We’re thrilled to launch Greater Encounters – a podcast series straight from the hearts and minds of The Great Room and Greater Business Club, recorded and produced in the Podcast Room at The Great Room, Afro Asia, Singapore.
Listen and watch our guests unravel fascinating insights and valuable takeaways from a lineup of powerhouse leaders. Catch all the episodes in Season 1, where inspiring stories drive professional and personal growth. Episodes here. RSS Feed
A Workspace That Moves With You
The Great Room by Industrious is coworking inspired by hospitality, with 160+ international locations across APAC, US and Europe where members have access to all workspaces in our global network.
The Great Room, South Bridge in Singapore has been honoured with the International Design Award (IDA) 2023!
The IDA recognises, celebrates and promotes legendary design visionaries and to uncover emerging talent in Architecture, Interior, Product Design and more. This incredible recognition is a testament to our commitment to excellence and innovation in coworking space design.
KulörGroup has been instrumental in creating this unique co-working space in Singapore that marries the country’s rich heritage with modern efficiency. Lead designer Christopher Chua’s dedication to hospitality design and mastery in merging history with modernity shines through in our South Bridge location. His creative vision has transformed the iconic Eu Yan Sang building into an extraordinary coworking haven, having meticulously preserved historical features and blending them with up-to-date designs for a captivating mix of old and new. Committed to local codes, The final space boasts private offices, hot desks areas, meeting rooms, event spaces, and a café, all in a setting designed to inspire today’s professionals.
We extend our congratulations to Christopher, KulorGroup, for their creative brilliance and representatives of The Great Room, Norasilah Praseio, Angela Chin and the rest of the Design team for their support and dedication to bringing our vision to life. Thank you to our members and community for being part of this inspiring journey!
The Great Room by Industrious is coworking inspired by hospitality, with 150+ international locations across APAC, US and Europe where members have access to all workspaces in our global network.
With built-to-fit solutions for enterprise teams, coworking offers an elevated solution for businesses that need flexible, scalable workspace. Here’s why.
In the modern world of work, we often associate coworking with freelancers and cramped hotdesking scenarios – but there is another way forward that addresses the needs of enterprises with larger teams. Also known as enterprise coworking, built-to-fit coworking refers to a flexible workspace that offers a truly bespoke design solution for teams of 20 or more. This is coworking, elevated: it’s a cut above the private office in a coworking environment. Let’s take a closer look.
What are built-to-fit workspaces?
Built-to-fit workspaces are purposefully designed offices within the context of the coworking environment. At The Great Room, these bespoke offices are meticulously crafted to cater to the unique needs of larger teams. Unlike conventional offices with fixed layouts and structures, built-to-fit coworking offers fully inclusive, collaborative and cost-effective workspaces for teams of 20 or more.
With built-to-fit, you get to decide what your business needs in order to activate your business strategies. With the help of our in-house design team and award-winning design partners, we then deliver an end-to-end solution that’s tailored to your specifications, so your business can thrive.
The Great Room, One George Street
Built-to-fit: The pros
1. Flexibility
With built-to-fit, you get a scalable solution that supports rapidly changing economic environments. Here is a solution that caters to growing teams, minus the constraints of long-term leases and costly, time-consuming office migrations. Whether you’re growing your team or streamlining it, adapting your space is a seamless experience; one that’s managed in partnership with The Great Room.
2. Cost effective
With tailor-made space comes tailor-made pricing. In the built-to-fit workspace, you only pay for the real estate you need, for the length of time you choose. Contrast this with traditional office spaces, where organisations are bound by inflexible leasing commitments, while also paying for utilities, maintenance and furniture. With built-to-fit, enterprises get a premium office experience for their larger teams, with utilities, maintenance and furniture sorted for you. These aren’t additional costs to factor in, and there are no massive capital outlays: it’s all part of the deal.
3. Amenities
Which brings us to amenities. With The Great Room’s built-to-fit solutions, you get access to services designed to meet the needs of your business in a way that’s thoughtful, functional and innovative. At The Great Room, amenities include high-speed Wi-fi and the latest technology; luxuriously appointed meeting rooms; comfortable, contemporary furnishings; a well-stocked pantry; barista-level coffee; and premium hospitality services such as Monday Breakfast Club, shifting those Monday blues with delicious breakfast and coffee; Turndown Cart, with personally delivered hot chocolate and cookies; Great Thirstdays, where members get to taste fine wines and spirits; and more.
Nursing rooms, podcast rooms and executive offices are also part of the equation. Plus, with built-to-fit, you get to bring your branding into the picture in the form of everything from signage and wayfinding to entrance walls.
The Great Room Afro-Asia
4. Bespoke fit-outs
Alongside brand signage, built-to-fit spaces give you the capacity to create a custom-built space that’s tailored to your brand identity. At The Great Room, our design partners will work with you from the start to create a look that’s on-brand, along with layout and functionality to suit your brand’s needs.
With built-to-fit, gone are the days of sterile offices and stuffy cubicles. Our designers are experts in hospitality design, bring five-star style to each space they create, and they know how to shape superior environments using top-quality infrastructure and design.
5. Location, location
One of the benefits of coworking environments is their prime city locations. The Great Room, for example, has seven workspaces in key cities across APAC—namely, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney. They’re easy to access via public transport, they’re close to shops and F&B, and within reach of clients, teams and stakeholders across the region.
6. Security and credibility
For growing enterprises, data security matters. That’s why The Great Room’s built-to-fit workspaces come with their own server rooms. For extra credibility with investors, clients and business partners, they even have their own private entrances. This sets the built-to-fit space apart from the private office, which shares an entrance and server with the rest of the coworking space.
Plus, to support financial institutions, The Great Room’s built-to-fit spaces are MAS-regulated, meeting industry institutional requirements.
Is built-to-fit right for your business?
Transitioning to a built-to-fit coworking model warrants careful consideration. It’s important to evaluate your business strategies, your team’s needs, growth prospects and company culture before making the shift.
All the same, the advantages of flexible workspace, cost-efficiency, amenities and design tend to outweigh the drawbacks. By fostering collaboration and innovation and facilitating cost savings, built-to-fit spaces present a highly credible and highly appealing alternative to traditional offices. If you’re ready to take a transformative approach to office space—one that sets the stage for business success—we’d love to connect with you. Select your city below to learn more.
A Workspace That Moves With You
The Great Room by Industrious is coworking inspired by hospitality, with 150+ international locations across APAC, US and Europe where members have access to all workspaces in our global network.
SINGAPORE, March 20, 2023 — Premium hospitality-led coworking space, The Great Room, house which was once the medicine hall for Singapore heritage brand Eu Yan Sang.
Since 2020, The Great Room has seen a revenue increase of over 30% across the region. The business has seen a significant shift in its audience segment over the last three years. Before the pandemic, occupancy rates were split between SMEs and MNCs & Enterprises at 75% and 25% respectively. Three years on, SMEs now make up 35% of the members while MNCs & Enterprises make up a majority of the members at 65% post-COVID. Pre-opening occupancy rates of The Great Room, South Bridge stood at 80%, the highest opening occupancy within the portfolio.
“The pandemic has accelerated the shift to flexible work and the use of flexible spaces. The Great Room is committed to enabling this flexibility for our members, focused on creating communities within our spaces, and driving sustainable growth for our business,” said Jaelle Ang, Co-founder and CEO of The Great Room. “Our new venue at South Bridge is another chapter in our commitment to shaping the future of work while conserving the rich history of the Chinatown neighbourhood and Singapore’s architectural heritage.”
With the demand for hybrid workspaces increasing, The Great Room offers unique coworking solutions that meet the needs of an ever-changing workforce. providing dynamic spaces and efficient services as well as community-building programmes and events, and a dynamic perspective on the future of work.
Embracing the change in client needs, The Great Room South Bridge caters to members who are looking for a workplace that offers flexible design, dedicated office spaces while offering a blank canvas for inspired work.
The Great Room South Bridge, Stateroom
Preserving the rich history of Singapore, The Great Room, South Bridge boasts BCA Green Mark Platinum status, an accolade for exemplary green projects that demonstrate energy and water savings, and adopt environmentally sustainable practices and innovative green features. To achieve this, The Great Room design team worked hand-in-hand with landlord partner 8M Real Estate to retain as much as possible of the property’s existing design fixtures and fittings. The team worked closely with regional suppliers and local artists to minimise the total carbon footprint.
“8M Real Estate is proud to partner The Great Room on this exciting new location. We are conservation specialists who respectfully restore historic properties and creatively adapt them as lifestyle destinations through specially curated tenant partnerships. The Great Room’s expertise in purposeful and sustainable design, coupled with the property’s Green Mark Platinum certification, enhances and elevates our property and shows the potential for future unique collaborations,” said Ashish Manchharam, Founder & CEO, 8M Real Estate.
The Great Room, South Bridge features 11 dedicated offices for five to 70 pax, one work hall, and four meeting rooms for two to 12 pax. The location will feature a rooftop alfresco restaurant and bar from April 2023. Serving as a modern-day hub for coffee meetings and power lunches in the day, it will remain open in the evening to the public.
Established in 2016 in Singapore, The Great Room started its first co-working space at One George Street. The Great Room was acquired by Industrious in 2022 to buttress its global portfolio and drive the growth of the brand.
With the addition of South Bridge in Singapore, The Great Room boasts ten locations across three key cities, Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong. With a total footprint of 32,500 square metres, The Great Room is positioned to expand aggressively in 2023 and will be announcing new locations in Sydney later this year.
A Workspace That Moves With You
The Great Room by Industrious is coworking inspired by hospitality, with 150+ international locations across APAC, US and Europe where members have access to all workspaces in our global network.
With high vaccination rates, employees are increasingly thinking about returning to the workplace
But after over two years of working remotely, many employees have certain expectations of what they want out of their office in the future. We talked to employees from five different industries to get a sense of what they want from their workplace as they start to spend more of their time in the office. Read on to learn how their outlooks have shifted over the past year.
Better Work-Life Balance
“There has been a history of office culture where employees were expected to carry out their days as if they [didn’t] have families; staying late would earn you a badge of honor. Those days are now gone. The pandemic took work-life balance and turned it into a work-life milkshake. We’ve all begun to see each other more as people and less as workers. People won’t want to return to a work environment that doesn’t have the flexibility and trust that allows for true work-life harmony.” — Doug S., VP of Research and Insights at a furniture and logistics company
Flexible Schedules
“I have my son at home doing school-from-home, which means I end up helping him a lot in the morning and then doing my business work a lot more in the afternoon and evening. Everyone on our team has had to find their own schedule, and some of them have really thrived with their new patterns. We’re going to keep that focus on flexibility every after the pandemic.” — Naomi A., Chief Marketing Officer at an information technology company
A Hybrid Workweek
“As with most things, there are pros and cons to working from home. For me, there is no clear-cut winner. I am happy that I can get more accomplished by working remotely, but there is also nothing that can replace communicating with others in-person. Because of that, I would appreciate the ability to split my time between the office and working from home. On days when I need to power through a project, I want to do that from home. On other days when I need help or another person’s perspective, I want to be in the office.” — Wanny M., Marketing Associate at an AI-powered hotel guest communication platform
“At least initially, a big concern for many employees returning to the physical workplace will be their own safety and the safety of their loved ones. Is the company returning to the office too soon? Are they putting the company before the well-being of workers? What are they doing to ensure a safe environment at the workplace? These … are the very first questions employees who have worked from home through the pandemic will expect answers to.” — Dave P., a software developer-turned-parenting blogger
Revamped Perks
“Companies will need to evaluate all of their perks to ensure they are providing their employees with the best options. [Benefits and perks at our start-up studio] are designed to remove some of the hassles of everyday life …. For example, once a month, our employees get a housecleaning stipend and their house or apartment is cleaned on us. With employees spending more time sitting at desks, we also invested in more ergonomic equipment to accommodate employees.” — David K., founder of a San Francisco-based start-up studio
The Great Room by Industrious is coworking inspired by hospitality, with 150+ international locations across APAC, US and Europe where members have access to all workspaces in our global network.
The shared workspace offers benefits that reach far beyond mere hot desking. Discover the custom, hybrid solutions coworking can provide to the modern enterprise in the rapidly changing world of work.
Over the last two years, the way people work has changed significantly, and it’s still in flux. The workplace has had to evolve, too; rethinking space distribution and allocation of resources. Hybrid work schedules are now the norm rather than the anomaly, meaning traditional space allocations are vastly inefficient and creating unnecessary costs.
The Great Room Gaysorn Tower, Bangkok
Hybrid ways of working – where people spread their work time between home (or elsewhere) and the office may be different from what many larger firms are used to. However, it is a reality that all businesses, no matter what their size, need to remain nimble.
Traditional office spaces and conventional arrangements are often unable to meet the demands of an evolving business – let alone the evolving purpose of the workplace itself. Coworking spaces, meanwhile, are primed for evolution and change, the perfect place to set the foundations for your modern team and business.
How coworking helps enterprises build a solid foundation for the future of flexible work
Say goodbye to lengthy, long-term contracts From a financial perspective, coworking does not require you to sign a conventional commercial lease – instead, clients can enjoy lower overhead costs and month-to-month rental flexibility. These flexible terms allow you to adapt the space as your business needs changes, like adding additional desks or booking meeting rooms as you need them. You pay for what you need when you need it.
The Great Room Raffles Arcade, Singapore
For developer security platform Snyk, this was part of the appeal in signing on as a member of The Great Room in Singapore. They chose coworking over traditional office space because it offers “easy scalability as Snyk expands,” says Jane Black, Chief of Staff of Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) for Snyk.
“It’s great for a start-up that went from two employees in Singapore in March 2021 to 15 by Nov 2021. We’re looking to be 30-plus by April 2022,” says Shaun McLagan, Vice President APJ.
With our expertise as office solution providers, you can leave the heavy lifting to us Establishing a new office also requires time and capital for design and fit-out of your workspace. Here too coworking spaces offer another advantage: you get a workspace that’s a great canvas for the office of your dreams. And it comes complete with desks, chairs, power access, and the extra benefit of amenities you wouldn’t find in a traditional office.
For Snyk, cost-effectiveness was another reason to join The Great Room rather than opting for a conventional office. Here, “We don’t have to worry about facilities or IT, and we don’t waste money,” says McLagan.
The money and time you save on rent and amenities can then be put to use elsewhere: talent acquisition, or building culture.
The Great Room Centennial Tower, Singapore
A considered environment for your brand and corporate culture to thrive in At The Great Room, it’s not simply about hot desks and small offices for start-ups. Larger teams can also take up dynamic enterprise spaces within The Great Room’s locations, complete with the privacy, design customisations you want, and the corporate branding you need. The Great Room Enterprise team will even help you with space planning based on your team’s needs.
Discover The Great Room’s Enterprise Solutions
An enterprise space is a type of managed office space that can be customised to suit the needs of larger teams. These exclusive, flexible offices give you access to personalised private spaces that also facilitate valuable human connection, enabling you to build a diverse and engaging collaborative culture.
An example of this is the Enterprise floor on level 6 at The Great Room, Afro-Asia. More than 13,500 square feet of space is divided into three Enterprise office spaces – all of which are kitted out with the features a Fortune 500 company would expect from a premium workspace.
Enterprise tenants can give input on the look and feel of their workspace. Then there’s added support in the form of an in-house design and build team that can advise on the latest trends, and that can help tailor the space with a bespoke fitout. The Great Room’s team has fulfilled requests for everything from private entrances, dedicated bars and server rooms to on-brand welcome lounges and floorplans with a customised split of desks and activity space.
The team will also manage the space and provide soft services that heighten the work experience.
Ultimately, the enterprise space is a private office within a coworking or serviced office environment. What it looks like will vary from company to company, based on their specific needs. Some may need a move-in ready office and a standard array of amenities. Others may need something more bespoke, tailored to the organisation’s unique team and brand ethos, perhaps with communal lounge areas within their exclusive space, as well as work booths, brainstorm studios… the options are limitless, and you get to choose.
The Great Room has seven locations across Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok – Asia’s gateway cities.
Find out how we can help your business adapt to the flexible future of work. Select the city below for more details.
What didn’t work in 2021? How can we do things differently in 2022? It’s time to consider new ways of working so you can build a more productive business that lasts the distance.
As one year ends and another begins, many businesses are reflecting on what worked and what didn’t.
For many, the rigidity of the 9-to-5 in-office working day (or the 8-to-8, as the case may be) was one thing that didn’t. Fixed hours have their benefits, of course. For one, your teams are coordinated: they’re in the same place at the same time. Everyone knows where they need to be and when, and there’s a steadiness in that. It provides some much-needed solidity in a constantly wavering world.
But the day-to-day realities of the last two years have also shown us that people can be productive – perhaps more so – when they work to the beat of their own drum. This is because people tend to feel more fulfilled when they work their way. They can find time for exercise, to get their admin done, or spend time with children, while also getting the job done, and done well.
The Great Room Singapore, One George Street
We are all individuals, after all: one person may be more productive at 8am, and another at 11am; another person may have family needs to factor into the workday, while yet another may like to exercise in the mornings and work late at night. It’s easy to see how the obligation for these individuals to follow a strict schedule could lead to stress, dissatisfaction and eventually, burnout.
There’s also the added factor of commuting to and from the office: this takes time, and, if you’re stuck in traffic or navigating different trains and buses on a daily basis, it can add to the anxiety and that feeling of being subject to the daily grind.
Focus on employee wellness to build organisational strength and sustainability
Consider, then, the workplace trends on the cards for 2022 and beyond. Many of the forecasts claim that talent will be looking for companies that prioritise workplace wellness. This ranges from offering non-traditional benefits (such as family leave and childcare support), mental health support and opportunities for social connectivity (online and in-person) to financial planning assistance and education, access to fitness, and flexible working hours and locations.
Miskawaan Health Group (MHG) is one organisation that has already discovered the benefits of the flexible approach. MHG offers bespoke healthcare solutions that take a functional medicine approach, looking at root causes of illness and using natural substances such as supplements and infusions to address issues and to optimise at an individual level.
The Great Room Bangkok, Gaysorn Tower
MHG decided to take a hybrid approach to how they worked, with support staff dividing their time between home and the office. The organisation has a full-service health clinic in Gaysorn Tower in Bangkok, but they needed different arrangements for support staff.
“Fixed hours would create inconveniences for those who wish to access offices for extra meetings and brainstorming sessions, [as well as adding stress for those] waiting for vendors to show up within working hours,” says CEO Varit ‘Top’ Taifayongvichit.
“Some advantages to hybrid working include increased productivity and employee satisfaction, more opportunities for continuous learning, improved collaboration and work relationships, and better outcomes for employees’ mental health. In sum, hybrid ways of working are likely to be the answers to MHG and its organisations as a growing start-up.”
MHG knew they couldn’t achieve this in a traditional office environment. “Traditional offices require longer-term commitments and allocation of costs at the beginning of renovations, continuous renovations are also needed to keep the company in ‘modern’ looks; monthly maintenance costs or overhead costs are also needed to keep up the space,” says Taifayongvichit.
The Great Room Bangkok, Gaysorn Tower
Instead, he and his team decided to shift their staff to a co-working space. They looked to premium co-workspace provider The Great Room to support them in creating a set-up that would foster engagement and satisfaction. The healthcare organisation now has 33 desks at The Great Room Bangkok.
For MHG, the benefits have been manifold. The team now works in a dynamic and creative environment, says Taifayongvichit. At The Great Room, there’s a built-in focus on community, with opportunities to interact with other members at events, and also in the communal spaces over coffee or drinks. This was important for the organisation, says MHG’s CEO.
The Great Room “creates pain-free solutions of spaces for workshops and meetings. Moreover, helpful and friendly staff members from the Great Room make us feel like we’re not just tenants and landlords, but like friends and family. Services are excellent and superb,” he says. Having flexible workspace solutions on tap is also helpful, he says; as is the ability to get extra desks, meeting rooms and event space on demand. “Office management and admin is taken care of,” he adds. In short, “co-working space promotes the wellbeing of the company and also mental health of our members,” says Taifayongvichit. As a pioneer in the holistic healthcare space, he should know.
Make workplace wellness part of the programme at The Great Room
In 2022 and beyond, it’s going to be vital for many businesses to build wellness into what they offer their people – and this means providing talent with flexibility, opportunities to connect, and an environment that naturally supports their creativity and mental wellbeing. At The Great Room, these are all elements that underpin our very reason for being.
The Great Room Bangkok, Gaysorn Tower
Supporting the mental and physical health of its members, The Great Room hosts events, workshops and talks focused on wellness and human connection. On the calendar you’ll find events such as sound baths, fitness classes with The Great Room’s partners, morning yoga sessions, tastings and more. And at The Great Room Afro-Asia, wellness is regarded as such a priority that there’s even a dedicated Wellness Room, and a Sky Garden where members can connect with nature in the heart of the city.
Get customised support for your business at The Great Room
The Great Room has seven locations across Asia’s gateway cities. All are located in prime neighbourhoods, with a range of flexible options available for businesses keen to grow but struggling to figure out how to do so. The Great Room’s expert staff are also on hand to provide advice on how to customise your workspace to suit your business needs.
Find out how we can help your business adapt to the flexible future of work. Select the city below for more details.
At The Great Room, hybrid working has always been in our DNA—and we’ve continued to build products around this model to empower businesses to work smarter, not harder.
Because the world of work doesn’t simply evolve around a desk, The Great Room’s mobile app seamlessly integrates work, meetings, events and community all at your fingertips.
The Great Room Afro-Asia, Singapore
A Workspace That Moves With You
Imagine you’ve got a client coming to meet you but you’re stuck on your commute, or you’re just running late because life happens. Perhaps you need a quick breakout room for you and a few others on your team to iron out a few last-minute items on a project. The Great Room’s mobile app lets you book meeting rooms on the road instantly, and filter options by time, seats and amenities (think screens, phones, whiteboards) that might optimise your meeting. If you’re really organised, members can book a room up to one week in advance.
It’s All Work, It’s All Play
The Great Room was born to change the way people work, meet and socialise. That’s why we say it’s all work, it’s all play, and that’s why we’ve made it even easier to stay up-to-date with the next Monday Breakfast Club theme, midweek boost treats and view the full list of upcoming events and RSVP all on one platform—for all APAC locations. Not only will you be right on the pulse of The Great Room happenings, but exclusive member privileges of partner discounts and preferential rates are all accessible on the app. Treat yourself whilst you’re at it.
One Tool, All Access
The modern workforce demands flexibility that combines remote and in-office work, allowing painless access to over 160 international locations, across Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, US and Europe. Simply present your membership profile on your app to any of our global locations to start working.
Industrious, New York and Arizona Welkin & Meraki by Industrious, Brussels and Paris
Building Better Connections
Nothing’s worse than having your productivity disrupted over inconvenient little niggly things. Get push notifications on what’s happening around the centre with community updates and announcements so you can always plan ahead.
To enable members to stay connected whether in the office or on-the-go is key for flexibility at work. The Great Room’s mobile app will provide all the functionality and autonomy you crave, as well as allow you to centralise all your work and play activities on one platform. Free to download on the Apple iOS Store and Google Play Store.
Since 2016, The Great Room has been uncompromising about delivering high-performance design and hospitable service to our members. With this acquisition, we will continue to hold these standards close to our heart, and it is no coincidence that these are the very same principles that are shared by and inherent to Industrious.
As the highest-rated flexible workplace company in the U.S. with over 150 locations across 50+ cities, Industrious has the resources and economies of scale to take The Great Room to the next level. We share the same mission and vision for what the workplace of the future should look and feel like. Our brands and products are aligned, and we will now be better positioned to provide an exceptional workplace experience to our members.
An exciting time for The Great Room team and members, great things are in store for us all. Industrious is also acquiring Welkin & Meraki, another premium flexible workplace brand in Europe.
Bloomberg news stated: The Great Room has operations in Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong, while Welkin & Meraki has locations in Paris, Brussels and the Netherlands. Jamie Hodari (CEO of Industrious), who described Industrious’s U.S. footprint as “robust,” said the company plans to double its international presence, possibly entering cities including Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam, Dublin, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing.
“We are at the crossroads of a fundamental paradigm shift in how and where people work, a key element of which is the evolution of how companies think about the workplace,” The Great Room CEO Jaelle Ang said in a statement.
Flexibility is the way of the future in the world of work, and on-demand space opens up a whole host of opportunities for businesses. Forget downsizing or upsizing. Now, it’s all about rightsizing by creating a bespoke office space that supports your company mission, and your people. Find out how coworking can help you build an agile business by providing a flexible base to work from.
In the world of workplace solutions, it’s becoming increasingly clear that cookie-cutter offices just won’t cut it.
What happens when your business suddenly expands? When you take on a new project, and you need to hire three new people, but you don’t have any room in your office? What happens if local restrictions mean your business suddenly has to downsize? You’re left with wasted office space – and you’re paying for it with money that could be put to far better use elsewhere.
Evidently, one-size-fits-all solutions do not fit all.
The Great Room One Taikoo Place, Hong Kong
What really suits your team depends on the size of your team, the nature of your work, where your team is, how you work and when you work. It also depends on factors that are outside your control – like pandemic restrictions, economic patterns, and consumer behaviour.
What you need is space that can be rightsized for the needs of your business.
Rightsizing and how it supports your business
Every office provides a mix of individual space – workstations, private offices – and group and amenity space. Individual space probably makes up 30 to 40% of your square footage, yet it gets used most of the time (say, 70% of the time).
Group space and your amenity space, those spaces where people gather, make up 60 to 70% of your square footage, yet they only get used 30 to 40% of the time (according to VenturePoint). These are the spaces in which staff print documents, where they drink coffee, have meetings, and so on.
The Great Room Raffles Arcade, Singapore
Rightsizing happens when you balance group, amenity and individual space against office costs. By rightsizing, you maximise on business savings by only paying for what you need, while creating the ideal conditions in which to optimise employee performance.
Factors to consider in the rightsizing process are square footage; lease terms; usage data (the nature of your spaces, how many of them there are, how that space is used, which spaces are used and which aren’t, plus headcount); and running costs.
Coworking spaces offer flexible solutions for the agile business
Coworking spaces like The Great Room provide adaptable solutions that enable your business to operate in the most agile way possible. With a coworking space, you can work with flex-lease clauses. Your business can begin with a rental contract based on monthly or yearly terms. You can start with a certain number of desks and/or a certain amount of office space, with the option to increase this as your lease progresses, depending on headcount and business needs.
The flexible nature of the coworking space contract was a huge support to PALO IT as their own business changed through the shifts of the pandemic. PALO IT needed to expand their team to more than 50 employees in 2022, and they needed an office for them, pronto. “The Great Room customised a tailormade space for us,” says Jing Lei, Managing Director for PALO IT in Hong Kong. The Great Room split an existing 50-person office in two, enabling PALO IT to slot into one half and accommodate their whole team. This supported our move to a larger space without the hassle.”
As a global innovation consultancy and agile software development company whose mission is to help companies use “tech as a force for good”, PALO IT understands the value of adaptability better than most.
“Businesses have no choice but to transform under the current situation,” says Lei. “Everyone is looking for expert support to structure their new ways of working; support that also meshes with their corporate governance. For instance, implementing an agile-targeted operating model (ATOM) to accelerate transformation into a data-driven organisation. Also, to facilitate teams through automation.”
This is what PALO IT does best, so it’s no surprise that “market demand has accelerated our business’s growth,” says Lei. “The Great Room has been a great help with both our internal and external events, and in welcoming our guests who come to our office.”
The Great Room Ngee Ann City, Singapore
PALO IT needed a collaborative environment where they could welcome clients and other guests, and courteous staff to support this. “It’s comfortable, friendly, and in a great location that’s close to our clients and partners,” agrees Lei. “Not to mention the great staff at The Great Room!”
It’s here that The Great Room excels: its conveniently located venues; the courteous, helpful staff; and the mix of communal and private meeting spaces – from the central ‘Great Room’, which is luxuriously appointed – to the meeting rooms, large and small.
Get customised support for your business at The Great Room
The Great Room also provides all the amenities as part of the coworking package. There’s barista-level, artisan coffee, internet, furniture, access to office equipment such as printers and more. By streamlining the costs associated with group and amenity space, The Great Room, like other coworking space providers, helps businesses balance their office outlays. In this way, The Great Room helps organisations rightsize, and with ease.
The Great Room has seven locations across Asia’s gateway cities. All are located in prime neighbourhoods, with a range of flexible options available for businesses keen to grow but struggling to figure out how to do so. The Great Room’s expert staff are also on hand to provide advice on how to customise your workspace to suit your business needs.
Find out how we can help your business adapt to the flexible future of work. Select the city below for more details.
