Switching off the alarm for 7 am, stepping into the shower, usually skipping breakfast, then getting stuck in the traffic for an hour, only to reach the office for a 9-5 desk job. Sounds tiresome, right?

With Covid-19 giving several employees a taste for working from home, most companies can’t expect workers to automatically get back on the pre-Covid work schedule once offices resume.

Although the mass vaccination drive in the country has instilled confidence in some employees to go back to work, a section of employees might still hesitate to adopt the normal office routine.

To counter this hesitation, companies are steadily adopting the hybrid work model that gives freedom to employees to work from the office, home, or a co-working space.

In the current situation , when the idea of offices is no longer limited to a specific floor or building, companies are looking beyond designated workspaces and focusing on the larger aspects that make a ‘workspace’.
Here’s a look at some of these aspects:

GenNext: Reshaping the future of workspace

Most of the GenZs who started their careers in the lockdown may consider ‘work from home’ a corporate benefit as part of the current reality. But, with the implementation of a hybrid work model, GenZs can choose their preferred workspace where they can deliver their best.

Due to remote working, GenZs have become accustomed to working in a private space on a focused project for prolonged periods of time. The hybrid work model allows them to work in teams as well as alone, as required.

Considering that GenZ entered the workforce when the world of work was changing dramatically, these digital natives brought their strong grasp on digital technologies to develop a more fluid workspace, promote flexibility and remote collaborations.

Furthermore, the growing participation of GenZ in the gig economy (freelancing) during the lockdown is slowly disrupting the conventional notion of an office.

Building flexible workspaces

Through coworking spaces, employers are looking at a distributed workforce model to bring the team together safely. Since the hybrid work model focuses on increasing the productivity of employees through collaboration and shared work culture, flexible spaces become a place for strong community building, especially for the new-age generation which desires to work in an (informal) formal ? work environment.

Additionally, with the rise of the hub and spoke model across the country, employees, freelancers, among others. have the option to work in a coworking space nearest to their house, saving on an individual’s time and energy.

With organisations still bearing a significant burden on business, most corporate offices are exploring co-working spaces to provide the best-in-class office facilities and technology infrastructure to their employees to save operation costs..
The pandemic has given rise to various styles of working, and the hybrid work model presents the best side of both worlds to the employees, where they can work in pajamas and also experience office life.

As the world is grappling with the reality of a new work culture, organizations are creating setups that favor individual flexibility by considering hybrid work models, flexi spaces and needs and preferences of the employees. The delicate balancing act between different work models is what will define the future of work.

This story appeared in the 12  November, 2021 issue of Your Story and is authored by Sumit Lakhani, CMO, Awfis. This article was originally published at : https://yourstory.com/2021/10/flexible-workspaces-help-companies-distributed-teams/amp

The idea of starting Awfis had been on Amit Ramani’s mind since his consulting days in the USA when he was working with Bank of America. On returning to India, he saw that SMEs and startups were constantly faced with the challenge of having decent infrastructure at cost efficient prices.

His goal was to start a business to provide new-age and technology-enabled workspaces that offer a superior alternative to owning conventional offices. Speaking about starting up a co-working space, Amit Ramani, Founder and CEO of Awfis, tells YourStory,

“We felt that commercial real estate operated in an archaic fashion with spaces being offered by developers and conventional business centers with long-term commitment and upfront deposits. This resulted in SMEs and startups having to settle for office spaces that are sub-standard and at inaccessible locations.”

Launched in 2015, Awfis has grown from 5,800 desks across 20 centers in 2017 to 35,000 seats across 70 centres now. Currently, Awfis has more than 28,000 community members and 1,500 partner companies spread across 10 cities in India.

Amit says the Indian commercial real estate market was fragmented and he saw an opportunity to partner with the landlords in a win-win situation that works well for the landlord, for Awfis, and also the end consumer.

He says, “With my experience in strategic planning, design management, facility planning, and workplace and business process improvement, coupled with some deep understanding of the Indian real estate ecosystem, I was convinced that with the right team, I could turn my idea into a successful business venture.”

Prior to starting Awfis, Amit was the COO of Nelson Global, a top global design firm, where he led the company across 37 locations and 600 people. With over 15 years of experience in areas of master planning, strategic planning and design, the thesis behind Awfis came off as a natural progression to him.

The solution was about providing ready-to-use, plug-and-play workspaces, which can be booked through a mobile app. The objective is to make it convenient to use an office or a work desk on ‘just-in-time’ basis without the complications of a fixed tenure or security deposit. The comprehensive solution claims to be providing everything that an office user will require, at extremely competitive costs.

Over a period, the CEO says, the startup has evolved with the market and has also started catering to the B2B side of the business by creating customised and fully-integrated independent workspaces for large corporates and MNCs.

Awfis has become profitable at entity level from November 2018, and is targeting to launch a public issue in 2022.

In August 2018, it raised $20 million in its Series C round from Sequoia India, The Three Sisters Institutional Office and Innoven Capital.

The Series D funding for Awfis came in August 2019. It raised $30 million from marquee investor ChrysCapital, while there was also participation from its existing investors Sequoia India and The Three Sisters Institutional Office.

This story appeared in the 22 March , 2020 issue of Realty NXT and is authored by Amit Ramani, Founder and CE0, Awfis. This article was originally published at https://yourstory.com/2020/03/the-turning-point-amit-ramani-https://www.awfis.com/inspiration/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/shutterstock_3835072871.jpg-profitable

The Generation Z has grown up in a world of smart devices that gives them ubiquitous connectivity and access to information across the globe at a quick voice command. These digital natives display unique, transformative consumption habits that have started to influence brands around the world.

Gen Z has an appetite for purpose and convenience and prefers opting for products or services at their own time and space. On the same lines, workspaces are evolving to become like any other on-demand platform such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, where the people are deciding how, where, and when they want to consume a product. The product is now being defined by their consumption.

According to research done by Business Insider Intelligence, Generation Z is more proactive, money-conscious, and pragmatic while demanding a fun and social environment that creates a huge rift in the way millennials prefer to apply their skills and work. This has necessitated the need for coworking space providers to introduce changes, suiting the needs and requirements of the newer generation.

While the 3 ‘COs’ of coworking—collaboration, community, and convenience—appeals to millennials, the Generation Z values another CO—consciousness. As a socially and environmentally conscious community, Generation Z is keenly in tune with the unfolding crisis of climate change. They value spaces that are sustainable and appreciate initiatives such as waste separation bins and energy-efficient spaces.

The importance of wellbeing, flexibility, and choices

This generation is inclined to have a fun social space but not without the reinforcement of a positive culture, mental well-being, and flexibility for those who are working in these new spaces. There is a pertinent need to create a well-designed office space that supports communal growth and work ethics, which goes beyond a single category of population and is suitable for all the generations looking to make coworking their workspace of choice.

This story appeared in the 16 March , 2020 issue of YourStory and is authored by Sumit Lakhani, CMO, Awfis. This article was originally published at : https://yourstory.com/2020/03/generation-z-reshaping-coworking-culture