What should we do when technology closes the communication gap for good
“Technology now allows people to connect anytime, anywhere, to anyone in the world, from almost any device. This is dramatically changing the way people work, facilitating 24/7 collaboration with colleagues who are dispersed across time zones, countries, and continents.” –Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell
It’s true! With tools like Skype, Slack, and Trello, we are quite literally able to communicate globally and instantaneously. So this poses one seemingly obvious question: Why are we still going to the office?
Picture this – You wake up on your own time and map out your day as your own boss. Meetings with the team are held weekly via Google Hangouts and everything else is kept up with through email or Slack. You can wear your pajamas to work and never have to worry about a commute ever again…
What’s missing from this fantasy is that just because we are able to work from anywhere, and the idea of abandoning the traditional office may be enticing, does not mean that we should. As social creatures, humans thrive in spaces that foster collaboration, allow for the free-flow of ideas and creativity, and generate innovation.
With so much talent in the modern workforce, wouldn’t we just be doing ourselves a disservice not to come together to share ideas and work together? HBR points out that human aggregation, friction, and the interaction of our intellects are essential aspects of work, especially in the creative industries. Hence, the preservation of the physical workplace is now becoming more critical than ever in this digital age.
Coworking spaces have introduced an innovative medium between telecommuting in solitude and commuting to the company headquarters every day. These collaborative work environments have catered to a huge trend in human resources findings: We want workplace flexibility.
Coworking spaces are designed with flexibility and worker autonomy in mind. The idea behind shared office space is to provide convenient, affordable workplace freedom to professionals worldwide—so that instead of focusing on an unpleasant commute or stressing over monotonous workplace rigidity, we can focus on well, work.
It comes as no surprise then, that people are significantly more productive and happy in Nassau County coworking spaces as opposed to their open office. These shared office spaces breathe diversity and creativity—with an impressive domain of individuals from various professions and employers, who are still like minded in the sense of hard work.
So in place of internal office competition, comes friendly collaboration.
Let’s recap, shall we?
- Thanks to technology, we no longer need to be in the office to be successfully complete work
- Working around others is actually better for us and our productivity than working alone
- Coworking spaces give us the best of both worlds: workplace flexibility AND a collaborative environment
- So the answer to our initial question, should we even go to the office anymore? YES! But not our traditional cubicle or open office layout.
- Coworking spaces take the win…again
