The pandemic has caused a lot of industries to make changes to their needs and office spaces are one of those needs that have seen change. More employees are working remotely at least part of the week and this has caused a demand for more flexible workspaces. That is where coworking steps in.
It used to be that coworking spaces were seen only for freelancers or start-ups because they were unstructured and noisy environments. But today’s coworking spaces have graduated to more organized spaces that are balanced and sophisticated enough that even large organizations like Verizon and IBM are using coworking spaces.
Benefits of Coworking Spaces
The corporate world has realized that coworking spaces help satisfy the various needs of both their budget and their employees. As adaptable and flexible environments, these spaces offer a wide range of benefits to businesses of all sizes.
Cost-effectiveness
All businesses strive to reduce their overall costs so they can use that money for efforts that will bring in profits to the business. A coworking space distributes the cost of the space among all of the members utilizing the space which results in a better rate for everyone overall.
The amenities and type of spaces that subscribers get for being in a coworking space would cost them many times more in a traditional office setting. High-speed internet, 24 hours office access, and daily cleaning are just some of the value add features that coworking spaces can offer businesses.
Flexibility of workspace
Coworking is all about flexibility and choice for employees. These spaces often have varying workstations including everything from dedicated desk space to an open office room. Employees can pick and choose what works for them depending on their work style or the tasks they need to complete that day.
Coworking spaces also offer flexibility in work times for employees as well. Most offer extended hours in comparison to traditional offices with some being open 24/7. This means your employees can tailor their working hours to when they are most productive to improve their efficiency.
Balance Between Life and Work
Coworking spaces have a culture of balancing life and work. Most of these spaces have resources that are available to the businesses that use them the promote taking breaks when needed so that employees can productively work. Also, coworking spaces are generally found in major metropolitan areas close to transit, commercial, and financial districts which employees can take advantage of during or after working hours.
Advantages to Start-Ups and Corporation
The whole idea of coworking spaces is collaboration which is a huge benefit to new and upcoming businesses looking to work with corporations. These types of start-ups can take advantage of networking opportunities with businesses in the same space that they may not have gotten in a traditional space.
It also gives new businesses a professional look. Coworking spaces come with a professional address, phone number, and meeting space all of which can show clients that the business is serious about its clientele and professional image.
Centralized Meeting Spaces
With teams now working in places all over the world, getting together can be a hard task. Coworking office spaces are perfect places to gather everyone into one room for collaboration or just a friendly first meeting. Getting people together is the best way to get ideas flowing. A team working together in person can be more productive because they inspire each other and collaborate easier than on a phone call.
How Coworking Spaces Effect Corporate Culture
Coworking has completely changed the way society views working and its culture. Thanks to the pandemic, businesses have moved from the more formal way of the traditional office space to open and collaborative spaces.
One unique change that has happened to the management of businesses, and specifically start-ups, because of this change in coworking ideas is changes to the management structure. More companies are starting to remove the idea of having managers with employees below them. Now, companies are having more flat management structures which give employees a greater sense of feeling valued.
Open office spaces and more entrepreneurial culture have allowed talent acquisition to make its own changes. Talent is now more available to companies and because collaboration has become more of a priority now, it leads to unexpected and better relationships. Vendors, employees, and even clients can now interact where they couldn’t before.
One specific example of this is major players in the technology industry. These big tech corporations are getting into coworking spaces so they can have direct access to innovators in their industry. And it goes both ways. Newer, fresher talent can get access to some of the biggest players in their industries giving them golden opportunities to get their foot in the door.
Coworking on Office Spaces
Start-ups to corporations all have one common goal: save money on the things that don’t bring in money so those resources can be given to the things that bring in profit. Coworking is a method that these companies can use to reduce the amount of money they spend on office space while still retaining the ability for a flexible work environment that helps support their employees.
Coworking is great for scalability and can be used for everyone from larger businesses looking to add new offices in new cities or startups that have plans for expansion in the coming years. It’s a low-risk commitment option that often meets the entrepreneurial needs of growing businesses.
It doesn’t matter if you are a multi-national company or a new venture, Astra Business Center has coworking spaces for you. We have the resources and space needed to help any sized business grow and thrive in the Calgary area.
It’s time to leave behind the long-term leases, high-risk, and high-cost of traditional office spaces and look into more coworking options like the Astra Business Center. We provide a range of amenities to businesses in our spaces including cleaning services, boardroom access, fully furnished spaces, and more.
So stop by today to see how our coworking spaces can fit into your business!