Why Utilize a Collaboration Hub for Your Remote Workers?
What is a collaboration hub and how can it benefit your remote workers? Learn everything you need to know below.
A collaboration hub is a workspace designed to promote community, teamwork, as well as interaction. Collaboration hubs come in all shapes and sizes. They can be characterized by flexible layouts for offices, adaptable meeting spaces, and integrated breakout areas. You can find collaboration hubs at the center of a hybrid workspace model.
The hybrid workspace model essentially means that a company has a mix of employees: some of them work from the office while others work remotely. By repurposing your existing layout into a collaborative hub, companies can create a space that works well for work activities that can’t be done remotely. Think ideation, planning, and brainstorming!
The Role of a Collaboration Hub
We all know what impact COVID-19 had on our mode of working. The physical office spaces have undergone a massive transformation around the world. One major change was a shift towards remote working. While none of us saw it coming, the flexibility to work remotely bought us a lot of benefits: rebalancing our work and personal lives, fast-tracking improvements in terms of collaboration, distributed teams, and satellite offices are a few to name.
This change in work mode has resulted in a massive change in mindsets and a requirement for change in our physical office spaces. Most of the offices today aren’t the space where we show up at a specified time, do the desired work, and then leave. Instead, it is reimagined as a centralized space that is created to sport the creative process. There are times when a physical space is needed to reinforce teamwork, group projects, socializing, and brainstorming. That is when a collaboration hub comes into play.
Most people simply love the flexibility of remote working. However, they miss having a physical space that they used to share with their colleagues. A collaboration hub provides employees the best of both worlds. It enables them to work side by side, and brainstorm new ideas while strengthening emotional bonds.
Key Aspects of a Collaboration Hub
Let’s look at the key aspects a collaboration hub offers:
Efficient Work Tools
Unlike any traditional office, a collaboration hub isn’t filled with rows of assigned workstations and devices. Hybrid teams are presented with tools and software that allow them to do their tasks perfectly regardless of where they are. A collaboration hub needs to have everything in place that remote employee doesn’t have in their homes. Based on the type of work your office requires, it could mean anything: recording booths, photography studios, libraries, printing facilities, etc. Your employees can come into the space whenever they need to access these tools without committing to a space on a daily basis.
Clear Responsibilities
If you have a coherent and well-communicated team structure, it will work wonders for your business. It allows team managers to use the collaborative hub to their advantage in terms of both a physical and digital space. This gives employees the flexibility to use the workspace on an ad hoc basis. It is important to remember that all activity-based projects must be directed by team leaders.
Easy to Access
It goes without saying that a collaboration hub must be easily accessible for all your employees. Hence, it is best to choose a location that is central to the living spaces of the employees. Staying clear of busy, long commutes is a major plus. A perfectly located space that is convenient to access is a very crucial element of a collaborative space.
Meeting Rooms
Having face-to-face interaction between employees must be prioritized in a collaboration hub. Hence, the right one will have multiple spaces for colleagues, and clients to collaborate. The space needs to be easily configurable in order to accommodate any group of people or any number. It should include everything from a normal breakout space to professional meeting spaces.
Flexibility
The way different teams collaborate with each other varies from project to project. An effective collaboration space must be quick to react and adjust to changing needs of your employees and your business. Using movable walls, versatile furniture, and convertible workstations is what makes a collaborative hub flexible and all the more beneficial.
Wide Customization
We all know that no two businesses are alike even when they are working in the same industry. Every single company has some very specific needs and quirks. The key difference between a collaborative hub and a generic office eventually comes down to customization. The collaborative hub has the mad ability to fit into the company’s way of working.
Collaboration Hubs vs. Coworking Spaces – How Do They Differ?
A coworking space is essentially a space where employees from different teams, companies, and freelancers all share the same space, facilities, and services. The collaboration hub isn’t quite the same. It aims at bringing together the employees of the same company. The goal is to promote teamwork, innovation, and creativity.
A coworking space highly prioritizes individual productivity and has a more ambitious vibe. This is a space dedicated to the development of new ideas, minus any barriers and friction caused by online collaboration while still maintaining the flexibility to work remotely.
Collaboration Hubs and Remote Work
Collaboration hubs are an important part of a hybrid workspace. Think of it as a lifeline for remote workers. It doesn’t only offer a designated space for project meetings, and in-person planning sessions, but also serves as a social space for employees that work remotely. One downside of remote working is compromised company culture that steps for the nebulous and ill-defined workspace that arises from interactions between employees. A collaboration hub fills this gap by creating a space for colleagues to meet, share stories, and develop great relationships that strengthen the culture of the company.
Final Thought
We hope you found this post informative and insightful. If you have been struggling to create a collaborative space for business and don’t know where to begin, simply reach out to us today. Our team will listen to your unique needs and requirements and then present you with a possible solution.