The Future of Hybrid Coworking Spaces after COVID
One of the major COVID-19’s effects had been the complete online shift of workspaces. This had called for rapid changes at work, giving people little to no time in adjusting to the new normal of working remotely. Presently, however, the workspace situation has transformed into something new – hybrid. A hybrid model does not only increase flexibility with more freedom in regard to work, but it also creates a much easier transition between working strictly from the office or strictly from home in these unsure times.
The Experimental Phase of The Hybrid Mode
The Hybrid model gives employees more autonomy to fit in their work as comfortably as they want. If someone wants to ensure their routine stays stable with office hours and important in-person meetings, they can continue doing that while also scheduling more focused work remotely. It’s the best of both worlds: you get the structure and sociability of the office and the independence and flexibility of your home. Designating certain days for in-office collaborations and meetings has definite uses. Employees need to have a physical presence for orientations, team-building workshops and launch projects. Remote days can be scheduled for independent work where you need more focus. Essentially, the purpose of the office and the coworking space has changed. It’s now a blend of different functions, technologies and strategies to make work-life easier to manage.
Companies have been experimenting with different modes ever since the COVID-19 restrictions have eased down, testing what is working for their employees and what isn’t. Oftentimes, it gets complicated to get the workforce to join offices after a year of working from home. Hence, to mediate between the shift back to work, coworking spaces seem like a workable solution. Coworking spaces are known for their flexibility, collaborations and sociability, with the entire business culture, focused on accessibility. These shared spaces are a means to effective growth, opportunities and business relations, where you get to see startups learning from one another. On top of that, traditional offices which used to incur ridiculous costs by having their own spaces, are slowly realizing it was all unnecessary when they shifted to coworking or work from home models during COVID. Saving all that dough may never allow offices to revert back to conventional office settings anymore. It only makes sense that employees will return to hybrid modes more comfortably out of a coworking space, not just because it is flexible and convenient for work-life balance, but because a year working out of your lounge or bedroom can take its own toll on your social life.
Work will continue to evolve!
There are some definite changes awaiting coworking spaces and offices in the future. Even as the pandemic eases down in some parts of the world, it has changed aspects of ‘work’ that may be irreversible.
Offices have always evolved with changing times. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, digitization had been on the frontlines, especially for the already remote employees working miles away from their offices. All technological tools like Slack, Google Docs and Drives, video conferencing software like Zoom, Teams and Meet, have been consistently proving how orthodox and inefficient conventional offices truly are. The work may have evolved over the years, but the working hadn’t.
However, with COVID forcing people to sit at home around the clock, dealing with work-life disturbances and minimal social interactions, employees are once again looking for interactive environments to get out of this slump. This shows that companies must take into account the social angle workspaces provide. Collaboration and interaction are essential for the workers and the work being done. Taking these factors into account, coworking spaces are improving the future of work with their carefully curated and more breathable social workspaces – a much better fit for a world stuck in the monotony of sitting in a chair for 8 hours or stuck at home with unwelcomed construction noises, clingy pets and tempting televisions. Being robbed of social spaces for more than a year has only created a greater yearning for them.
Health and space are the new priorities, and rightfully so. Offices, including coworking spaces, are expected to plan for cleaner spaces with built-in sanitizers on walls, masks, floor signage encouraging SOPs, and setting up desks 6 ft apart from each other. Layout changes and social distancing is going to stick around for a while. This calls for creative changes in the interior for a more attractive and safer space. The traditional office layout is changing, and the world is here for it.
It’s uncertain what the future holds, but one thing is for certain: Offices are adapting. The steady and gradual hybrid return of coworking and office spaces is changing the business model entirely. Say goodbye to having to follow 8 hours in office chairs and say yes to more collaborative spaces and work from home models.