2020 may be the year the world changed but 2021 is fast proving that it was only the beginning and our workplaces are leading the charge.
While pre-pandemic ‘work-life balance’ has evolved from millennial buzzword to worn job-listing platitude, lockdown allowed workers, and crucially their bosses, to experience the productivity benefits of flexibility and ditching the hassle of a long commute.
Now, as flexible working creates a new meaning for itself in a post-pandemic world, unused office space is becoming more commonplace for businesses across New Zealand.
Matt Knight knows this better than anyone. Ahead of the curve he founded online space-marketplace Sharedspace.co.nz in 2010 and had seen remarkable growth in a time when Corona simply meant beer.
What started with a shared office listing platform, now extends to a country-wide shared space marketplace that has onboarded over 10,000 spaces in his ten years. The platform offers nine categories that allow business owners to monetise almost any form of space by sharing it on a flexible basis.
Here he gives his top tips from both sides of the coin:
Tips for setting up your own space:
- Offer flexi terms on an ‘as and when needed’ basis
- It’s like choosing a flatmate – carry out interviews for incoming tenants to ensure businesses are complementary and vibe with each other
- Invest in super-fast internet
- Fill the space with industry related professionals to expand personal and professional networks
- Provide printing and scanning facilities
- Have a receptionist to share costs but look professional
- Add nice-to-haves such as a coffee machine, beer fridge and self-contained meeting rooms
- Consider a co-working code of conduct to cover any potential legal issues (i.e., people stealing ideas; bullying etc.)
Tips on why you should consider a shared office space:
- Flexibility of lease terms – daily, monthly or yearly
- Allows sharing of costs while starting out and beyond such as fitting out, furnishing, mail handling and ongoing management of daily office tasks
- Creates new networking opportunities and potential future collaborators and clients. Businesses from ASB to Facebook to freelancers use coworking space because it creates not only a buzz but also allows you to meet like-minded individuals in complementary fields
- It’s more sustainable. It creates a more energy efficient site that sits well with many companies’ eco-stances
- Breaks down the barrier between work and play – catching up over coffee, lunching with other members and after work drinks become regular activities
- Access to facilities to give your client meetings a more professional vibe – without the huge cost of running these on your own
- Separates home from work – and saving many a relationship!
Head to sharedspace.co.nz to explore all the spaces that are better shared.