Written by Guest Post from Amanda Lewan, Bamboo contributed to EntryPoint’s 2021 Detroit & Ann Arbor Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Reports.
The pandemic drastically changed working and living conditions for many, forcing us to adapt. Now, a year into the pandemic, life continues, and so do many of the changes we made for ourselves.
Working from home through back-to-back Zoom calls has had its ups and downs. There is an anxiety hanging in the air. There is a real fatigue from on-screen work and onscreen gathering. After a year, many of us are ready and waiting to get back together again.
As a co-working operator and entrepreneurial community, Bamboo’s team has noticed two trends that will continue: flexible offices and remote hiring.
For growing tech and startup companies, it is now easier than ever before to have a flexible headquarters while hiring top talent around the world. Why spend money on building out a big office space to attract people here? Why sign a long-term lease? Instead, companies can use co-working as an affordable amenity and invest in top-tier workers from anywhere.
Many of our companies are testing new ways to work together. Some of these innovative strategies include:
- Hiring remote talent and offering wellness perks. As we mentioned, screen fatigue and burnout is a real challenge of working from home. There is no work/life balance and some days blur into long hours of back-to-back calls. Many tell us that even just one or two days out of the office encourages them to take breaks from screens to be in an environment with natural light, plants, and people. Co-working can feel refreshing. Teams working remotely should consider how to invest in wellness, whether through co-working passes or other ways to check in on teams working hard from home.
- Using former HQ office space for hoteling. Some of our larger teams are not returning to twenty-or thirty-person size offices. Instead, they are hoteling. This encourages team members to take a break from home and come into the while also rotating the use of a private team space. This supports diversity of use and personal team member preference.
Planning strategic offsites, virtual and together. At Bamboo, we have seen a rise in virtual team offsites led by leadership companies like Fair Ventures, but we suspect that, as vaccination rates rise, offsites in person will be a nice complement to a remote work culture. It is still important for many teams to get together at least occasionally to continue building relationships and innovating.
Visit www.bamboodetroit.com to learn more about Amanda Lewan & Bamboo.