Why you still need an office in the age of remote work

Technology has made remote working a common practice – almost a third of Australia's employed population regularly works from home, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Today's startups can now seriously consider forgoing an office altogether. 

Yet the saying, "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" comes to mind here. Having an entirely remote team is possible, but in most cases not desirable. Here are three reasons why leasing an office on the Gold Coast is still important for your business.

1. Building social bonds

There's no escaping the fact that remote teams find it a lot harder to get to know each other. Team building relies on trust and familiarity, two things that can be slower to grow when you're only ever hearing someone's voice through a phone or seeing their face on a computer screen. Having regular out-of-office-hours social events can work wonders for building relationships between team members, but this can be difficult without with teams in disparate locations.

Ultimately, workers that like and enjoy each other's company are going to find it easier to work together – a boon for productivity that's only possible when everyone's in the same place.

2. Interacting with clients

If your business involves a lot of in-person client interaction, an office is going to be essential. Be it for formal business meetings or more social gatherings with clients, you're going to want to have space of your own that you can control.

An office space doesn't need to be extravagant to impress a client – just clean, inviting and capable of communicating, "we're good at what we do."

3. Accountability and availability

A common gripe people working with remote teams have is the inability to reach them when needed. Chat applications and email can be good tools for communication, but they can also be easily ignored. After all, there's no guarantee that the person who says they're online really is – they could be at the beach, at a cafe or just having a nap!

An office solves all these problems. If you have a question for someone, you can simply walk over to their desk and ask them – it's much more difficult to ignore someone who's standing right in front of you.

To learn more about leasing commercial property on the Gold Coast, get in touch with a member of the Ray White team today.