The different ways of working in an office include traditional and open-plan working, hot desking, hotelling, Activity Based Working, agile working and flexible or hybrid working. Each approach changes how people use space, technology and time, so the right model depends on your people, the work they do and what you want your workplace to achieve.
There isn't one perfect way to organise a workplace. Some organisations need dedicated desks and specialist equipment, while others benefit from a mix of spaces that people can choose depending on what they need to get done.
Here's a quick look at how the main approaches compare.
| Way of working | The benefits | The downers | The cool bit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional / dedicated desks | Familiar, straightforward and gives people their own permanent workspace | Can use more space than necessary and may leave desks empty when people are away | Great for roles that need dedicated equipment, storage or a consistent setup |
| Open plan | Makes communication and team interaction easier and can use space efficiently | Noise, distractions and a lack of privacy can become issues | Done well, it can create a lively, connected workplace without putting everyone in one big room |
| Hot desking | Makes better use of desks and can reduce unused space | Needs good booking systems, storage and clear expectations | People can choose where they work based on when they're in and what they're doing |
| Hotelling | Gives organisations more control over shared workspace and planned occupancy | Requires more structured booking and management | Particularly useful when people know in advance when they will be in the office |
| Activity Based Working | Gives people different environments for different tasks and can support a wide range of working styles | Needs thoughtful planning, technology and behavioural change | The workplace becomes a toolkit of spaces rather than rows of identical desks |
| Agile working | Gives people greater autonomy over how, when and where they work | Doesn't work well without trust, good communication and the right technology | The focus shifts from where someone sits to what they need to achieve |
| Hybrid working | Gives people flexibility between working remotely and in the office | Office attendance can become unpredictable, making space planning harder | The office can become more intentional, with people coming in for collaboration, connection and activities that are harder to do remotely |
The important thing? These approaches don't have to exist separately. A workplace might combine dedicated desks for certain roles with hot desking, collaboration spaces and quiet areas for everyone else.
A traditional office gives employees their own dedicated workstation, usually with a fixed desk, chair, storage and the equipment they need to do their job.
It's a straightforward approach and one that still makes complete sense for some organisations.
People know where they sit, where their things are and where to find their colleagues. For roles that require specialist equipment, confidential information or a consistent workstation, dedicated seating can also be the most practical option.
The downside is that a dedicated desk is there whether someone is using it or not. If employees regularly work from home, travel between sites or spend much of their day in meetings, a significant amount of office space can sit empty.
That's why understanding actual occupancy and working patterns is important before deciding how much dedicated space you need.
An open plan office removes many of the physical divisions between workstations, creating a more open environment where people can see and interact with their colleagues more easily.
The idea is simple: bring people closer together to encourage communication, collaboration and visibility.
But open plan doesn't mean putting everyone into one large room and hoping for the best.
Without spaces for quiet work, private conversations, video calls and smaller meetings, noise and interruptions can quickly become a problem. People may end up looking for somewhere else to concentrate, which rather defeats the point of having an office.
A good open-plan workplace balances shared areas with spaces that support different levels of concentration and collaboration.
Hot desking is a shared-desk approach where employees don't have one permanently assigned workstation. Instead, they use a desk when they need one, often choosing or booking a workspace when they come into the office.
It can be particularly useful where people don't need to be in the office every day.
Rather than providing a desk for every employee, organisations can use the space more efficiently and put the area saved into other types of workplace setting.
But hot desking isn't simply a case of taking away desks.
People still need somewhere to work comfortably, store personal belongings, connect their devices and collaborate with colleagues. Booking systems, lockers, clear-desk policies and reliable technology can all make the difference between a flexible workplace that works and one that frustrates people.
Hotelling is similar to hot desking, but tends to involve a more structured approach to booking workspace.
Employees reserve a particular desk or workspace for a specific period, often before arriving at the office. This gives organisations greater visibility of who is coming in and how much space is likely to be needed.
The distinction is useful:
Both approaches can help organisations make better use of space, but both rely on people having a workplace that supports the way they actually work.
Activity Based Working (ABW) is a workplace approach where people choose a space based on the task they're carrying out, rather than having one fixed place for everything.
Instead of giving everyone the same desk and expecting every type of work to happen there, an ABW workplace might include quiet areas for focused work, collaborative spaces for team sessions, informal areas for conversations, meeting rooms and spaces for calls.
The idea is to give people a workplace that supports the activity they need to do.
Someone might start the day in a quiet area to concentrate, move to a project space for a team session and then use a meeting room for a client call.
That means the workplace needs to offer enough variety without becoming confusing or difficult to navigate.
Good ABW design is about understanding how people actually work and creating the right mix of spaces around those behaviours.
Agile working is a broader approach that gives employees more freedom to decide how, when and where they work, with the focus placed on achieving outcomes rather than simply being present at a particular desk.
That might mean working from different areas of the office, working remotely, changing locations throughout the day or adjusting working patterns around different activities.
This is where agile working is often confused with Activity Based Working.
They are related, but they aren't the same thing.
Activity Based Working is primarily a workplace design approach.
Agile working is a wider way of organising work.
An agile workplace therefore needs more than flexible furniture. It needs the technology, culture, management practices and trust to support people working differently.
Flexible working gives employees greater choice over when and, depending on the organisation, where they work.
Hybrid working takes this a step further by combining office-based and remote working.
For example, someone might work from home for focused individual tasks and come into the office for team meetings, collaboration or activities where being together adds more value.
The office therefore has to work harder.
If people aren't there every day, the workplace needs to give them a reason to come in. That could mean better collaboration spaces, social areas, specialist facilities, quiet rooms or spaces designed specifically for team interaction.
This is why hybrid working isn't simply about reducing the number of desks. It's about understanding what people need from the office when they are there.
The terms are often used interchangeably, but there is a useful distinction.
Flexible working is about giving people flexibility around when and potentially where they work.
Hybrid working specifically describes a combination of office-based and remote working.
Agile working is broader. It gives people greater autonomy over how they organise their work and focuses on outcomes rather than a fixed approach to time or place.
They can all work together. An organisation might use an agile working philosophy, support hybrid working and give employees flexible working arrangements.
The workplace then needs to support all three.
The right approach isn't necessarily the newest one, or the one that promises to save the most space.
It starts with understanding your organisation.
Think about how often people are actually in the office, the activities they carry out, how much collaboration they need and which roles require dedicated equipment or privacy. It's also worth looking at how people use your existing workplace rather than relying on assumptions.
That might involve occupancy studies, employee surveys, space utilisation data and observations of how different areas are being used.
From there, you can start to build a workplace around real behaviours.
You might find that your organisation doesn't need one single way of working at all. A combination of dedicated workstations, shared desks, quiet spaces, collaboration areas and meeting rooms may give people a much better workplace than trying to apply one model across the whole business.
The best workplace strategy starts with the people and activities that need to happen there.
At Habit Action, we use workplace strategy and evidence-based design to understand how an organisation works before deciding what its workplace needs to look like.
That means looking beyond desks and floor plans to consider behaviour, technology, collaboration, occupancy and future business requirements.
The result is a workplace designed around how your organisation actually works — and how you want it to work in the future.
The main approaches include traditional dedicated seating, open-plan working, hot desking, hotelling, Activity Based Working, agile working and flexible or hybrid working. Organisations can also combine several approaches to create a workplace that supports different roles and activities.
Hot desking involves sharing workstations between employees who use them when needed. Hotelling is a more structured version where employees typically reserve a particular workspace for a defined period, often in advance.
Activity Based Working allows employees to choose different workplace settings according to the task they are carrying out. These might include quiet areas, collaboration spaces, meeting rooms, project areas and informal workspaces.
No. Agile working is a broader approach to organising work around autonomy and outcomes. Hybrid working specifically describes working across a combination of office and remote locations. An organisation can use both approaches at the same time.
Start by understanding how your people actually work. Look at occupancy, activities, collaboration, technology, privacy, equipment requirements and future business needs. This evidence can then inform the right combination of workspaces and working practices for your organisation.