The Importance of an Office
In a world very much transformed by recent events, working from home has led to the restructuring of many businesses. With the pandemic continuing, we are certainly living through testing times. Some companies have opted to drop the overheads of a rented office to work remotely. Some have dropped down the necessity of being on site completely, moved into a coworking space or simply made it optional.
Other companies have taken advantage of these gaps appearing in the market to move from home into an office, or to upgrade their premises to larger, more comfortable working space. In a time when we are being encouraged to work remotely, why keep an office?
Work is Work, Home is Home
This may be a trivial matter for many but separating your home life and work life can become an essential part in keeping you happy. Whilst working from home, it is easy for the lines between work starting and ending to become blurred. Working in an office space, your day is often punctuated with a commute, signifying the start and end of each working day, and leaving your home, work free for downtime.
Office Energy
Most of us work better as a team. There is an old cliché, “2 heads are better than 1”. Sometimes the direct input of a colleague or peer is just what you need to solve the problem that you have been up against for the last hour. Working as a team brings more input, peoples brains solve matters in different ways and collaborative efforts quite often, find much better solutions.
As fantastic as the video call technology at our disposal can be, meeting in person is much more productive. It is often the case in a Microsoft Teams meeting that participants feel awkward contributing and when the ‘yellow hand’ goes unnoticed, the ‘team’ aspect of the call falls apart.
Psychologist Dr. Aaron Balick suggested in an interview with the Huffington Post that a Zoom meeting is nowhere near “the functional equivalent” of a face-to-face meeting, further stating “You can’t just translate one thing to the other, you do it differently”.
On top of many hands making light work, the social interaction of coming into an office has nothing but a profound positive effect on the human mind. As social creatures, even the more introverted of the species crave some form of interaction when starved of it.
Creating bonds with your work colleagues is incredibly important. Your colleagues are your team, your work mates, your confidants. Knowing these people at a personal level develops connections, and better connections between staff produce better results as a business.
A Base Camp for Operations
Your office space is your HQ. Sometimes the main selling point for a client is their walking into your office, seeing the professionalism with which you operate, and finding a confidence and solace in that energy to take things forward. You can make an office your own, the walls can reflect the company ethos. Your staff can be inspired by their surroundings and kept on track with their goals.
Your office is your information center for all things related to your business. It stores records, it is a point of contact for staff and clients, alike. It chairs meetings, celebrates smashed targets, and has a quiet corner for coffee and contemplation on a difficult morning. The office is the hive from which everything in your business is central.
Engagement and Equity
As well as the functionality an office provides, it also represents your brand. It provides equity for the business, an asset. Your businesses equity is garnered by inventory and worth and your office plays its part.
That company logo above the door or etched on the windows is your first billboard advertising your services. The “we are here” for the passing traffic to see. For company directors, the meeting room holds its position as the space where deals are hammered out, and business is negotiated. Hosting industry peers and leaders with professionalism in respectable surroundings builds confidence, business links and bolsters reputations.
There is no better way to engage than being in and among other businesses. Networking is the key to much success in business, connections which simply cannot be found working from home. At Dubai CommerCity, you will rub shoulders with your industry peers daily. You may sit and eat with them in the food court. The connections you make as a business are invaluable, and the office plays one of the biggest roles in making those chances happen.