Civil Service - Post Lockdown - Blended Working?

I had my first day in the office since March 2020 yesterday. Place was decimated only about 10% of the staff in attendance. Monday is not a popular day in our place. We were scattered all over the building also which some of the support staff have expressed displeasure over, however the hot desking arrangements still have to come into force.

Would love to see more of this. Always made sense, but especially now.

That's where we'll be heading for those availing of hybrid working, I suspect.

It will allow the OPW to cut costs.

two people on my floor opted out of blended work, but certianly the minority. Theres been talk of closing floors on quiet days but the building will certainly have to remian open

The government's ''Blended Working Policy Framework for Civil Service Organisations'' says that ''Blended workers will generally have no automatic right to a dedicated workstation or single occupancy office in their employer’s work premises but will have a shared work space available to them when required to attend''. Part of longer term planning to downsize physical footprints where possible I'd imagine.

Not the case in my dept, if you opt out of blended working you still participate in hotdesking and have to book your desk everyday, opting out also doesn't entitle you to an office these must also be booked as long as you have the permissins to do so

In my Dept you don't opt out of hybrid, you opt in. If you don't opt in you are 100% in office.

Interesting that some Depts are doing the reverse.

There's so much evidence that hotdesking is horribly inefficient. Amazing some Depts are adopting it so readily. You'll note your POs and A/Secs won't be hotdesking!

The civil service guidance very much considers hybrid an opt in model, you have to formally apply for it.

Hot desking could lead to some issues, it's known to give rise to stress in some individuals, especially those who get very attached to their workspace or need / want to sit beside a window, etc.

Would agree with you in that some people get very possessive about their work space. I've seen worse in terms of people blocking off walkways near their station to put in a wardrobe to hand their office clothes for the week. We've all seen those people with piles and piles of files going back years, and even decades.

But hot desking arrangements require some thought and planning to avoid conflict, and I don't get the impression that this thought and planning has been properly undertaken.

If people are coming to the office to collaborate and build working relationships, then they'll need collaboration spaces which allow for that. They'll need places to put their stuff, places where they can get 5 mins of peace to concentrate or take a personal phone call. There also needs to be a lot more thorough cleaning of office equipment if it's going to be shared by multiple people.

In my dept we hot-desk but just with the alternate person on my floor on the opposite days so my day is the start of the week and I have that desk every week, I have a little drawer with a key at my desk and the other person has the desk on the days they are in and has a desk underneath too. Same desk everytime I go in! Suits me to be honest. We just make sure to wipe everything down when we come in and when we leave.

https://m.facebook.com/bbciplayer/videos/w1a-hot-desking/230458161234285/