3 Coworking Tips For The Busy Office
Recent advances in coworking have helped companies improve productivity, reduce absenteeism and tardiness, boost job satisfaction, and increase revenue. As a result, more and more offices are moving away from the cubicle and into collaborative and open workspaces.
Some companies are doing away with offices altogether, opting instead for coworking spaces like this West Plano office space that offer facilities from work desks to conference rooms, lounges, and play areas.
As businesses move towards better, more advanced technology, the opportunities for coworking become greater.
Here are some ways you can maximize the benefits of coworking:
- Eliminate Unnecessary Meetings
Researchers estimate that unnecessary meetings cost the US economy an estimated $37 billion each year. That’s a lot of money wasted, considering that employees spend 37% of their total hours attending meetings.
To solve this problem, put off meetings unless absolutely necessary. In the event that a meeting is needed, make sure to set a clear agenda and limit the number of attendees. The clearer your agenda, the less time is wasted; and the less time is wasted, the sooner your team can get back to work.
Here’s an effective tip: Send a brief of the meeting beforehand. The brief should include the meeting’s agenda and an overview of the topics to be discussed.
Meetings should never be treated as social events. Avoid small talk and stick to the script. Oh, and shut the doors once the meeting begins. The last thing you want is to repeat everything to latecomers.
- Solve Problems Together, Not Apart
One of the greatest benefits of coworking is the opportunity to collaborate with people from different fields and backgrounds. This allows workers to come up with unique solutions to complex problems, while improving their relationships with others in the workplace.
Virtual office spaces like Common Desk bring together experts and professionals from all over the country, thus creating a work environment that encourages shared ideas and multidisciplinary thinking.
If you have a difficult problem on your hands, seek out others outside your field. More often than not, they will be able to provide unique solutions and broaden your perspective.
- Invest In Office Automation
What is office automation?
Business Dictionary defines office automation as the “application of information technology to the typical clerical and secretarial tasks such as communication, correspondence, documenting, and filing”.
With today’s technology, nearly everything can be automated (save for complex cognitive tasks, but that’s another topic for another day). Streamline your workflows by outsourcing clerical tasks to software.
Here are some useful applications you can apply at work:
BaseCamp – for team management and deadlines
Evernote – for taking down notes and managing checklists
Expensify – for monitoring expenses, receipts, and reimbursements
Iterable – for email automation and email marketing
Hubspot – for SEO, inbound marketing, and marketing analytics
Integrating office automation into coworking allows you to better manage the different tasks you and your team are working on. Imagine getting all the benefits of coworking and taking those benefits a step further with software. Now, that’s exciting!
Coworking is one of the best–and easiest ways to improve your office. Rather than let everyone work alone, create avenues for people to interact and work on solutions together.
