Companies can now work remotely in completely new ways thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. This includes zoom conferences, slack messages, and distributed teams. Virtual meetings and remote work have replaced in-person interactions almost instantly. Many teams soon realized that web-conferencing software was not an all-purpose tool for collaboration. Humans are social creatures, so many workplace relationships are built on pre-pandemic social capital. It’s been difficult for teams to maintain the same feeling of connection, collaboration, and productivity. It is more difficult to communicate effectively and the work will be slower. Will employees be able to find workspace again once the pandemic has subsided?
Signature Workspace has previously covered four workplace typologies that will be required by teams after the coronavirus. The “Connect space” is a dynamic type of meeting space that can be used for a wide range of business needs. It includes flexible office space, on-demand conference rooms, and part-time flexible offices. This “Connect” space is crucial for four reasons. It is flexible, on-demand, cost-effective, self-service to empower employees and is readily available on today’s market.
Technology is not enough for collaboration
While employees are quick to adopt digital communication tools for remote work, they often lack a true collaboration dimension. Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams have spent a lot of time perfecting screen-sharing and adding whiteboarding functionality to their digital markup tools, but they still fall short in productive collaboration. Although web-conferencing software is a great alternative to traditional phone conferences, it can still be difficult to engage and participate in a productive and dynamic conversation.
During the pandemic, companies have turned to a variety of digital collaboration tools.
Meetings today require more than just audio and video (or even a single room). Spaces that allow employees to present information, collaborate with others, solve problems and make decisions in real-time are essential. It’s not enough to rely on a few scanned screenshots. This gap will be bridged by companies.
Connect spaces are essential
It is simple: Humans are social creatures. It is difficult to maintain the “teaminess of your teams as the workplace changes roles and evolves post-COVID. Signature Workspace has previously covered the four types of workspace that team members will require after coronavirus. We believe that one of these spaces is crucial: the “Connect” space. These spaces allow teams to work together, collaborate, innovate, and have fun. They allow companies to select the right space for their remote work environment without having to reconfigure or commit to a space they don’t need. Meeting spaces can solve workplace pain points while we live in a continuous next.
Many owners are looking to create “Connect” spaces.
Search for Meeting Space
Here are four reasons why companies will choose meeting space over office space
It’s been revealed that the two most important things employees missed since the advent of remote work were face-to-face connection and collaboration. Many companies find that their teams and executives agree that WFH doesn’t meet their culture or collaboration needs. It may be able to support individual work (for most people), but digital collaboration makes it difficult for people to feel a sense of connection. This is crucial for the retention and attraction of talent as well as the overall performance of the company. Employees are the organization and improving their experience is a priority.
It doesn’t have to be difficult to fill this gap. companies might be better off looking for meeting space, rather than searching for work and changing their real estate portfolio.
1. Purpose-built for collaboration
The purpose-built meeting space was designed for collaboration. The best conference rooms are not just tables and chairs. They also have the right equipment and furnishings. This allows for the foundation to a successful meeting. Collaboration is key to advancing the business. Experts have designed the most effective meeting rooms on the market. They offer a variety of collaboration spaces that allow people to work together face-to-face in many forms. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to brainstorming, one-on-ones, and board meetings. There are many options for AV-enabled conferences for distributed/hybrid teams, hands-on collaboration with whiteboarding, and informal breakouts in relaxed, comfortable settings. High-performance meeting rooms are available that can support any form of collaboration.
2. Flexible costs
Meeting space is now available on a pay-as-you-go basis. This can help companies save money over fixed offices. Companies lost millions of USD a year before the pandemic. This was because their conference rooms didn’t meet their needs. They are not a necessity, but many companies have built a fleet of meeting rooms within their offices that do not receive constant traffic. Companies that are willing to sell underutilized space on their rental roll to get on-demand space elsewhere can make huge cost savings on meeting space. Flexible space operators such as Convene are operating bookable meeting spaces for many years. However, the current pandemic has accelerated the growth of other options. These include WeWork on-Demand and others that offer meeting space per hour or more.
3. Self-service booking
To meet the needs of the team, the meeting space can be chosen by the members. It is vital to maintain productivity and collaboration that everyone has the ability to make their own decisions based on their personal preferences and comfort levels. Employees no longer have to choose from a limited number of conference rooms at their HQ (or in Zoom). Instead, teams can search the market to find the right meeting space for them, at the right time, and to motivate them to be their best. Employees can book themselves without long approvals or complex hurdles using the self-service booking feature. Another positive aspect of the employee experience is responsive and hassle-free booking processes.
4. There are many options
Coworking operators have the ability to supply meeting space in abundance. Signature Workspace has over 30,000 available meeting rooms in North America. Many organizations have difficulty finding meeting space within their workplaces. There is plenty of space available on-demand that can meet any team’s needs. Flexible space operators provide on-demand meeting space in urban and suburban areas. This can help support safe capacity during the return of work by diverting larger groups.
This post was written by Tara Kintz. Tara is a director at Signature Workspace which is a coworking space in Tampa. Signature Workspace, owned and operated by Cantor Fund Management, offers services and amenities such as private offices, flex space, co-working space, virtual offices, meeting/conference rooms, and more.