Welcome to the new workplace: remote. More than 50% of the US workforce works remotely in some capacity. Are you one of them?
Remote employees are becoming quite common, especially in those areas where technology is a big employer of residents.
What is a remote employee?
A remote worker is someone who isn’t in the office working. They may be at home, or they may be in the library, the local coffee shop, their mom’s house, or working while traveling. A remote employee may be required to come into an office on occasion, or they may be necessary to contact their employers and coworkers through Skype, Google Hangouts, or another chat client. The point is, they aren’t required to work in the office most of the time.
Remote employees make it possible for work to get done, at various hours of the day, from anywhere in the world. Well, anywhere with an internet connection. Most employees who work remotely will need an internet connection at some point in their day.
Co-working space
Pros
Sometimes, working from home can be lonely. With a co-working space, you get the chance to collaborate with like-minded, professional, and creative people every day. Gone are the days of slaving away at a computer in your pajamas with only a cat to keep you company. With the co-working space, you have the opportunity to network and collaborate with people who you may not have ever met otherwise.
Another pro to co-working space is a professional space to take and place business calls. Your local Starbucks just can’t offer you that.
Dependable internet. Companies offering co-working spaces should offer you amenities, the least of these being reliable, high-speed internet.
Cons
Amenities may be lacking. If you have to bring your own laptop, use your own phone, and walk down the street to a fax something, you may as well be in a coffee shop. They don’t tend to offer laptops or phone and fax services either.
If the co-working space is further away than Starbucks, you may find yourself spending more time at the coffee shop than at your rented office. Look for a co-working space that doesn’t involve a long commute to make it worth your money.
Starbucks
Pros
Caffeine fuels creativity. Caffeine fuels the mind. Those employees who work from coffee shops have the benefits of mind-boosting caffeine at their fingertips. They don’t have to walk far to get the cup of joe that will help them get through the last few hours of work.
The atmosphere can prove conducive to productivity. Kind of like an open office environment that can be loud, a coffee shop offers background noise that forces workers to focus on their task at hand. Ideally, the employee tunes out the sound of baristas steaming milk and focuses instead on generating code.
Cons
An unreliable internet connection at best. You have no control over when or how fast the internet connection at a Starbucks is. While many people can work through the day at their local ‘Bucks, you can’t depend on their internet to carry you through your meeting via Skype.
You pay for the table that you use. You will most likely have to buy coffee, pastries, or other sweet treats in order to keep your table while you work. No one likes a freeloader.
While both co-working spaces and Starbucks offer tantalizing benefits to working in them, they also both come with some downsides. Ultimately, the choice is up to you.
If we’ve made you double think your $5 Venti Frappuccino, and consider a workplace with a more reliable internet, and coffee, consider contacting us to see if the move to a co-working space is right for you.
