Shared Workspaces: The True Value of Flexibility
October 7, 2020
5 min
As we settle into our New Normal, most companies have sent their busybodies to “work-from-home”, which not all of us feel comfortable with - be it distractions, kids, family, house-hold issues, or otherwise. Many factors may deviate or even interrupt the steady workflow of any professional outside the office. And, while all those dedicated staff members have been away, a lot of business owners seem to be realizing that Shared Workspaces are not only a way to invest in their people’s well-being, but also an alternative to manage major office expenses.
Shared Workspaces as a solution for today’s challenges
Companies like Twitter, plan to allow staff to work from home forever - while keeping offices open if people prefer. It is becoming the new standard to offer the workforce both: office & “work-from-home”. There is a very clear monetary advantage of Shared Workspaces compared to a traditional lease. A traditional lease only becomes cost-efficient after the 4th year - under unchanged preconditions. But let’s face it, most companies won’t grow or shrink their team within a period of 4 years. And that’s when flexibility is key in today’s businesses. The past few months have shown the world that circumstances can drastically change within the blink of an eye. This gives more than enough reason to choose flexibility over traditional commercial real estate practices.
A growing trend indicates that a vast majority of decision-makers and leaders at enterprise-level companies consider real estate in terms of capital expenditure. As CBRE puts it, “We call this instance Agile 2.0. By introducing future uncertainty… what we’ve found is that the value of flexibility is actually greater than the cost of a flexible lease.” This means that a shared workspace environment, with all that it offers, is hands-down a better investment to the traditional office lease and its setting due to flexibility and commitment to their client - you.
Within the vast classifications of Commercial Real Estate, Workplace-as-a-Service (WaaS) is a concept that shines as a logical, financial, and flexible workspace environment - that providers of this sector are able to deliver on its promise to both the company and their staff alike. Main offices can remain as smaller central hubs where senior managers and CEOs are based, with employees travelling in once or twice a week to meet with their managers or bosses. A WaaS becomes an extension of the organization, a cost-effective solution - where their business is your business.
Do you know the difference between “home office” and “work from home”?
It’s understandable to confuse these two concepts, after all, they both deal with “home” and work - but there is a very defining line between them. A home office means that there is an established and preconditioned space within the home with the sole purpose of work. Everything other than that, and what most people are doing now, is “work from home”.
Working from home has a name - telecommuting is a concept that allows people to work from home and to be in constant connection with a central base during set working hours. Both have been only practiced by a small number of the world population until recently. And, even though “work is something you do, not something you travel to” for now- anyone who thinks things will go back to the way we once operated is bananas.
Back to the Future of Work
Even though the future of work is now, as most of the working world had to work from home during the intense quarantine period of Covid19 - they must now come back to new beginnings, guidelines, and ways of work life.
The advantage of a WaaS environment and central office hubs is, that they allow team shifts. For example, Team A utilizes the shared workspace environment 1-2 a month, and Team B the reminder of that time. This will cycle them between the main office hub and a workspace that serves as an extension of that main base. This works as a constant rotation through a fresh environment that can stimulate creativity and production. And due to being around other teams from other companies doing great things too, some inspiration might rub off on employees as well. Not only that, but a collaborative workplace will be tailored to your staff in pristine working conditions - providing an ideal space for them to excel in their work output production.
Shared Workspaces as Opportunity Zones
A fully equipped workspace that tends to all your office needs can be a blessing in disguise and an opportunity to grow and expand your team in an organically healthy way in regard to their work productivity and creativity. An option to distribute your workforce into other territories while spreading out your employees during these new norms of social distancing can give you leverage in maintaining solid dynamic teams with better quality in their work and professional self-esteem. Because let’s face it, we shouldn’t ever miss out on being avantgarde just because that’s “the way it’s been done before”.
A Fresh Start
Decisions in our recent past were executed with the best information made available at the time, and much info has also been overlooked due to the momentum of things already going. But, now we have a fresh starting point. And if we’re always learning new innovative and impactful techniques, methods, and ways of operation - then our future organizations and businesses will infinitely be better suited to discern and decide a course of action when zoned into a new environment. With that said, and the new regulations put in place, workspaces across the world are up for the challenge to businesses in a personalized and cost-effective way - to suit your needs and the needs of your employees.