American author and presidential speechwriter James Humes once said that the art of communication is the language of leadership. And though certain leadership characteristics are inherent traits, effective communication is a learned skill.

For an organization to be successful, good communication practices are needed. It is the foundation of every aspect of the business. Whether it’s a large scale company inside private offices or startups in coworking spaces – no matter the size, without it, the basic functions of the management such as planning, organizing, motivation and controlling will not go smoothly.

Miscommunication is an error most of us are already familiar with. Even in our daily lives, we tend to miscommunicate with one another. From the errors between the sender and receiver, to the ambivalent language used to words that has multiple meanings and connotations; a lot could go wrong in a simple conversation between two people.

These drawbacks, though simple, can majorly affect business operations. Poor communication can hit both customers and suppliers. Staff morale can go down when relevant information aren’t relied timely. It can increase absenteeism by impacting motivation and can escalate levels of stress.

According to a survey conducted among 1,400 corporate executives and employees, eighty-six percent of the respondents have said that the lack of collaboration or ineffective communication contributes to workplace failures. In addition to this, the aforementioned study also discusses how common these issues are to various industry sectors. Its authors says that these miscommunications can slow down projects, productivity and has the ability to ultimately impact both client and employee relation.

Data from other reports have showcased how costly poor communication can be. Over an estimated $37 billion are spent on employee misunderstandings regarding company policies and business processes are in both the US and UK and companies lost a cumulative cost of $26,041 per worker per year to productivity losses resulting from communication barriers.

Conversely, the abovementioned report stated statistics demonstrating the positive impact of good workplace communication.

Companies who practice highly effective communication among their leaders receive 47% higher total returns to shareholders over the past five years compared to those who have least effective communicators. In addition to this, American electronics provider, Best Buy found out that high employee engagement scores result to better store performance – for every percentage point it raised employee engagement, there was a $100,000 increase in the operating income of their individual stores annually.

Improved workplace communication has the ability to change the game for your business. Several studies have said that this can deliberately increase a worker’s productivity.  Effective work group communication can lead to significant improvement in the overall performance of a company. Moreover, experts have found a strong link between organizations observing effective communication and the productivity ratings of their employees.

It increases employee job satisfaction by empowering the workforce with upward communication – information flows upward and would usually entail feedback. The more employers are able to listen to their employees, the better. Job satisfaction can also decrease rates of absenteeism and turnover.

There are several ways businesses across various industries can improve the communication within their workplace.

Assessing the current communication utilized can give you an idea on the areas that needs to be improved. For example, your team is struggling to keep up with conversations through email. Why not try social intranet solutions and collaboration tools. Listing down your workplace communication methods can give you a clear idea on what to do next.

Internal communication is essential so it’s only apt to check in with your employees regularly. You can set meetings with them to discuss their thoughts on a project and task. By doing this, you are somehow implementing an open door policy between you and your employees – they are likely to feel more comfortable to bring matters to your attention.

Startups and teams in coworking spaces can take advantage of the open plan layout to improve their communication. Unlike in traditional workplaces, members of the team can easily approach their superiors to discuss tasks and project updates with them. Readily available communal areas can set a relaxed vibe during discussions.

The group’s internal communication can be strengthened by attending weekly happy hours or team-building events. In addition to this, each member can improve their communication skills by interacting with other members within the vicinity.

As per James Humes, leadership’s language is the art of communication. It is a skill that can be learned and improved throughout one’s life time – just like swimming and biking.

Hone your skill and communicate with us today!

We’ve heard it all before; branding matters – and it’s not just in terms of selling your products. Highlighting the unique points of your very own brand through your office creates a brand new experience for both of your clients and employees.

A well curated workplace branding infuses an office with a much deeper meaning, gives out a warm welcome to visitors and increases employee engagement, commitment and productivity. Though despite of this, several organizations remain to settle to adding the newest logo in the lobby wall.

Executive Vice President of JLL’s brand experience team, Big Red Rooster, Aaron Spiess says that it’s been a common knowledge among retailers that great branding plays a big role in sparking a shopper’s interest and loyalty for it gives them a better grasp of the identity of an organization. Forward thinking companies are applying the same principle to their respective headquarters, seeing that potential customers aren’t the only ones affected by compelling branding of a physical environment – thoughtfully designed workplaces also have the capability to excite and engage employees.

The reality is this, even those with the best branding are often not thoroughly understood by its own members. A recent Gallup poll supported this claim by stating that only 41 percent of employees actually know what differentiates their brand amongst its competitors. And 24 percent vaguely knew what their company stood for.

Speiss adds that too many workers are disconnected from the brands they actually represent. Having a physical location that allows teams to experience it first-hand can help alleviate this issue.

And this is not just to have better brand ambassadors. Professionals who are immersed in an environment that is unique to their employers, they perceive a deeper sense of pride in being part of the team. But this isn’t the norm despite of having a demand for better engagement from their workplace. The aforementioned factor is becoming a valuable consideration among job-seeking Millennials who aren’t just looking for modern offices – they are seeking for a place that’s unique and meaningful.

A great looking lobby is just the start of having an effective brand experience. It should be carried throughout the workplace through appropriate color palette, graphics as well as the layout. Designers can bring life to corporate culture from the lobby down to the huddle spaces in the back.

But before even jumping to interior decorations, startups who are about to acquire their very first office should be formulating their branding before choosing a space to lease. If taken into consideration upon site selection, you can now visualize the perfect workplace for your team.

One would assume that only established companies who fully own their offices are the only ones who can actually do this. But in reality, startups and even freelance professionals can choose workspaces that matches their branding. All it takes is to search for the perfect coworking space that echoes what you and your business stand for. From the colors, the workstations down to its community, these budding entrepreneurs can easily choose from the wide variety of providers in the market. Startups can settle for a private office and customize it the way they want to while freelancers can choose from several work areas that best fit them.

Slowly but surely, organizations around the world are now understanding the value of branding in their workspaces. Soon enough, organizations and designers will work together to craft an experience with meaning and purpose.

Create an immersive brand experience with our private offices and set up a date with us today!

Since its success, coworking has expanded its reach from solo entrepreneurs, home-based entrepreneurs and startups, they now accommodate established and big companies – large teams or departments and other individual employees with flexible work hours.

The movement caught the affinity of today’s young professionals with its affordable offices, aesthetically pleasing work areas and great environment. The greater audience of the industry lauded it for the benefits and immeasurable opportunities it provides. Hence, it didn’t come as a surprise when established companies and even conglomerates were observed to be coming in and out of different shared offices.

Since then, it’s been observed as a rising trend among big companies and industry players as influential enterprises and Fortune 500 enterprises move their employees and teams to local coworking spaces. Partnerships between organizations and providers have been established over the last few years causing a large disruption in the real estate industry.

One prominent explanation behind the aforementioned sudden liking is the large pool of talent and ideas nestled in these shared offices. Tech giants and large corporations want to become part of its diverse growing community of innovators in hopes of gaining new perspective that they wouldn’t usually find in the premises of a corporate environment. Moreover, it gives them a better advantage against their competitors as they keep a close ear to any technological advancement or trend that cause potential threat in the industry and allows them to attract top talent and closely monitor any potential target acquisitions.

Though it’s rapidly becoming a common scenario, much is still left to be learned on how leading organizations can make the most of these shared offices. Transitioning to flexible working doesn’t have to be as hard as one would imagine, here are a few steps to ease your move.

The first and most important would be finding a space that fits an organization’s current culture. It’s important for prospect members to establish an open communication with the providers on what will fit for them – the space, its people and its vibe. Creating a discussion on what would work best for both parties is needed.

And since coworking managements will now be dealing with a much larger group of people, its only apt to come up with a brand new and much more flexible agreement for a new kind of lease. Take into consideration that some big companies and other prospective clients would be used to long term leases that could entail other extras such as concessions and more.

Security concerns are detrimental factors in the deliberation. Will they be needing any additional security needs? Can their equipment and other sensitive documents be safe in your private offices?

Once all important details and other technicalities are discussed, introduce the new team or individuals to the rest of the community. The connections and fortunate happenstances that could be made between members are one of the highlights as to why they have decided to join in.

By doing so, you can help freelancers to get gigs and corporations to get new people.

On a normal basis, large gatherings and conferences are usually held in meeting rooms within high-end hotel rooms but in the presence of serviced offices, this tradition is slowly being disrupted.

Other than being a coworking space’s most profitable asset, they also represent a large opportunity for growth, industry experts say. Shared workplaces with rooms that can accommodate groups of 20-40 people can host corporate training meetings, according to Alliance Network’s chairman and founder, Frank Cottle

Providers are missing out on a great opportunity sitting right in front of themselves. By offering a cost efficient and much more appropriate alternative to hotel meetings, they are benefitting from the growing corporate mandate of innovation and sustained education.

The increasing frequency of trainings and meeting plays a significant role in the thriving need for conference venues and event spaces. As the accelerating competition in the industry calls for continuous teaching and learning, it opened up a new untapped market for serviced offices.

Though seen as an important feature in an enterprise’s headquarters, large meeting rooms are one of the most expensive amenities to build and maintain. To make matters worse, they are also the least utilized. Corporations want to clear themselves of the burden of these big rooms since they are used at least once a month only. And with its usage averaging from once a quarter or twice a year, it makes sense that a majority of businesses simply want to settle with outsourcing the aforementioned space.

Presenting a new contingency for flexible workplaces.

According to experts, meeting rooms are actually the most profitable rooms in a coworking space or serviced office. Its revenue can be up to three times per square foot of a permanent workplace. Hence, it’s worthwhile for operators to offer their conference rooms to large groups.

More than just providing additional earnings, having medium sized meeting rooms improves space utilization. The average occupancy rate of these functions in coworking spaces are 35 to 40% — with ample room for growth.

Using location, features and other additional amenities as its leverage, coworking as well as other serviced offices carry the versatility to serve the aforementioned marketplace. Providers offer numerous advantages compared to hotels in terms of meeting rooms

Cited as a major contributor to worker productivity and satisfaction, modern day offices are curated to incorporate natural daylight into the environment and since hotels are traditionally designed to maximize sunlight in bedrooms, conference halls are often found in poorly lit locations such as the basement.

Shared offices and other business centers create a very different experience for both the enterprise who booked the space and those who are attending compared to hotels. Operators may have dedicated customer service representatives overseeing the venues unlike the former whose focus is on renting rooms and large-scale catered events.

Reservation is made much easier in coworking spaces due to its cost-efficient fixed costs. These flexible workspaces are agile enough to accommodate small to large groups of people in an economical fashion. Moreover, unlike hotels that require large minimums, shared offices is able to host events in smaller numbers – saving you from expensive overhead costs.