One of the biggest benefits of shared workspaces is flexibility. Looking through various online blogs and social media polls, there seems to be a trend towards the 4-day work week. These polls discuss whether it would be viable and how would productivity be kept in a shorter space of time. But if one looks into it a little deeper, a lot of these “New Age” ideas and concepts are being driven because of the need for employees and staff to be more flexible and in a way masters of their own destiny when it comes to providing results and meeting deadlines. Basically, people don’t want to be sitting in an office from 9-5 for 5 days. What are the alternatives for employees and how could shared workspaces play a part in adding more flexibility?

The Flexibility of Shared Workspaces

Shared office spaces are flexible for many reasons, benefiting companies and employees.

Shared workspaces are flexible in their very nature. A good co-working space allows members to pay for what they really feel is needed. More importantly, members can choose the type of space that they require and when they would require the space. Some days you may be back to back with conference calls, and require the privacy of an office. On other days you want to feel the energy of sitting in an open shared space, so a seat at a desk would be suitable. These options come with different pricing options, so you can manage your budget in accordance with your requirements. On days when you are happy to just work from home, you don’t have to pay out anything.

Adding further to reliability and flexibility, shared office spaces ensure that you are able to work, even in the event of disruptive events such as loadshedding, which has become the norm in South Africa. Shared spaces should have backup UPS power for the internet and some form of backup power, such as a generator to keep the lights on during power outages. Being flexible and using the services only during loadshedding is what has driven the popularity at certain times. The advantage of this at our Co.Unity space is it has increased the number of customers that have experienced the many benefits of shared spaces, and now they use our services even if there is no loadshedding.

Creating shared spaces in Zoom Towns has given people the flexibility to move permanently and live in these towns. An interesting fact is that 80% of our members are from outside of Hermanus. These people have chosen to move from large cities and enjoy a different lifestyle, without having to give up office life. They are as productive as they would have been at their traditional corporate office. In many ways, Co.Unity has created flexibility in where people are able to live.

Getting back to the 4-day work week, our stats are showing that we have an increase in members using our spaces on Mondays and Fridays. In many cases, these members have travelled to the coast, taking a long weekend with the family or just getting away. It just so happens that they need to spend an hour or 2 in the office, so we have given them the ability to do the work they need to do, but still have that weekend getaway, mixing a bit of work with pleasure.

The world of work is changing. Where and how we work will continue to evolve, and shared workspaces will be a part of this evolution. I believe that work will become more flexible, and not necessarily be limited to specific periods, such as a 4-day week. We all have deadlines and goals, and the amount of time it takes to achieve them is the only real factor. I was reminded of a saying just the other day: “It’s not about the time we have, it’s about the energy we put into the time we have.”   

Contact us today to find out more about the Co.Unity space and see how our shared workspaces in Hermanus make it easy to work around your schedule.