What Are Flexible Offices Spaces: The Complete Guide

What is flexible working?

Flexible working is an expression used for any type of work that meets your needs. Working 9-5 has long been a kind of standard for office hours at the desk. Flexible working involves making arrangements to be able to work in different ways depending on the work to be done and which people carry it out. Do you need a quiet room for art training? A possibility to drop by an office from several places in the city? Collaborate with a good colleague from the sofa in the social zone? The possibilities are there. Often companies and entrepreneurs with flexible offices enter into a lease agreement with an office supplier, who manages the facilities of the fully equipped office.

Benefits of a flexible workspace

The advantage of a flexible workplace is, in addition to the fact that you can easily adapt to the needs of you and your colleagues according to work tasks and daily routine, the unique predictability. By renting flexible offices, you as a business only have one price to deal with. Since everything from cleaning to the maintenance of furniture, electricity, printing, and coffee is included in the rental price, no unforeseen expenses appear in the company's accounts.

Read more on: 5 Benefits of Choosing a Flexible Office.

What to Look Out For in a Flexible Workspace 

 There are a few things you should look for when considering going for a flexible office. First and foremost, choose an operator where everything is included in the rental price. Several office suppliers have one rental price on the front, while in reality, a far greater expense is hidden. By choosing one of these players, you and your company may not get the full benefit of what the office can offer, in "bad months" when the economy is a little extra tight. So looking for an operator with everything included in the rental price is a good idea.

Amenities are included

Facilities that are included when you choose a flexible office supplier are, for example, running costs, electricity, maintenance of furniture, coffee, and printing.

Different areas for different activities

Did you know that the head works more efficiently if the environment is changed during a working day? Different areas work for different activities, for example, a lounge area can be the best place for an informal discussion, while a shift from an office desk to a meeting room can help unclog the workflow. A supplier of flexible offices emphasizes the value of having separate relaxation areas, separate areas for focus or creativity.

Multiroom

A multiroom is a smaller room with a lockable door, which is used without reservation. A multiroom is well suited for ad-hoc meetings and phone calls or if you just need to close the door behind you for some peace and finish hammering out a report.

Meeting Rooms

Meeting rooms in flexible offices can be included in the rent or booked for an additional cost in the rental price. Here you can easily hold customer meetings or a creative workshop with your team. With state-of-the-art AV equipment, seamless digital meetings can also be held.

Phone Pods

Telephone pods provide flexible and dynamic room variety and the possibility of soundproof meetings. Here there are good opportunities for private conversations or concentrated work.

The importance of office layout

Here it is important to know yourself and your company's needs. The office often accounts for the lion's share of a company's annual budget. Making the right choice is all about asking yourself the right questions. What does a quiet working week look like for you? If you are, for example, a consultant who loves to work from home, but is on the move a lot, it might be worth it with a membership that gives you access to meeting rooms and a place in the open landscape at all of the office's various office centers. That way, you can easily invite your team in for a meeting, or get a break from work for an hour or two while you wait for the next train home. If you often work with sensitive information, it may be a good idea to invest in at least one base space with an included lockable office. In this way, you always have the option of securely storing information.

If you are still in doubt about what suits your company, the key might lie in flexible offices, because with flexible offices you can try your way through different solutions before committing to an agreement that is set in stone.

Different types of office solutions

We know that there can be quite many types of office and office solutions to keep track of. But it may not always be easy to be sure what all the different types mean. Here's a quick explanation:

• Cell office: a lockable office belonging to a specific person permanently.
• Team Office: a lockable office belonging to a specific team permanently.
• Flexible office landscape:
• An office provider that manages the facilities of a fully equipped office. The office includes several work zones and invites different work to be carried out in different work zones.
• Open office landscape: Larger open spaces, with many workstations. In the open office landscape you can either have fixed or a free choice of seating. In the case of a fixed seating, a team or a person has a fixed workstation. While with a free choice of seats, the "clean-desk principle" applies and means that desks are cleaned after use.

How to Make a Flexible Office Work For You

The key to making flexible offices work as well as possible can also be to try your hand at it. Choose a supplier that easily allows you to scale up or down depending on what turns out to be best for your company's employees.

How to Book a Flexible Office

Are you ready to take the step over to tomorrow's flexible office solutions? Grow with Norway's largest supplier of flexible offices, Evolve. Check out our digital views, or send us a message for a consultation, we'll be happy to help!

More on: How to Rent the Perfect Office.

Flexible Office FAQs

What is the difference between a flexible workspace and traditional office space?

In a traditional office space, it is the company itself that is responsible for the vast majority of running costs in the rented or owned office premises. In flexible offices at Evolve, you only pay one predictable rental price, here everything from meeting rooms and coffee, to operating costs such as electricity, cleaning, and printing are included in the rental price.

Is it more expensive to rent a flexible office space?

Well. To be completely honest, we know that every company's budget varies. You can easily compare the expenses you have in the office today against what membership in a flexible office space will cost. Evolve may also not be the absolute cheapest option for an office you can find. But more expensive compared to what? Here, all included expenses must be taken into account. Availability of offices in various cities, unlimited use of meeting rooms, free coffee for both customers and employees, training rooms in the office? 

Our experience is that you quite often benefit financially from choosing a flexible office space. But again, only you know your company's numbers. So here you have to make an honest assessment. Nothing is as expensive as something that doesn't work for you.

What does Evolve's flexible office space include?

At Evolve, everything from state-of-the-art meeting rooms with complete digital setup, coffee, print, often a training room or staff restaurant, multi-room, flex access to all of Evolve's 25+ offices, and operating costs such as cleaning, electricity, internet, and maintenance.

What does "serviced offices" really mean?

This means that it is an office supplier that facilitates and operates the offices.

Read more on: What does Serviced Offices really mean.

What is the minimum contract period in a flexible office?

1-3 months' notice. <3

‍