting to ensure that remote participants are on an equal footing in terms of structure.

Clear hybrid work policies are essential for this model to work for everyone involved.

What legal considerations must companies keep in mind during their daily huddle meetings?

Daily huddle meetings count as work time and must be documented as part of time tracking. This also applies to brief 10-minute check-ins.

If you record video huddles, you need a GDPR-compliant legal basis and must inform participants in advance. If the huddle format is used for regular performance monitoring, a company agreement may also be required.

How to Make Huddle Meetings a Permanent Part of Your Hybrid Team

A huddle meeting is only effective when time management, structure, and the facilitator's role work together seamlessly. In a hybrid work environment, a fourth factor comes into play: transparency about who is working, when, and from where. Daily check-ins help to improve the employee experience because coordination routines become reliable and transparent for everyone.

Use PULT to see where your colleagues are working

PULT shows you at any time who is in the office and who is working remotely. You can also see your colleagues' scheduled attendance and receive reports on your teams' attendance. Desk booking, room booking, visitor management, and office insights are all integrated into a single platform.

{{onpage-cta}}

Browse all resources