With so many ways to stay in touch with colleagues and clients wherever you are, a fixed location is no longer an essential part of running a business. Here are four reasons to ditch the office for a more flexible working life.
- Cloud-based technology
Much of the everyday running of a business can now be done more efficiently online, including arranging meetings, storing documents and ordering stock. It’s no longer just email: super-fast broadband and secure wifi access points have given rise to crystal-clear video calls, while tech entrepreneurs have developed cloud-based apps that cover everything from accounts to project management. When you can communicate with colleagues and access information at the click of a button, the internet (and perhaps a liberal supply of good coffee) is the only thing you really need.
- Shifting workplace attitudes
With millennials on course to make up the majority of the workforce by 2020, business values are changing to reflect the attitudes of this evolving demographic. While we probably won’t see the complete demise of the 9-5 tradition for some years to come most people now work longer hours and are permanently ’suited on’. Businesses do need to consider not only the monetary efficiencies that a more flexible working environment can help create – but also the implications from a talent acquisition perspective. The best candidates may increasingly expect – and actively seek out – flexible employers: a Virgin Media Business poll of company bosses recently predicted that 60 per cent of staff will regularly work remotely by 2022.
- Offices waste time
By this, we don’t just mean water cooler chatter – but rather the time it takes to get to the office and home again. According to Nutmeg, the average London worker spends an hour and 14 minutes commuting every day, which adds up to 18 solid months, or 13,000 hours, over the course of your working life. Unsurprisingly, this isn’t great for your health: the Office for National Statistics has revealed that commuters are more likely to suffer from anxiety.
- They waste money, too
If paying monthly rent shows no correlation to increased revenue, then the expense of an office may not be worth it. It’s not just renting physical premises that costs businesses money: research has revealed that the average working Londoner spends £118 on their monthly commute, a sum that equates to £66,000 over a lifetime. With so many resources now accessible online, committing to a set working location will become increasingly redundant.
It may therefore be better to maintain a flexible approach, and find a productive space when you need it. With two convenient locations in Central London’s Mayfair, members of The Clubhouse have flexible access to hot desks, meeting rooms, large areas and complementary tea, coffee and refreshments. So, along with your Buy Time PA, why not do your health and wallet a favour, and make the workplace revolve around you: visit our partners at theclubhouselondon.com