Businesses have been bringing their teams back to the office in different ways. Some companies are still working 100% remotely, others back in the office full-time, and the majority embracing hybrid working, splitting their time between home and a physical workspace.
With so many different requirements, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. So, workspace providers are offering a wide range of options, including more flexible ones. At Work.Life, we offer memberships ranging from pay-as-you-go coworking spaces to a full-time private office, suitable for all different levels of usage and flexibility.
We’ve been speaking to some of our members about how they’ve found being back at Work.Life, and how they are using their workspace.
For TwoBoys, working from home presented some challenges. We sat down with their founder Jamie Brown, to find out how their office has been helped them collaborate and communicate better than they were able to remotely.
TwoBoys is a graphic design and marketing agency, working across a wide range of sectors, but specialising in charity fundraising and comms. We offer a mix of digital and print-based graphic design.
We’re currently made up of 5 team members – three creatives, and two Account Managers. We all work from Work.Life Soho, and have done for the last few years – before that we were based in Work.Life Camden.
I’d say we operated at 85% of our best when we worked from home. There was no impact on productivity, but definitely an impact on creativity which is so important in our line of work.
We all found collaborating virtually quite tricky. In the office, we’re able to stand around a screen and scrutinise a piece of design together, but trying to do that over Zoom is much more difficult. So I’d say that was the biggest challenge; trying to work through creative processes remotely.
Another thing is that we don’t all have great setups at home. I don’t just mean a comfortable chair and desk, but the general atmosphere – some people have very busy households where it’s hard to concentrate, others won’t have any interaction with other people for a whole day. Neither make for a great working environment! The office provides a much better, more comfortable workspace where we can communicate and enjoy spending time with each other.
“The office provides a much better, more comfortable workspace where we can communicate and enjoy spending time with each other.”
Some of the TwoBoys team in their office
Most of the team work on iMacs which are not at all mobile. So, for us it was always either come back to the office full-time, or work from home full-time.
To be honest, the return to our office was driven by the team, who wanted to come back in full-time. They were encountering the challenges of remote working, struggling to collaborate properly over Zoom, and also wanted to see each other – we’re really close as a team, and we definitely all missed the perks of being in a Work.Life space.
We all came back to the office last May, and have been in consistently – 5 days a week – since then, with the occasional work from home day where necessary.
There’s lots of things, both for me as a business owner and benefits that appeal to the team.
I’d say the interaction with people has been great, especially post-pandemic. I’ve had the opportunity to meet lots of new people, make new business connections and friends. The space in Soho is an amazing location with a buzzing atmosphere both in and out of the office. The team love being so close to amazing food, shops and bars, so i’s been a great environment to come back to.
The events and socials put on by the team in Soho really appeal to us all, we particularly enjoy the Thursday beer and pizza (no surprise there!)
Reception at Work.Life Soho
“The office really feels like ‘us’ and is a lovely place to come in and work every day.”
I’m a Resident member, so I have a private office space in Soho. Having a private office definitely gives us the benefits of our own space, and more privacy than in a coworking space. We tend to chat a lot about our work, so it’s important for us to have that separation and not have to worry about disturbing other members.
We’ve also been able to brand our office and put our own stamp on it, including displaying some of our work and adding decorations. The office really feels like ‘us’ and is a lovely place to come in and work every day.
We love being in Central London because of the amount going on nearby – and of course how easy it is for everyone to get to when we have team members based all over London. I’ve been a Work.Life member since 2015 and employed several team members throughout my time here. I really feel that it has helped me no end with recruitment and retention – it allows me to offer ‘big business perks’ that as a small business, I wouldn’t otherwise be able to offer.
Breakfast at Work.Life Soho
“The space allows me to offer ‘big business perks’ that as a small business, I wouldn’t otherwise be able to offer.”
For Jamie, coming back to the office full-time was a decision driven by his team. They benefit from having the privacy of their own space which they can make their own, as well as the benefits the coworking space has to offer (that they can’t get at home!)
Want to find out more about our flexible workspace solutions? Contact us today – we’ll chat to you about your requirements and find your best-matched option.
