If you went back in time fifty or even a hundred years, you would see workers in offices or cubicles. Big corporations would often put less important workers in cubicles and more critical ones in offices.
Each worker would have their own little workspace, and they’d have privacy to some degree.
However, times have changed, and many corporations have gone to the so-called coworking space now. This shared space concept has its detractors, but many businesses seem to like it. We’ll talk about why companies like this model in the following article.
There’s Less Isolation
Many businesses like the coworking space work model because it gives people a chance to spend more time together. If you head to work every day and love your job, you probably like your coworkers. You might enjoy having a coworking space so that you can talk to them and bounce ideas off each other easily throughout the day.
If you don’t like your job so much, you might like the coworking space model as well. If you’re feeling down or the job overwhelms you, you may feel better when you can talk to your coworkers as the day progresses. They can provide support as you get through your tasks.
Higher Ups Can Address Their Underlings Easier
If corporations go to the coworking space model, any middle managers or upper managers can also communicate with workers on the lower rungs more easily. They do not have to announce that they need everyone to gather in one place via the PA system or through a mass text message or email.
Instead, they can go to a single place and address an entire department. The middle or upper managers can speak to the whole group at any time because they know that department’s location and that everyone who needs this message will get it at the same time.
There’s a Free and Fast Information Exchange
These days, some workers will do project collaboration, and they’ll spend lots of hours each day working on assignments together. Many companies feel these collaborations work best if the whole project team congregates in the same space every day.
These employees can meet in a shared space and work on a project’s individual components, but they are also working together at the same time. They don’t need to communicate through an email, text message, or through a companywide application or bespoke computer platform.
Instead, they can quickly use word-of-mouth communication if they ever have an idea about the project in question. They can show each other what they’re doing in real-time, and they can get firsthand feedback instantly.
That means ideas can sprout quickly and take root with no delays. This works well with time-sensitive projects. Clients and customers should appreciate this speedy system, and the company executives will as well.
No More Cubicle Construction or Office Spaces
Those companies who insist that employees do in-person work might rent a building for their purposes. The workers will come in each day and get busy with their individual or collective assignments.
In the past, they would head to their cubicles or offices. Now, the company does not need to construct any of those. They can save money that they’d otherwise spend on cubicle walls. They might allow some of the higher-ranking workers to maintain their own office space, but mostly, they’ll let their employees work in groups in large, open-air rooms.
Even higher-ranking company workers and upper management might avoid having their own offices now. They might feel like they can encourage the rank and file to pull their weight more if they’re working right alongside them.
There’s camaraderie that exists between workers this way. They can all feel like they’re united and working toward a common goal.
Greater Employee Comfort
Many companies find the workers like these group hangouts as well. They might lounge in beanbag chairs with laptops instead of sitting in more traditional office setups.
Along with workspaces, some companies will include fun diversions nearby that their workers can use if they feel stress or pressure. They can decompress with dart boards, pool tables, foosball tables, pinball games, etc.
After a cram session together, when the employees put in several hours trying to solve a problem or create something for a client, they can take a break and play some games. The upper management team enjoying some recreation with them makes everyone feel more at ease.
Investment Opportunities Abound
Every company wants to know about angel investors or venture capitalists who might fund their work and allow them to expand and reach new heights. How can you attract those investors, though?
You might invite the potential investor to visit the company’s offices. When they see a shared workspace where everyone works together, they might like seeing that more than the traditional, tedious office setup.
Some investors only want to give innovative, modern companies their money. They will more seriously consider a business if they see communal workspaces where everyone seems happy and comfortable working alongside one another.
Employees Can Work in Different Places
A business might hire a worker who’s a jack-of-all-trades type. That person might have various skill sets within that company’s niche or industry.
Instead of sticking that person in an office and making them spend time there every day, they might allow that worker to float between departments. They may spend some time with R and D one day and with IT the next. They might spend some time in the accounting department working on accounts receivable. This flexibility helps everyone feel at ease. The person who floats between departments might prove invaluable this way.
These reasons lead many companies to at least consider the coworking space model in 2022. Some more traditional companies might stick with offices and cubicles, but more frequently, workers don’t like that atmosphere. They want to either work from home or work in communal spaces, and letting them do that should benefit the company tremendously.