2022 has seen a lot of businesses make the permanent decision over whether or not to return to their offices. It seems pre-COVID home working was a minority not a majority. The pandemic caused lots of office based businesses to reconsider their physical locations and discovered they could efficiently do their work at home.

Working from home does make meetings in real life difficult. Sometimes online meetings just don’t cut it, and sometimes people just want to get out of their homes.

So, what are homeworkers to do?

The decision to work at home has led some companies to realise they need a blend of both worlds, which is seeing an increase in the need for “hybrid-working”. Hybrid working allows employees to be flexible where they work, splitting their time between home and any other fixed place. It gives employees the freedom to get their work done from the location of their choice.

This gives people the option of meeting face to face again, but then another hurdle is thrown in the way. If your company has sold their office building to save on costs, where can you go to have that all important board meeting? A coffee shop is not going to be a suitable environment here!

Enter the rise of co-working spaces and meeting room rentals.

Co-working spaces and meeting room rentals offer you the flexibility to hybrid-work but without the commitment of paying rent on a building. Co-working spaces typically means you will share the space with another company, which can work well if you only need a couple of desks. This allows cost savings through the shared used of equipment, facilities and a reception.

Renting a meeting room for a day will give you a private space for those important meetings which can’t be done over TEAMS. Some meeting rooms offer the option of break out spaces, free WiFi and kitchen facilities which means you can feel like you have a self-contained office for the day for a relatively low one off spend.

So, which do you chose?

This all depends on your requirements. If you are looking to get out of the house once or twice a week to work, go for the co-working space. You will have all the facilities you need and some places may even be willing to set up a retainer if you can commit to a certain amount of days. It may even help to look after your mental health by getting out of the house and meeting other people.

If you need a private space to host a meeting, then hiring a meeting room for the duration of the meeting is your best bet. Some companies such as Finch Consulting have a self-contained meeting and conference facility available to hire at reasonable prices. Some meeting rooms can come equipped with built-in charging points, whiteboards, free high-speed and secure WIFI, free on-site parking and complementary hot and cold beverages.

As we emerge from the pandemic it appears that hybrid-working is here to stay and may even rise further as new technology evolves to support home-working. However, it will be difficult to replace the need for seeing people face to face.