Flexibility is the key

Since March 2020 many employees were forced to work from home and discovered the simple joys in being there more. Time with the pets, time with the kids, less time and money spent on commuting, a few more hours of precious, precious sleep each week. Bliss. But we knew it couldn’t continue indefinitely. Not all home offices are alike. I heard rumours of people having to use ironing boards as desks, whereas other people had dedicated studies.

As time has gone on, fewer and fewer people have expressed a desire to go back to the ‘old normal’ which is putting pressure on businesses to think outside the box in order to retain talent and build their workforces.

Here, we will discuss a few ways in which companies can move away from the traditional way of thinking and create a more people-focussed workplace.

Talk to your team

It sounds so simple! Some people thrive in the office environment, away from the domestic distractions. Some people suffer from lengthy, complicated commutes, leaving them tired and irritated before the first meeting has even begun. Perhaps some of your team are worried about dealing with the additional bills from having people in the house all the time, or perhaps some of your team are worried about passing viruses to vulnerable relative. Whatever their reasons, you need to understand where they are coming from. Find out what matters most to them and if/how you can facilitate this.

This is showing your team that they matter as an individuals. While you may not be able to completely deliver what each individual person wants, the fact that you’ve taken the time to speak with them and understand them will show that they are valuable and appreciated.

Look at how you use your office

So if you’re moving towards a hybrid way of working with either some of the team working remotely or working remotely on set days, do you really need all that office space?

In the past, you would typically ensure you had space for at least the number of people you currently employed. But do you really need all that space? Some of the new ideas organisations are coming from include:

• Desk sharing with another company
• Using co-working spaces on set days per week
• Renting out their unused office space
• Implementing a hot desking or desk hoteling system

One of the other considerations is how your office actually works for your team. At home, they may have the choice to walk away from their desk and unwind on their lunch break, so making sure they have adequate break out spaces in the office is so important.

Making Working Remotely Viable

It’s all well and good telling your team that they can work remotely, but what if they don’t have the tools?

Communication software such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Skype for Business are vital to ensuring your team and a clear communication channel to their co-workers and leaders. If they have questions or need to virtually attend a meeting while working remotely, ensure they are familiar with how to do this. Set a protocol for how meetings should take place and how questions are raised.

And as a manger, are you able to review or assist when required? How are you sharing files and documents when not in the same office?

Other than software, you also need to consider the kit your team has. Are the laptops suitable to be taking in and out of the office every day? Are they powerful enough? Can the team answer calls from customers without giving out their personal mobile numbers?

Health and Wellbeing

Understanding who your team are will help you create a more people-focussed workspace. Even when working apart, regular check ins with individuals and ensuring there is an open communication channel will help your team feel connected. It also helps if they know that, even if they have decided to work from home, they can change their mind and you will try to help accommodate that, whether it is reviewing the office usage again or looking at external co-working spaces as a temporary solution.

Organised fun isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but even trying to arrange some team games online or the odd quiz can help prevent isolation between remote team members. And of course, arrange some face-to-face socialising for those who feel up to it.

You may have noticed that in 2020, nothing is quite how it was and that includes office space. With more people than ever working from home, most businesses have been forced to change the way they work – including us!

The rule book for office space has well and truly been thrown out the window and many of us are starting to look at new and better ways to use office spaces.

Co-working Spaces

Co-working spaces are far from new, but they are on the rise. According to this piece of research by Hubble HQ, 43% of those who took part would like to work in a co-working space when not in their main office.
Many organisations are embracing the world of full or part time remote working, which is great…if you have somewhere else to work from. A co-working space allows you all the comforts of a traditional office with much less of the commitment.

Have a team who need to work together in a specific location? Co-working space.

Have a team member moving to a different city and don’t want to lose them? Co-working space.

Looking to get a smaller office but still have a place your team can assemble or work together when required? Co-working space.

Co-working spaces mean you can have 4 dedicated desks and 8 passes for your team to share. This allows your team to work in the office when they need to but have the flexibility to work from home or elsewhere when required.

Office ‘Timeshares’

The word ‘timeshare’ is enough to make many of us shudder. But, did you know that you can have a timeshare office?
What this means is, you and another organisation would sign up together and split the use of the office or desks however you like. If your business would only realistically need desks 2 days a week, but you want to guarantee their availability, you can pair up with another company who could use the space on the other three days and share the costs.
This is different from typical co-working because you wouldn’t inhabit the space at the same time as your timesharing friends, but rather use the space on alternate days. The benefits of an office timeshare are:

• Get the office you want at a more affordable price
• Offer flexible working without your office sitting empty half of the time
• Work your schedule around what works best for you both
• Create a great, local contact who can become an advocate for your business.

Rent A Desk (Hot Desking)

Rent a desk as and when you need one! Such a simple concept.
Hot desking, in this respect, is buying a ‘pass’ for a hot desking facility where you will have all the comforts of a traditional office. If you’re the type who often occupies space in a coffee shop, you’ll know what a pain it can be. Having to keep buy hot bevs so you don’t get asked to leave, the all too tempting cakes and pastries by the tills, the lunch time rush, sketchy WiFi…not to mention, what do you do with all your stuff when you need to nip to the loo? Well, all of this can be avoided by booking a hot desk. With your pass you typically get:

• Full day access
• Proper workstations with desks, office chairs and power supply
• Fast and stable internet connection
• Use of the facilities
• Security
• Beverages included

Virtual Offices

If you’re thinking “well, hang on, I don’t think I need a physical office at all!”, then you could consider a virtual office. This is ideal for remote teams who need a physical address for post and for their online profile. Often with these, you also get a phone number and basic reception duties such as taking messages and dealing with your incoming mail. It’s a great way to shake off the traditional office set up all together and let your team be 100% remote.

If you’re reviewing your office requirements, why not get in touch with our team to find out more about the facilities we offer?

The co-working hybrid is a mix of the modern and the traditional. We’ve picked the best aspects of each to create our product

Traditionally favoured by independent workers and start-ups, co-working has steadily grown over the years and is now considered a ‘must’ by many large companies and remote workers. It’s even a great way to create a new base for your company in various locations with fewer overheads while allowing you to recruit from a wider pool of candidates.

The first official co-working space opened around 2005, however, this office movement is thought to have stemmed from 90s Hackerspaces. These spaces were originally created as a solution for lone workers, allowing them somewhere outside of their home to work and socialize. Historically, co-working spaces were different from serviced offices as they were created by and for the ‘creatives’ rather than the ‘suits’. In recent years, these two types of the workplace have begun to blend making way for a new collection of spaces with different focuses.

Take us for example, while we have taken some elements of a serviced office, we have also taken inspiration from the co-working movement. This is partly to do with the physical aspects of the building. As a former sports court, there was a huge open space and high ceilings allowing us to add an upper floor. Rather than creating traditional, boxed in offices, we wanted to look to the new way of working and the ‘co-working values’ of collaboration, openness, community, accessibility, and sustainability.

Open-plan spaces are social. They are designed to encourage communication and promote a sense of teamwork due to the diversity of its members. It becomes a place where like-minded businesses can inspire one another, network and potentially find collaborative work partners. Finding yourself sharing a space with an array of people from different backgrounds, with different interests, different businesses and different goals give you unique opportunities that would have otherwise pass you by in a more typical office building.

“[Co-working] is a place and a style of working that combines independence and co-dependence. One that allows you to be a soloist, but still plays in the orchestra. To be social when you need to and to hold you accountable for delivering the things you say as important” (Dunstan, M (2015) The Co-working Revolution: Four Secrets to Successfully Working for Yourself)

While bean bags and pool tables may be suitable for the more quirky co-working space, we have followed a more traditional aesthetic but with our own twist. We chose a calming blue colour scheme as this is said to improve efficiency and performance, and rather than removing the original glass ceiling, we restored it and added several other large windows around the space. Natural daylight has been proven to enhance productivity, health and mood. We knew also that for the work our current and future members do, our priority had to be to get the essentials right (such as connectivity, comfort, location and a focussed environment to name a few) and offer a high quality, well thought out product.