The pandemic has created new working norms and the future of work is choice. Companies understand that employees not only prefer a hybrid work model, they’ve come to expect it. This shift has forced businesses to implement flexible remote work policies, but hybrid work has its challenges. The model involves a mix of work-from-home (WFH) with coming into the office, but workers also want the option to work-near-home (WNH) when they need a break from the home office.
Enter Coworking
Coworking spaces help professionals embrace the hybrid/remote work model. According to McKinsey’s Spring 2022 American Opportunity Survey, 87% of workers offered at least some remote work welcome the opportunity and spend an average of three days a week working from home.
Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/
However, WFH employees often find it difficult to feel connected to colleagues and manage work-life boundaries. Coworking spaces not only offer business amenities conducive to a productive work environment, but an outlet for connection and interaction ranging from hallway hellos to fully activated coworking communities filled with events and networking opportunities. It’s an immediate way to separate home and work which many are struggling to do.
Work-Near-Home
Flexible office spaces can also help bridge the gap between WFH and having to commute to company headquarters. Coworking space amenities near home are proving to be a popular solution for work productivity and also creates collaboration opportunities with other team members that live in the same geographical area. Working near home (WNH) in a professional and comfortable setting is almost always more productive.
Pacific Workplaces has several neighborhood coworking locations in its California portfolio that are designed to provide a work solution that local professionals can walk or bike to, which now includes our brand new coworking place in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. These workplaces allow mobile workers, remote teams, work-from-home professionals, or just people who want to work closer to where they live, flex workspace options. Flexible offerings include open coworking seats, dedicated desks, private office space, shared offices, meeting rooms with Zoom Rooms Video Conferencing tech for team collaboration sessions, podcast and media rooms, day offices, event space and more.
Balance WFH and WNH
Finding the right mix of WFH and WNH has definitely become part of crafting an effective hybrid strategy. The best solution for many will be to balance working from home and working in a flexible office space close to home. There are several ways you can strike that balance including:
- Customizing your membership. Most coworking space providers have created new memberships specifically for professionals balancing WFH and WNH. Ask if they have flexible plans such as an All Access Pass or how to go about crafting a customized membership which gives you access to a professional workspace that suits the way you want to work as well as offers the business amenities you’re looking for.
- Creating your ideal work schedule. Do you need a meeting room one day a week to collaborate with other team members? What are the days where you must work-from-home to fulfill any family duties? Think through your tasks and organize your work to-do list around your work location on any given day.
- Engage with people. When in your neighborhood coworking space, find out what events are happening and attend the ones that interest you. Join whatever platforms your coworking space uses for member engagement. Working from home, by yourself, can take its toll after a while, and although we’re completely biased, coworking offers a great solution.
Pacific Workplaces has 18 flexible office space locations across California and Nevada, including spaces in the neighborhood pocket communities of Sacramento and San Francisco. Find a location close to home and strike that ideal work balance now.