Both small and larger businesses are beginning to take advantage of co-working and flexible workspaces for their businesses. Flexible workspaces give businesses the opportunity to easily set up and run a business within a few hours. Instead of looking for a perfect location for your business, paying expensive rents, furnishing and employing staff, co-working spaces give these features all in one. Whereas many have opted for private office space, whether it’s within or outside a co-working facility.
Open Plan vs Private Office Space
Flexible workspaces offer both open plan and private offices. The open plan allows you to share the same facilities like desks, chairs, pantry and resources with fellow co-workers. The private office plan provides you with a dedicated office premise where only you and your team to control, manage and oversee the resources and facilities. Some major drawbacks of public/open workspaces have made many co-working space providers provide private offices for rent.
Both office plans have their advantages and disadvantages. It can be tough to decide which is best for your team. Of course, choosing between an open and private office can also affect the growth of your business in many ways. In order to assist your decision-making process, we have come up with a sharp comparison between both types of offices.
Open Office Plan
An open office setup provides your team with an option of hot desk, fixed desk or dedicated desk. The major advantage of an open workspace is that it is exciting, fun, and lively. It opens the door to socialisation and networking with fellow co-workers.
Pros of Open Office Plan
1. Build a Community Around Your Business
Operating in an open plan office gives your team an opportunity to meet with fellow coworkers and form a community. Of course, by having professionals in the same field or industry, you can enhance creativity and innovation. So, if you and your team need to establish a community around your business, an open plan office is the best for you. Apart from using the facility, you also have the chance to establish a community around your business.
2. Collaborate with Fellow Coworkers
Another important benefit of using an open office facility is the ability to collaborate with fellow coworkers even from different industries. In an open office set up, you can meet and establish a relationship with a complementary business that will boost your business. For instance, if you sell baby wears, you can meet a graphics designer in an open office set up who can carefully take an astonishing picture of your products. Such collaboration is vital for every team.
3. Opportunity to Network yourself
Networking means you are meeting people in other industries who can link you with potential customers or partners. This is a form of mutual relationship and benefits you stand to derive from using open office space. A fellow coworker sharing an open space with you can easily refer/recommend you to a friend or family who needs your service or product.
4. It is Cheaper
Above all, an open working space is significantly cheaper than the private/dedicated one in terms of rent and amenities. More so, open spaces are more flexible and you can easily switch to another table or upgrade your space.
Cons of Open Office Plan
1. Noise
The most obvious disadvantage of an open workspace is noise. The very nature of an open desk space is that every coworker tends to communicate and interact openly. This invariably means noise within the space. Although some companies are particular about a lively and cozy place, the kind of atmosphere in an open working space can sometimes be too noisy and distracting for your team.
2. Hard to build a company culture
You are not able to build your desired culture, heritage, and plans for your company or business in an open workspace. You have to rely on what the environment brings rather than deciding what the environment should be. If you need to build a unique culture for your company, you should consider private offices for rent.
Private Office
In a private office plan, your team is provided with a dedicated office within the co-working environment where you can carry out all your transactions and activities. This space is particularly accustomed to you and you can build your desired culture within this premise.
Pros of Private Office
1. A Quiet Working Environment
Perhaps, the greatest benefit of all time in private offices is a calm and quiet working environment. A private office will definitely contain only your team and none else. More so, you will be in charge of all the facilities and share with no one else. Thus, if your team needs absolute silence and decorum, private offices for rent will surely be a nice investment.
2. Absolute Control over your office
Some businesses always love and prefer having their things in a particular order. Operating in a private office means that you can have everything, including design and layout according to your wishes. More so, you can customize your office and paste personalized banners and posters where necessary. All these, of course, can have a big impact on productivity.
3. It Enhances your Business Image
Most clients want to work with firms and companies with high reputation and standard. Inviting a potential client to an open working space may compromise your image. Private offices tend to boost your business image and raise your standard. Its also well known that most businesses that use private offices tend to be more established or well funded, in the case of startups.
4. Desired Privacy
Another vital advantage of a private working space is privacy. You no longer need to hear all those irrelevant conversations and get involved in the unnecessary mess. More so, private offices allow you to discuss those confidential and personal issues with your team members and customers.
Cons of Private Office
1. You might miss all the fun and dividends
The major disadvantage of a private office is that you tend to miss all the fun and excitement of an open workspace. In addition, you may miss the core benefits of working in an open space like collaboration, networking and socializing.
2. More Expensive
Not only are they less flexible, but private offices are also typically more expensive than open offices. Of course, if you really need privacy to run your business, you definitely need to pay more.
Which one Is For You?
As you can see, both open and private office plans have their advantages and disadvantages. Your choice, however, will depend on your need and business type. If you are a new startup and you really need to network yourself in a more economical option, an open office or co-working facility can be the best for you. On the other hand, if your team handles more privacy and exclusivity, a private office should be a better option.
