Business leaders worldwide, after the COVID-19 pandemic, are realizing that once there is some return to “office life,” things will not be as they were. To assist in moving into the “new normal” in a manner that provides safety, security, and flexibility to all concerned, Upflex, has developed a coworking industry program called Safe Spaces™. This program is available through https://upflex.com/, and it is a world-wide consortium which is designed to help people access spaces that meet health and safety standards once the COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns are lifted.
Colin Scarlett, Executive Vice President of Colliers International in Vancouver, recently wrote about a tremendous amount of changes that have happened in business in the resultant changes from the work from home requirements that COVID brought. For example, he said, “businesses will have structurally changed, so expect to see a disconnect between markets with low vacancy rates and an occupier’s willingness and ability to pay market high rents when they are financially struggling to come out of this.”
This is where Safe Spaces comes in. They are the largest coworking network with 8,000 workspaces in 200 cities. It becomes possible to book workspaces for a day, a week or a month or meeting rooms by the hour.
Christophe Garnier, a representative for Upflex, said, “Upflex is a game-changer for businesspeople who need to find meeting rooms, communities of workers, or a desk for a day or a month. With more than 10,000 desks, in thousands of cities in the world, there’s a tremendous amount of choice for co-working.”
But it will be important for businesses to be thoughtful and tactical as they start to consider going back to in-person work. He also said that one of the pieces of good information that has come of this is that people are learning where the shortfalls are in their business planning. For example, he said, “I had a client who never stress-tested their systems and employees had no access to their programs while working from home for more than two weeks. I see this as an opportunity to learn and enhance our emergency preparedness for earthquakes, floods, tornadoes and future pandemics.”
Ware Malcomb is an integrated design service company that includes architecture, planning, interior design, branding, and civil engineering. Their Director of Workplace Strategy, Cynthia Milota wrote recently that in addition to careful planning, one of the things that business leaders need to bear in mind is that perception is actually reality, “What employees perceive is what they will believe is happening.”
She also suggests using part of the current working from home requirements as an opportunity to assess and communicate around needs and expectations of staff and management.
In order to become a part of Safe Spaces™, Space Partners all agree to comply with CDC guidelines (for USA -located Spaces) or World Health Organization or other applicable local governing body’s guidelines (for non-USA Spaces). In addition, we ask Space Partners practice several of the following health & safety practices to keep users safe: social distancing cleaning & disinfecting, hand hygiene, and incident reporting protocols, among others.
Mr. Garnier continued: “When you go to the website at https://upflex.com/safe-spaces-users, it’s clear what our prices are, who some of our partners are, and how reasonable the prices are.”
There’s no question that things are unpredictable and changeable in business, and this is likely to be the case for the foreseeable future. When business teams are unpredictable, not committing to a particular business space makes perfect sense. There are several options, such as purchasing day passes for $25 per person which covers the use of one desk at any of the 8,000 locations worldwide. It is also possible to purchase bundles of day passes where there are discounts for multiple passes. Book meeting rooms or private offices easily at any of the locations starting at $15/hour.
Upflex has a memorable “catch phrase” that sums it all up: “Committing is hard – so don’t.” For more information, see the company’s website at https://upflex.com/.
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For more information about Upflex, contact the company here:
Upflex
Christophe Garnier
4158129111
christophe@upflex.com
833 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
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