Height-Adjustable Desks: A Practical Guide for Office and HR Managers

Sit-stand desks are now a familiar sight in modern offices. Getting them right takes more than picking a desk from a catalogue.

If you're the person tasked with making it happen, you'll be juggling several questions at once. How many desks do you need? What does it mean for your DSE duties? Where does the power go? How do you get sign-off, and how do you ensure people actually use the desks once they're in place?

This guide walks you through each stage of a height-adjustable desk rollout, from working out what your team needs to the first few weeks after installation. Whether you're introducing a handful of electric desks or fitting out a whole floor, the same steps apply. It's based on the questions we hear most often from office managers and HR teams planning their first sit-stand rollout.

Start with your team, not the catalogue

Tensos Compact Sit-Stand Desks 

The right rollout starts with how your people work, not with a desk specification. Before you look at products, spend some time understanding who will use the desks and how.

A few questions to answer first:

• Who spends most of the day at a screen? Desk-based roles with long, unbroken screen time will get the most from a height-adjustable desk.
• Who has a specific need? Some colleagues may already have a workstation assessment or a reasonable adjustment that points towards an adjustable desk.
• How are desks used? Fixed, assigned desks and shared hot desks call for different approaches, particularly around controls and height presets.
• What do people want? A short staff survey helps you gauge demand, surface concerns early and build support before anything is ordered.

The answers will shape almost every decision that follows, from the number of electric desks you buy to how you introduce them.

Questions to include in your staff survey

Keep the survey short so people actually complete it. Five or six questions are usually enough:

1. Roughly how many hours a day do you spend working at a screen?

2. Do you use the same desk every day, or a shared desk?

3. Would you use a height-adjustable desk if one were available?

4. Do you currently experience any discomfort while working at your desk?

5. Is there anything about your current workstation you'd like to change?

6. Do you have any concerns about moving to a new desk?

Make it clear that answers about discomfort are optional, and that anyone with a specific health need can speak to HR privately. The aim is to understand demand, not to collect health information in a group survey.

Once the results are in, you'll have a clear picture of who needs what. That makes the next decision, how many electric desks to buy, much easier.

How many electric height-adjustable desks do you need?

You don't have to make every desk electric. For many offices, a mix of desk types gives the best balance of cost and flexibility.

Most sit-stand ranges come in three versions:

Type	How it adjusts	Best for
Electric	At the touch of a button	People who change positions several times a day, and shared desks used by different people.
Crank (manual)	By turning a handle	Desks that are set once for one user and rarely changed.
Fixed height	Doesn't adjust	Roles with little screen time, or areas where adjustment isn't needed.

Many ranges let you combine all three on matching frames within the same bench layout. That means you can assign electric positions to the people who need them most, keep fixed desks elsewhere, and still maintain a consistent office appearance. It also leaves room to add more electric desks later if demand grows.

As a starting point, think in terms of roles rather than headcount. Hot-desking areas usually benefit most from electric desks, because every user needs a different height. Assigned desks for occasional screen users may not need them at all. 

Here's how that might look in practice. Imagine a team where most people work at screens all day, a hot-desking area is shared by hybrid workers, and a small group spends most of the day in meetings or on the move. A sensible approach could be:

• Electric desks for the hot-desking area and for anyone who works at a screen for most of the day.
• Crank desks for assigned desks where the user is happy to set a height and leave it.
• Fixed desks for the roles that spend little time at a desk, on the same frames, so the office looks consistent.

This is only an example, and every office is different. The point is to match each desk type to how the space is used, rather than defaulting to the same desk everywhere.

It's also worth thinking a few years ahead. If your headcount is likely to grow, or more people may move to hybrid working, choose a range that lets you add or swap positions without replacing whole benches.

You can browse our full range of height-adjustable workstations for teams, alongside fixed-height bench desks and single standing desks for individual offices. For a closer look at mixing desk types in one bench, see our guide to SetMe bench desks.

Height-adjustable desks and your DSE duties

Motion Sit-Stand Desks

Sit-stand desks aren't a legal requirement, but they can make meeting your display screen equipment (DSE) duties much easier.

Under HSE guidance, if people use DSE daily, continuously for an hour or more as part of their normal work, you must carry out a workstation assessment. The HSE says this applies when:

• A new workstation is set up
• A new user starts work
• Changes are made to an existing workstation or how it's used
• Users report pain or discomfort.

A sit-stand rollout counts as a change to the workstation, so plan to review assessments for everyone moving to a new desk. The HSE also notes that an assessment should look at the whole workstation, including furniture, and consider individual needs such as disability.

Employers must also plan work so that DSE users have breaks or changes of activity. The HSE recommends short, frequent breaks over longer, less frequent ones, and says breaks should allow people to get up, move around, or at least stretch and change their posture. A height-adjustable desk doesn't replace breaks, but it makes regular posture changes part of the workday.

For colleagues with a disability or health condition, a sit-stand desk may form part of a reasonable adjustment. GOV.UK guidance says employers must make reasonable adjustments so that disabled workers, or those with physical or mental health conditions, aren't substantially disadvantaged in their jobs.

What to check in DSE assessments after the rollout

When you review assessments for people moving to a new desk, a few points are specific to height-adjustable desks:

• Seated and standing heights. Check the desk suits the user in both positions, not just seated.
• Screen position. Monitor arms or screen height may need adjusting so the screen stays at eye level at both heights.
• Chair set-up. A new desk height can change how a chair needs to be adjusted.
• Controls. Make sure the user knows how to adjust the desk and, where available, save their preferred heights.
• Cables and clearance. Confirm nothing snags or pulls when the desk moves.
• Individual needs. Revisit any existing adjustments to make sure the new desk still meets them.

Worth knowing: a new desk is only part of the picture. Chairs, screen position and keyboard placement all still matter, so it's worth timing your rollout alongside a round of workstation assessments.

Plan the space, power and cabling

B-Active Height-Adjustable Bench Desk

Sit-stand desks take up broadly the same floor space as fixed desks, but they do need more thought around power and clearance.

• Power to every electric position. Each electric desk needs power for its motor, on top of the power and data your team already uses. Plan where this comes from before you finalise the layout.
• Cables that move with the desk. When a desk rises, its cables have to rise too. Rising cable trays, vertical cable spines or flexible risers keep everything connected without trailing wires. Desktop power modules can help too, and some are designed to be upgraded and refurbished rather than replaced (see our look at sustainable power modules).
• Clearance above and around. Check that nothing gets in the way at full standing height, such as shelving, low windowsills or wall-mounted screens.
• Screens and dividers. Desk screens that attach to the moving surface, rather than the fixed frame, stay in the right place at any height.

If you're redesigning more of the office at the same time, our guide to hybrid office design covers how desk areas fit alongside quiet zones and collaboration spaces.

Building the case for sign-off

Most sit-stand projects need approval from a senior leader or the finance team. A clear, well-evidenced proposal makes that conversation easier.

We'd suggest including:

1. The need. Your survey results, any relevant workstation assessment findings and the roles you're prioritising.

2. The options. A recommended mix of electric, crank and fixed desks, with the reasoning behind it.

3. The costs. A full quote covering desks, cable management, screens, delivery and installation, so there are no surprises later.

4. The lifespan. Guarantee terms for frames and motors, plus whether the desks can be reconfigured or moved if you relocate.

5. The plan. A timeline for installation and how you'll keep disruption to a minimum.

If the budget is tight, a phased rollout is often easier to approve. Start with the teams who need adjustable desks most, choose a range that lets you add electric positions later, and expand once you've seen how the first phase is used.

Questions your finance team may ask

It helps to have answers ready before the meeting. These are the questions that tend to come up:

• Why not buy the cheapest option? Lower-cost frames can differ in stability at standing height, motor quality and guarantee length. A desk that wobbles or fails early gets used less and may need replacing sooner.
• Do we need electric desks for everyone? Not necessarily. A mix of electric, crank and fixed desks lets you focus spending where it's needed.
• What happens if we move office? Ask whether the desks can be dismantled, relocated and reconfigured, and whether the supplier can handle that for you.
• What's included in the price? Check that delivery, installation, cable management and screens are all itemised, so you're comparing like for like.
• What support is there afterwards? Find out who to contact if a desk develops a fault, and what the guarantee covers.

Installation without the disruption

A well-planned installation keeps your office running while the new desks go in. The details to agree in advance are:

• Timing. Discuss when installation can happen and whether it can be split across areas, so each team moves once.
• Access. Confirm loading, lift access and any building rules for deliveries.
• Clearing desks. Give people notice to clear personal items and label equipment before installation day.
• Handover. Make sure every desk is tested and each user knows how the controls work before they start using it.

A typical rollout, stage by stage

Every project is different, but most follow a similar pattern:

1. Before installation. Confirm the final layout, share the plan with your team, and schedule workstation assessment reviews for the weeks after the desks go in.

2. The week before. Remind people to clear their desks, label their equipment and note where their monitors and docking stations need to go.

3. Installation day. Keep affected areas clear, and have a point of contact on site to answer questions from the installation team.

4. Handover. Walk through the controls with each team, test every desk and make sure cables move freely at full height.

5. The first month. Follow up on assessments, gather feedback and fix any small issues early.

Sharing this timeline with your team in advance helps people know what to expect and reduces the number of questions on the day.

At Furnify, our own certified installation team handles supply, delivery and installation in-house. For larger projects, we include consultation, site survey and project management as standard.

Getting your team to actually use them

se:lab Twin Sit-Stand Desk 

A sit-stand desk only helps if people use it. A little guidance in the first few weeks makes a big difference.

How to set up a height-adjustable desk

The HSE's good posture guidance for DSE users gives a useful starting point. It recommends:

• Keyboard just below elbow height
• Mouse in line with the elbow
• Top of the screen level with the eyes, about an arm's length away
• Shoulders relaxed rather than shrugged.

The same principles are a good guide when standing: raise the desk until your keyboard sits just below elbow height, then check your screen is still at eye level. If the desks have height presets, encourage people to save their sitting and standing heights on day one.

Suggest a gradual routine

Standing all day isn't the goal. In 2015, an expert statement commissioned by Public Health England and Active Working CIC, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, recommended that desk-based workers build up to two hours a day of standing and light activity during working hours, eventually progressing to four. It also advised regularly breaking up seated work and avoiding prolonged static standing.

In practice, that means encouraging people to:

• Start with short spells of standing and build up over time.
• Switch position regularly rather than standing for long stretches.
• Combine standing with moving, such as taking calls on their feet or walking to a colleague's desk.

Build it into your office culture

Habits stick when they're visible and supported. A few simple ideas:

• Run a short demo on installation day, covering controls, presets and set-up.
• Nominate a champion in each team who's happy to answer questions.
• Lead by example. When managers use their desks at both heights, others follow.
• Check in after a few weeks. A quick follow-up survey shows how the desks are being used and whether anyone needs a reassessment.

Common mistakes to avoid

A few pitfalls come up again and again. Knowing them in advance makes them easy to sidestep:

• Treating the desks as the finish line. Installation is the start. Without guidance, some people may never adjust their desks at all.
• Encouraging all-day standing. Standing for long periods brings its own problems. The goal is regular movement between positions.
• Forgetting the rest of the workstation. A new desk won't help much if the chair, screen or keyboard is set up badly.
• Skipping the handover. People are far less likely to use features they don't understand, such as height presets.
• Not asking for feedback. A quick check-in after a few weeks shows what's working and where people need more support.

Share a simple desk guide

A one-page guide on each desk, or on your intranet, gives people something to refer back to. Keep it short and practical:

• How to raise, lower and save heights
• The set-up checklist for seated and standing positions
• A reminder to switch positions regularly and build up standing time gradually
• Who to contact with questions or to request a workstation reassessment.

If you're not sure where to start, ask your supplier. Many can provide user guides for the controls on the desks they install.

Frequently asked questions

Do we have to provide sit-stand desks?

There's no general legal requirement to provide them. However, you must carry out DSE workstation assessments and plan breaks or changes of activity for DSE users, and a sit-stand desk may be part of a reasonable adjustment for some colleagues.

How long should people stand at a height-adjustable desk?

There's no single right answer, and people should listen to their own bodies. The 2015 expert statement recommends building up to two hours per day of standing and light activity during working hours, progressing to four hours, while avoiding long periods of static standing.

Can we mix sit-stand and fixed desks?

Yes. Many ranges let you combine electric, crank and fixed positions on matching frames, so you can prioritise adjustable desks for the roles that need them most.

Do sit-stand desks work for hot-desking?

They're particularly well-suited to it because each user can set the desk to their own height. Electric desks with height presets make switching between users quicker.

Will we need new DSE assessments after the rollout?

HSE guidance says assessments are needed when changes are made to an existing workstation, so it's sensible to review assessments for anyone moving to a new desk.

What if some people don't want to stand?

That's fine. A height-adjustable desk gives people the option, not an obligation. Even if someone mostly sits, being able to adjust the desk to the exact right seated height can make their workstation more comfortable. Encourage, but don't enforce.

Can we add more electric desks later?

In many cases, yes. If you think demand might grow, mention it early so your supplier can recommend a range that lets you add or swap electric positions on the same frames.

Ready to plan your height-adjustable desk rollout?

Planning a sit-stand rollout involves plenty of moving parts, but you don't have to work through them alone. Our team specialises in office furniture and workplace design, and we'll help you find the right mix of desks for your space, budget and people.

Book a free, no-obligation consultation and we'll guide you from brief to installation. Or browse our range of electric height-adjustable desks to see what's possible.