Covid-19 hit the world like a storm and with force, paralyzing some of the best healthcare systems in the world, crippling our need for socialization and human interaction with stay-at-home orders and shutting thousands of businesses down temporarily and unfortunately permanently for others. With an end to the pandemic seeming still far away, large companies and small businesses have had to evaluate their ability to stay afloat during this global health crisis or discontinue operations for good. As a new and developing business, at BriteSpace we have had to do some evaluating as well. We have not even opened our doors yet and just as all the moving parts were finally in place and on track to get us to our grand opening, everything came to a screeching halt. We’ve had to reconsider whether a business like BriteSpace would be able to survive a world post-Covid-19. As we discussed various scenarios and possible issues that could arise it became clear that although this pandemic has caused a delay in our plans, that may be the only bad outcome for us coming out on the other side. Here’s why…
Covid-19 has forced the majority of companies particularly those that function in offices to find alternate ways for their employees to work if they want to keep their businesses running. As a result, in order to comply with stay-at-home orders the vast majority of the population that once worked in an office setting is now working from home. Even healthcare professionals that typically practice in clinics are now doing a significant portion of their appointments from home via phone or video calls, only going into the clinic to assess patients when clinically indicated.
The rise of this pandemic has changed the way we view work and how we work, arguably for the better. For businesses there is the realization that work still gets done if employees aren’t crammed into the office of a high-rise building, productivity is still optimal and if anything attendance has improved. For the individual worker, there is more time for sleep even if it’s only 30minutes because now, they don’t have to commute, they see their families more, there is the ability for more work-life balance and therefore overall more job satisfaction. Ultimately, what many of us have now that we were lacking before is balance. Work in our society tends to trump everything; kids, partners, friends and religious commitments but what adapting to this new normal has shown is that that doesn’t have to be the case at all. It has shown us there ARE other ways of working without feeling like a participant in the never-ending rat-race of life.
Mind you this is not to say that everybody just loves working from home and that it’s easy because it’s not. It can actually be quite distracting and unproductive if conditions aren’t ideal and this is where co-working spaces come in. Once the world reopens, many businesses will be functioning at some level of loss. In order to cut costs and recover what was lost during the height of the pandemic, continuing to encourage employees to work from home would be ideal as it significantly reduces operational costs associated with running an office.
If businesses are looking to restructure where and how their employees work, with the added option of not necessarily being at home, co-working spaces provide a practical option for them without any long-term commitments. It gives employees a space to work away from home should they choose to with all of the capabilities and functions that a traditional office has.
Aside from the business now that it is clear that we are more than capable of still getting down to business without sacrificing everything else in our lives, it is likely that many employees, especially those with young families will be looking for the companies they serve to provide more flexible options when it comes to where and how they work.
We still have a ways to go before things go back to any level of normal, but with growing talks of the economy reopening we a geared at ready to service the influx of members ready to return to work and adapt to their new normal. The last recession saw the development of some of the most prominent businesses today such as What’s App and Uber. At BriteSpace we look forward to providing services and workspace needed for the next startup to launch the next big thing!