The 4Cs of Choosing Your Perfect Coworking Space
After months of remote work, you’re tired of working from home. From the gentle interruptions of home life to incessant renovation works round the estate that don’t seem to end, you’re in desperate need of a peaceful working environment, or a perfect coworking space.
In recent years, coworking spaces have been booming in popularity across major Asian cities. In land-scarce Singapore, the number of coworking spaces reportedly tripled since 2015. Similarly, Hong Kong’s flex market witnessed exponential growth between 2016-2018.
Originally exclusively associated with entrepreneurs and startups, flexible workspaces have grown and refined their offerings to cater to large corporates and everyday professionals. Indeed, coworking spaces have widened our definition of the workplace beyond the four walls of traditional offices.
Most of us don’t miss the grueling 9-5 five day work week, yet still want the perks of a professional workspace. Well, there’s no better solution to this dilemma than coworking spaces. Here are the 4Cs of choosing your perfect workspace in Singapore!
Cost
Conducive environments definitely help you focus up on your work, but the thought of shelling out exorbitant rates for a coworking space can be painfully distracting. Before you make the trip down to a coworking space, it’s worth spending some time to shortlist spaces that fit your budget.
Despite its size, Singapore offers a plethora of diverse workspaces at different price points. Major coworking space franchises such as The Executive Centre, Garage Society and The Hive all offer top-notch environments equipped with state-of-the-art facilities at reasonable hourly rates. There are also a host of other spaces that offer rates below $5/hr worth exploring.
Additionally, you may want to consider the complimentary amenities offered by some of the spaces. Instead of hunting for seats at a crowded cafe, you can work from a professional workspace that offers free coffee and snacks while paying well below what you’d typically pay for a couple of hours at a cafe.
Convenient
According to a Flexjobs survey, 84% of respondents listed ‘not having to commute’ as a top perk of flexible work. Be it a space downtown or a hotdesk in the heartlands, pick the workspace most convenient for you and your client.
If you’re in need of a convenient central location accessible to all your team members, Arcc Spaces, Ravel Innovation, Ucommune are examples of affordable coworking spaces that are well-connected to a host of MRT lines, shopping malls and bus services.
On the other hand, Changi Lounge, Vertical Green and Crane are a few examples of commodious workspaces located nearer to residential areas if you’re not keen on travelling far.
Community
Coworking spaces are more than workspaces. They’re also about being part of a shared professional community.
After months of working remotely away from colleagues, many are looking for focus-ready spaces that allow them to get to work while keeping them connected to like-minded professionals. You can do a bit of research on the types of industry professionals a workspace typically caters to.
For example, The Common Ground prides itself on being a shared collaborative space that typically hosts MICE industry and E-commerce professionals. Similarly, Ucommune’s Launchpad @ One-North offers an open-concept space optimised for networking and brainstorming. Ideal for entrepreneurs and tech startups.
If you’re a working parent, Trehaus or Garage Society Kallang might just do the trick. Both spaces have childcare facilities located either on-site or within the vicinity; potentially providing plenty of opportunities to interact with other working parents.
Character of the Space
Everyone has their own definition of a perfect workspace. For some, it’s plenty of natural light and open spaces, for others it can mean a more traditional office setting. Flexible work isn’t just about flexibility of work schedules, it’s also about flexibility in terms of picking the workspace that best fits your individual needs and preferences.
For professionals who just aren’t keen on trendy or fashionable workspaces and prefer a more conventional professional set-up, City Serviced Offices provides fully-furnished office environments downtown that afford guests private and professional environments to get to work at.
On the other end of the spectrum, MOX @ Oxley Rise provides a more relaxed and creative environment — perfect for a coworking space. It’s a hip coworking area that doubles up as an active host for creative events in the local lifestyle and culture scene.
About Deskimo
Deskimo is the flexible work platform of choice that helps businesses navigate the new future of work. With us, you and your business can adapt to flexible work, and pay-as-you-go across dozens of spaces in Singapore, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.
Browse our workspace locations and download the app now.