Flexispace Explained
Flexible workspace, Flexispace, AKA Convenient Working Environments!
Will flexible workspace, flexispace, shared office space – call it what you will – be the office trend of the future?
Recent studies indicate that demand for more flexible working environments in the UK is up by 22% in 2022, and growing. Therefore, the consensus is that it will be, and that in just a few short years the traditional office as we know it will have become a relic of an outdated employment culture.
Many companies are establishing regional locations into their real estate portfolios, mainly driven by a desire to reduce cost on real estate and also to reach talent pools that are beyond London.
We probably would have eventually reached the point we’re at today at some point in the future but unprecedented events have a way of forcing unprecedented changes. As a result, we’re now hurtling towards significant changes in the way we view work and our workplace environment at a rapid rate of knots, far faster than we could ever have imagined just a couple of years ago. The experts tell us those changes are here to stay.
What Exactly Is Flexible Workspace?
At its most basic level, flexible workspace is office space that is just that – flexible. It’s office space that offers companies options that they don’t have with traditional offices. For example, internal fittings and fixtures like walls, rooms, and workstations can be moved around or scaled up and down to suit a particular scenario at a particular point in time. Open areas can be turned into freestanding rooms and workstation hubs with just the tweak of a few artfully placed sliding panels, and turned back into open areas again just as easily.
Flexible Workspace – The Vision
Flexispace is also a concept, a vision of convenience where businesses can rent fully equipped office space ‘on the fly’ as and when they require it, without having to commit to long-term office rental contracts and leases. It’s a type of ‘office space to go’ scenario.
And as hybrid-working becomes more embedded post-pandemic, companies are viewing Flexispace as a tool that supports agility and scalability.
Flexible Workspace – Enabling Creativity
Flexible workspace is also a way in which people who generally telecommute or work from home can have a physical workspace in a workplace environment when they need it. The space may be shared with other companies who either have similar part-time office requirements, or who want their employees to be able to collaborate in a more creative environment. Called Coworking, this is a particularly popular type of interactive flexispace arrangement for creatives and start-ups that need that type of innovative working environment.
Hot Desking In The Flexible Workspace Environment
Moving forward, there will be a growing perception that employees who are not in the office all the time don’t really need, or want, their own dedicated area of office space. They can ‘hot desk’ instead, which is simply a fancy way of saying they can sit wherever they like when they’re in the office.
Like coworking, hot desking can be a hive of creative interaction, collaboration, and productive flexibility. It also creates an attractive working environment for the modern flexible company trying to attract and retain top talent.
Flexible Workspaces Make Financial Sense
Ultimately flexible workspaces are a very effective cost cutting strategy. Only renting as much space and equipment as needed, when needed, and managing that space for maximum efficiency, means money isn’t being wasted on unused or under-utilised space. At the same time, it caters to the needs of today’s hybrid workers, supporting their wellbing and enhanving their productivity – Flexispace makes financial sense therefore.
Creatif Products Supporting Flexispace
Creatif’s reason for being is to help designer’s create the best workspaces – it will come as no surprise to anyone that we have a rfange of prodcts designed to support agile working, hybrid working and Flexispace concepts. Some of which are listed below:
Outpost – the world’s first and only free-standing room with all flexible sides.
Float – agile lightweight and innovative sliding panels for re-configurable space.
Solo – acoustic operable wall systems designed to enable flexible meeting space.
Contact Creatif to discuss how we can assist in creating Flexispaces that support hybrid and agile working.