The COVID-19 outbreak and its subsequent fallout necessitated that we relinquish old rigid paradigms of our work and home lives. Large office spaces were left vacant as workers moved to remote and hybrid work environments.
Despite offering innovative and alternative solutions for start-ups and large businesses, shared and coworking spaces took a hit because of the pandemic. However, many coworking spaces found ways to navigate around these new restrictions. They provided heads-down spaces for employees who were now forced to work remotely but could not effectively work from home for one reason or another.
As COVID-19 restrictions were lessened, many workers are eager to return to traditional office environments. Primarily, because it allows them to segment their work lives from their home lives. However, there is a large group of workers who feel that remote and hybrid work environments should become permanent. This renders large office buildings superfluous.
Companies can save money and increase worker productivity by utilizing more flexible approaches. The following guide will examine why companies should consider using coworking spaces and how they can cultivate growth.
Understanding the appeal of coworking spaces
Start-ups, young entrepreneurs, and freelancers have long been the lifeblood of modern coworking spaces. These spaces allow them to network and rub shoulders with other young professionals who can potentially help further their careers or help their businesses grow.
Every company’s goal is to grow and expand, which requires businesses to hire new staff and potentially relocate or extend their headquarters. Of course, this will require owners (or the executive in charge of operations) to search for new real estate, sign a lease, purchase new furniture, contract additional staff to lay down the initial network infrastructure, etc.
Moreover, you will need to pay additional costs for insurance, cleaning, utilities, and pantry supplies. Both new businesses and established ones can save on these costs by using a coworking space.
Co-working spaces offer diverse environments aimed at nurturing creativity and productivity. In fact, some experts have remarked that what shared office space providers truly offer is productivity-as-a-service, not just flexible employee workspaces.
Coworking spaces can range from minimal to high-end and luxurious. This is an important point, considering that no employee is the same. Some employees thrive in stimulating work environments, while others require as little distraction as possible. Coworking spaces allow workers to determine which work environments would suit them best.
Why is it the best time to use coworking spaces?
Historically, employees have always had to conform to a company’s culture. If corporations hope to foster workplace protocols that value mental health, they must be more inclusive and open to workers’ needs.
Of course, micromanaging in this fashion is a lot easier to do with current technological advancements. For instance, while some employees prefer to communicate face-to-face, others may prefer email or business texting channels. Thanks to more robust network capacities that can facilitate greater bandwidth, more diverse forms of fast communication are now accessible to remote workers.
As a result, companies no longer require workers to be on business premises to monitor or manage them. According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, at least 33% of organizations increased telework for some or all employees.
Because of an influx of new traffic, many video conferencing software vendors had to upgrade their features – particularly for security. For instance, Zoom started using an AES 256-bit GCM encryption standard in early 2022.
This point is important. What many companies worry about in regards to remote work is cybersecurity. Having all your workers on-premise makes it easier to manage your security. Furthermore, it decreases the potential for insider threats.
However, this can be easily addressed through holistic security approaches such as Zero-Trust. Moreover, modern network standards such as 5G are more innately secure. They have encryption, anti-spoofing, and anti-tracking tools built into them.
They also feature network slicing where a network can be segmented into multiple virtual networks that can have custom security. Remuneration software, employee tracking, and other tools for human resource management have also seen mass upgrades in the last few years. Freelancers working remotely now have access to a greater variety of payment options and money storage solutions.
Payment services such as PayPal experienced record amounts of growth in revenue during the first year of the pandemic (2020). Many freelancers would prefer to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies because they are still safer than other currencies. The last few years saw a rise in new crypto wallets, providing more options for storing cryptocurrencies.
Coworking spaces as vehicles for growth
Coworking spaces do not just serve as solutions to handle organizational growth but they can potentially encourage it. How? Several studies have suggested that remote work increases happiness, productivity, and job satisfaction.
However, workers who thrive from and miss the social surroundings that office buildings provide may benefit from a coworking space. Many felt socially isolated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Coworking spaces were able to provide psychosocial upliftment for workers during these uncertain times. Allowing them to choose how they want to work is a great way to remind employees of their personage and autonomy.
This type of flexibilization can be beneficial for health which in turn may help employees save money on transportation and health costs. Furthermore, the younger and healthier you are, the lower your life insurance premium costs are. With current heavy inflation rates being what they are, every penny saved counts. All these intersectional influences in the lives of employees have perceivable effects on your company’s growth. Implementing flexibilization through co-working spaces can take pressure off the shoulders of all your employees. They can be used to foster creativity and inspire new ideas.
Conclusion
Coworking spaces have long been used by young entrepreneurs, freelancers, self-employed professionals, and independent workers such as attorneys. The Covid-19 pandemic once again reminded companies that they were viable solutions to house employees off-premise.
Furthermore, because of the ubiquity and variety of options offered by coworking space providers, workers can select coworking spaces close to where they live. This allows them to save money on transportation costs which also allows them to lower their carbon footprint. Flexible work options have been shown to be highly beneficial for worker health and business development. Organizations can save money and spur growth by partnering with co-working space providers.
