Is your company cloud-based? Do your staff have mobile phones and laptops? Do you trust your team to work hard from anywhere? If you answered yes, then you might start to question why you’re committing to the massive overhead of paying for an office space. But, then how do you provide a space for collaboration and knowledge sharing without the expense? Let me introduce you to the global phenomenon of coworking.

Coworking is a booming business that is continuing to grow at a rapid pace to support the ever-increasing demand for flexible working.

The Bayleys 2019 Coworking Fourth Annual Report was released last week, and it shows that there are now an estimated 35,000 flexible workspaces worldwide, providing 48 million square meters of the flexible work environment. The Auckland coworking evolution is following these global trends.

Ian Little, Head of Research and Consulting at Bayleys, says that Auckland’s coworking scene is the fastest growing occupier of office space in the city and the trend is expected to continue.

Results from the latest Bayleys Research survey in 2019 shows that there is now 39,500sqm of coworking footprint in Auckland which is up 10,000sqm from last year and there are 3,850 coworking members in Auckland, a 34% increase from last year.

COSTS OF A COWORKING SPACE

As a small to medium size business owner, you’ll be thinking…so what will it cost? The average desk rates for coworking offices in Auckland range from $400 to $1500 per month. That gives you access to all the facilities you need (boardrooms, smaller meeting rooms, break-out rooms for private phone calls, common areas, lunch rooms, kitchens, printers and reception services just to name a few) all fitted out in style and for a fraction of the cost of doing it yourself.

WHAT ARE YOUR COMPANY VALUES?

When it comes to organizational culture change, a ‘one size fits all’ or top-down approach doesn’t work. Feeling like you’ve been given the opportunity to be part of your destiny makes a change so much easier to swallow, which is why the success of embarking on a process of creating a set of core company values hinges entirely on how consultative the approach is.

Taking your team on a journey with the right communication, giving them the opportunity to provide feedback via surveys and to participate in workshops, will ensure they are invested in the process, understand the current culture and what it could aspire to be. Your values will resonate with your people because they were part of creating them. Therefore, not only will they truly understand what they mean, but they will ‘own’ what the values look like in terms of behaviour day-to-day.

To get there, and for values to truly have meaning and create behaviour change, we have to go further than simply having the words up on the wall. We need to define each value in terms of behaviour and plan out how to ensure they are ‘front of mind’ and ‘lived’ every day across the employee lifecycle.
For help with discovering what your organisation’s values are and/or how to successfully embed them so that they positively influence your culture, get in touch with me or call us on 0800 04 FLEX.

BENEFITS OF COWORKING

Not only is there a cost benefit to your business but there are the added bonuses of regular networking events and working alongside people from other businesses. This opens you up to a world of ‘social working’ were having chats around the water cooler can be considered business development!

COWORKING OPTIONS IN AUCKLAND

So where are these coworking and offices and what options are available? I have listed a few below for you which I recommend are a
good place to start your search:

B: Hive – Takapuna
BizDojo – offices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch
Generator – offices throughout Britomart and Wynyard Quarter
The Ice House  – Parnell

SOUNDS GREAT, BUT WHAT’S THE CATCH?

Before you get too excited and make the move to a flexible work environment there are a few things you need to do first. Make sure you consult your staff, define their key deliverables, ensure you have a solid performance management system and flexible working policies in place.

If you need a hand, get in touch with me, or the team at Freerange Works on 0800 04 Flex.