How versatile places of work assist distant employees throughout COVID-19

Home Business Magazine Online

Before 2019, the concepts of home office and remote working were unknown to many companies around the world – almost only multinational corporations took advantage of the opportunity. However, the coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally rewritten the way we think about remote work. New tools and processes were required, and help came from a surprising source: the newly defined flexible office market has developed into a really effective hybrid solution. In this article we examine the new position of the flexible office.

Pandemic Challenges

In March 2019, all of our lives changed fundamentally. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic affected every area of ​​life, from bakers to bands, from startup entrepreneurs to large Fortune 500 companies. Countless companies whose management had previously refused to hear about home office and remote working have been forced to apply this to all employee positions to ensure business continuity. In large companies that already had this option, at least the processes and tools were in place to enable employees to work completely from home.

In the first few months everyone was happy: employees saved commuting time and even found it easier to incorporate home tasks into their daily routine, and businesses saved office and overhead costs. What initially seemed like an efficient process slowed down, however, and social life in the workplace became limited to zoom and other video chat applications – making it increasingly difficult for teams and individuals to work effectively.

As the epidemic subsided and vaccinations began, companies came up with different solutions:

• Once the epidemic subsided and government regulations allowed it, traditional businesses resumed mandatory office presence.
• For some positions, companies allowed full home office arrangements, which meant employees could work remotely every working day.
• Other companies take turns using a hybrid model Home work with office presence. One of the best-known examples was Vodafone, which set up separate, flexible offices in its shared service centers, which were booked on a daily basis by different teams who then worked from home for the rest of the week.

How flexible offices support companies and employees in this new era

In the real estate sector, the flexible office market, which had suffered heavy losses during the quarantine period, was buried from the first days of the epidemic. The reason for this was the operating model, since a physical presence is a basic requirement for all services in the market.

In the SME sector in particular, however, there were situations in which an alternative local solution was required due to the lack of a central office. There are several freelancers, sole proprietorships, startups and smaller businesses that needed a temporary representative space to carry out their activities in a safe and orderly environment. These activities included:

• A meeting where personal presence was essential
• Function room for receptions
• Overflow space for 1099s

In addition, there was a growing demand from employees who, frustrated by remote work, close to burnout, wanted to work as quickly as possible in a “formal environment”, be it on a corporate or private budget. “Our first customers were people looking for offices with one or two people. They were so tired of working from home and wanted to come into a community where they could be more productive and meet new people, ”said Julie Felgar, owner of Venture X Arlington, a provider of flexible office services in the Metro DC area.

There is also increasing demand for startups and SMEs that cannot afford a fixed office with all employees at once or had to give up due to the epidemic, but occasionally need the services of a separate office. “Lately, larger and larger companies have been joining in and are looking at how they can use our rooms for the transition to hybrid work schedules – namely to work with a rotating base of employees,” says Julie Felgar of Venture X, describing the phenomenon in practice. This allows companies to drastically reduce their office space requirements and the associated costs while keeping social life and face-to-face meetings above sea level.

How the market will change is difficult to predict, but it’s nice to know that there are flexible solutions for sole proprietorships and teams that were previously only available to large corporations.

If you only need a desk for an hour, need a separate room for an important meeting or if you want to work away from home and in a fresh environment, the flexible office is for you. If you’re in the Metro DC area, stop by Venture X Arlington for coffee and you’ll be instantly drawn to the inspiring community life of the pre-pandemic era.

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