Is Now the Right Time to Commit to Permanent Remote Work?

This isn’t a post about whether remote work is better or worse than other structures. We’ve already covered that somewhere else. The real question here is whether now is the right time to commit to anything long-term. The world has undergone drastic changes over the last 18 months, and this breakneck pace doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

With health and safety guidelines changing week-to-week, employee needs shifting, and business demands in flux, do you really want to do anything that locks you into a long-term strategy? Answer: probably not. So what can you do instead?

Finding Flexibility in Business Structures

If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that businesses must be flexible to survive. Jumping on the remote work train because seems like the big idea of the moment isn’t necessarily more flexible. It’s the same kind of trend-following that led to the rise of open offices. You know, those loud, distracting, Petri dishes your employees are now avoiding.

That’s not to say remote work is a bad idea. (Even open offices have their uses.) But any plan that locks you into a strategy that would be difficult or expensive to reverse is probably a bad one at the moment.

As Ethan Bernstien, an organizational behavior professor at Harvard told the Boston Globe, “I think the only thing you can do wrong right now is pretend you have the final answer.”

How about Non-Permanent Remote Work

Of course, paying rent on an office building that isn’t really being used might not be possible either. That’s one of the reasons remote work looks so attractive right now. But what if you could lose the commercial rent and still keep a workspace for the employees that need it? What if you could still have access to conference rooms and private offices? And what if you could get all of that without being locked into a 3- or 6-year commercial rent contract?

Good news. That solution already exists. Executive Suites offer you shorter-term leases at more accessible rates. You can add new workspaces as your team grows, or scale down if it turns out more employees prefer to work from home. Our flexible terms work with your business so you pay only for the space you actually need. But be prepared, with free parking, complimentary coffee and tea, and a staffed reception area, your employees might never want to leave.