The benefits of renting a desk

Many small and large businesses alike are still working remotely and this has had a noted impact on how businesses go about their work and dealing with clients and other responsibilities. While most may never see a return to a complete office-based role, it is important to get the team together in an office sometimes and it can have a lot of benefits to businesses and employees alike.

Below are a few of the reasons businesses are reluctant to totally ditch an on-site working environment :

Working as a team.

Working in a collaborative environment helps to boost your creativity, as well as developing your social skills. This helps promote a more interactive environment and many people find that coming up with ideas is easier when you have people to discuss and bounce ideas off.

Conduct face to face meetings.

Virtual meetings are not going anywhere but for certain work or projects, it may be necessary to hold face to face meetings and it can look far more professional. Clients can often prefer to ‘seal the deal’ in-person instead of over the phone with 84% of people still saying they prefer in-person meetings for the big decisions (source : Great Business Schools).

Introducing and developing new members of the team.

For new members of the team, particularly younger employees and apprentices, being in an office environment can be essential for their growth and understanding of the business. It allows them to ask questions and mingle with other members of staff.

However, permanent office working does also have its downsides and it would be unfair to ignore them.

Social Interaction

The office is about work but most of us, at some point, have enjoyed going to the office to catch-up with friends and colleagues, maybe even having the odd post-work drink together. This social element is both good for us as individuals but also useful for the business as colleagues bond and become more cohesive which can provide a huge benefit to productivity. Working from home can be lonely at times and team members can feel isolated as a result.

The Commute

Let’s face it. The daily commute can be a drag more often than not and it is only getting more difficult with fuel price rises, rail strikes and bus and rail cancellations. It can be tiring, costly and lead to unreliable start times with delays and roadworks. With workspaces expanding and even small businesses having employees having staff across the country, an on-site working environment isn’t always possible without making people do long daily commutes and your business may see employee retention drop as a result.

The office cold

Let’s not forget the whole point of the lockdown. Colds and flus move through offices at a rate of knots and remote working has seen a reduction in the general spread of colds and flus. Colds make a lot of aspects of office work worse; the commute becomes far more draining, the social aspects are more difficult and it’s far harder to be comfortable in an office space than it is your own home. Research has often found that workers are more likely to soldier on with illness while remote working and find working with illness far easier in those conditions (Source : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6924903/). While no one should feel forced to work while unwell, making them feel able to work by taking into account their comfort will boost productivity and general morale.

Office space has a lot of benefits but it can also be a long-term pain for staff and with remote working options being a key point for prospective employees at the moment, offering some form of hybrid working environment is an ideal middle ground. This is why hotdesking and temporary office space is becoming a more convenient and preferred option for many businesses. Renting a desk for a day has a lot of benefits over a traditional office lease and it provides a lot of the same benefits. Below, you will find a list of benefits of renting a desk for a day for your business :

Affordability

Running a business is expensive and with the cost of living continuing to rise exponentially, a long term lease may not be ideal for your business. Renting an office only when you need it allows you to budget for those days and really analyse how much your company requires office space. If you find that office space provides a lot of benefits, you can always move back to a more permanent contract but renting a desk allows you to make observations into how to make your business more efficient. Also, you don’t need to worry about furnishing the office or providing office supplies which can greatly reduce your costs. You can also run a more efficient business by meeting staff and clients in the same space and you don’t have to worry about paying for a meeting room you may only use once a month.

Location and Work-related flexibility

As mentioned before, businesses are now employing people from all over the country or even the world. This means that a normal office space isn’t ideal for this environment but you can more easily find a desk for a day that can suit most people or if you need a specific division of your company to meet up. For example, if you wanted to do a marketing campaign, you could have your marketing and content department meet up at a mutually convenient location and have a face-to-face meeting. It gives you additional flexibility and the ability to suit your team and requirements as best as possible.

Professionalism and Client appeal

As mentioned earlier, client meetings can be difficult under remote circumstances and many clients will prefer at least some face-to-face meetings to go over contracts, specific jobs or reporting. Having an office space is great for that professional image but it can be financially expensive and you won’t always need to have a professional space. Renting a desk offers an opportunity to meet with clients and with a large variety of desks and locations available, you can choose one to best suit their needs. You can find locations with good IT equipment, higher class locations for larger clients or desks nearer to their location to save their journey. Renting a desk gives you freedom and the ability to present a professional look to your clients without being tied into a single location.

Many businesses over the last few years have been scared to adapt to a changing environment in fear of losing the office environment to constant zoom calls and remote working. However, it doesn’t need to be like that. Renting a desk for a day or two a week can be a great way to keep that office environment consistent while still giving your employees the remote freedom that many desire in the modern landscape.

Ultimately we believe that most businesses will adopt a hybrid working approach and providing easy and cost-effective access to flexible workspace will play a significant part in ensuring that the correct balance is found and that workers have the right environments to thrive.

Writer Bio

Garth Colan has worked as a commercial manager for over 20 years, gaining valuable experience and working in a variety of industries. His work and passion has been combined in the form of GetADesk, his new business opportunity offering businesses the opportunity to rent out vacant office space for a day. Garth’s passion has always been to challenge the working environment and help push it forward with modern thinking and his experience as a leader has given him unmatched experience in a commercial environment.