With much of the global population still under lock and some countries slowly opening up, many businesses have taken to remote work. It has now become the official norm during this period. For many employees, the switch from office to home comes with major changes, not just for day to day business operations, but for productivity and for focus as well.
This has in many ways changed individuals as well as businesses way of defining what a workspace could be. While most traditional business leaders in the past were sceptical towards a decentralized model of a workspace, the pandemic has ensured that not being in the office does not mean are not doing their work. And this new way of thinking about workspaces has also brought a new factor into the discussion- can small and medium businesses look at other kinds of workspace options for their employers?
In a post-pandemic economy, it’s possible only the largest companies will have adequate funds available to maintain headquarters, while businesses that lack the resources may scrap the idea of having a physical location altogether.
While the future of the remote workforce is expected to grow, many will want a place to connect with others in person. In that scenario, Co-working and community spaces become all the more important to fill in the workspace void.
The future of co-working spaces
Co-working spaces have the chance to provide vital business services to support the remote workforce closer to where they live, especially as there will be residual anxieties still lingering over using public transit for the daily commute.
In order for co-working companies to continue to expand, they must be able to adapt and address the workers’ concerns over spacing and sanitation. Many may gravitate towards spaces that have desks spaced farther apart. Workers will expect access to cleaning supplies, frequent deep cleaning protocols and an overall environment that is designed to keep the workers healthy and safe.
Once these safety measures are put into place, workers are more likely to leave their home and work in an environment that offers more than just a desk and a system.
They will always have a need to connect with others, find a community and a purpose more than just working. This is the main reason why co-working spaces exist in the first place. To provide workers with the chance to do more than work, it lets them network.
The biggest challenge of remote work
Without having a supervisor or management looking over the shoulder, the lack of accountability arising when working from home makes it easy to indulge in distractions. Though many remote workers do struggle with distractions, research indicates that people in offices lose more time to distractions when compared to people who remote work.
Other challenges employees also face is overworking, isolation, effective communication and collaboration, motivation, a stable internet connection and utilizing professional services like printing.
In spite of this though, many employees have found that remote working does indeed have a positive impact on their day-to-day lives, both professionally and personally.
Conclusion
In a post-pandemic world, co-working spaces can provide what traditional offices cannot, in terms of a tight-knit network of support and a robust sanitation model. As the mindset of employers and companies change with the times and the traditional workspace set up being called into question, it looks like co-working spaces will soon become the new normal.
