Working Near Home

The past nine months have been hectic with shelter-in-place requirements, your work environment constantly changing, and having to adapt to working at home.

As wonderful as it has been to be home-based — buh-bye horrid commute! — and to be close by if our children or other family members needed us, most of us are really tired of rigging up our homes, our sanctuaries into a professional full-time workplace.

As we roll into the ninth month of the pandemic with a huge surge in cases causing officials to enact more restrictive protocols, remote work or work from home (WFH) is still the way to work for the near future. Who would have thought, way back in March, that we would still be in the trenches of this crisis? I am not alone in assuming that we would have been well into the transition phase of the new workplace. 

We will get through this, of course—what is our alternative really? Looking for a silver lining, I had to dig deep, and am realizing that we, as a society, now have more time to plan for the post-COVID workplace. We can make a more considered plan, not just a knee-jerk reaction, to a new way of working.

The Early Days

In March, with the suddenness of the lockdown, most companies were caught off-guard and scrambled to provide their employees with guidelines and equipment to work from their own homes.  Predictably, there were varying degrees of success, with those companies who were already allowing WFH or Work From Anywhere (WFA) having a head start over those companies who had been slowly considering or actively resisting anything other than the traditional workplace.

Over the ensuing months, employers figured out ways to help their employees stay productive at home—buying ergonomic furniture and paying for WIFI boosting devices, just two of the things I heard about from potential members.  I have also fielded many calls from employers who are preparing for the post-COVID world by changing their long-time corporate real estate strategy of having all employees work in one main office in an urban center to a “hub and spoke” strategy.

A Middle Ground

One of the latest ideas to emerge is the Work Near Home (WNH) workplace.  Instead of the two options, corporate office vs. home office, both with serious negative aspects, a third option is rapidly gaining traction. The WNH workplace is a space in a flexible workspace center that is NEAR your home, so you get the benefits of working from home — no commute, flexibility to provide family care— without the pesky detriments of poor WIFI, inadequate furniture and equipment, and family disruptions.

At our flexible workspace center in Los Gatos, CA, we have a wide array of options to suit any needs, and can scale up or down quickly as your needs change. Here is a list of our most popular products:

  • Private office memberships, fully-furnished with lots of amenities;
  • Virtual office plans that allow you to choose from a variety of different workspaces—carrels, cafe tables, and comfy soft seating with desk top attached;
  •  Business Address Plan for a professional address for all your letters, packages and documents AND gives you 50% off meeting room space so you pay as you go.

Most of our plans include 24/7 access with your own key fob so you can work when it is convenient for you.

The End is In Sight

So, when we get to the other side of this pandemic, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel, look forward to a workplace that is close to your home. A better work/life balance is possible, and we want to help you achieve it.

Originally written by Dawn Lopshire – Office Evolution Walnut Creek

About Office Evolution Los Gatos

Office Evolution Los Gatos provides virtual office, coworking, and private office solutions at our shared office center—a modern coworking space. We offer meeting rooms, offices, hot desking in a shared workspace coworking lounge, a shared reception, a business address, and virtual receptionist services. We have many options and price points, and all terms are flexible. Plus, you become part of a community of like-minded professionals.

Whether you live in Los Gatos, Campbell, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Willow Glen, Sunnyvale, Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, San Jose and other communities in the Bay Area, choosing Office Evolution Los Gatos will help you be more professional, productive, and profitable.