From Woe to Wow - Temporary workspaces for the modern woman

Sometime ago, in a candid interview, the Chief Executive Officer of a renowned Beverage company lamented that ‘women cannot have it all’. She talked about how she developed coping mechanisms to deal with the guilt of not being a typical wife/mother. Her story is not an isolated one. Around the world, women deal with the conflict of parenthood versus career choices almost on a daily basis and more often than not, all of us know which of these two triumph. The advent of Temporary Workspaces in the form of Co-working spaces and Business Centers has, inadvertently, given women an important tool to lessen this seemingly endless conflict. Here’s how:

Ease of access: With Temporary Workspaces mushrooming practically in every neighbourhood, women are no longer confined to their homes in terms of their workspaces.

Flexibility & Cost-effectiveness: Temporary workspaces offer an array of flexible working options ranging from desks for an hour, to as long as a year. This offers tremendous advantages to women who wish to work on their own terms without the need to incur unnecessary costs in the form of setting up an office, security deposits, and even infrastructure such as Wi-Fi Internet, Cafeteria, and reprography.

Reduced Distractions: Whilst there is no denying that women are excellent multi-taskers, periodic privacy and reduced distraction levels are usually welcome and even necessary at times to work on that all-important assignment. Nothing quite like a Workspace nearby which can give them the privacy they need.

Natural collaborators: Women tend to network far more easily than men. Several studies have indicated that women are more likely to reach out to their networks for support and help while men tend to prefer being ‘lone rangers’. Temporary Workspaces can prove to be quite advantageous when it comes to networking opportunities as professionals with diverse skill-sets work together.

Secure and Safe: Most of these Workspaces come equipped with access control, Security systems such as CCTV, movement registers, all of which provide for a safe and secure environment.

Inclusive Growth and Learning: An event calendar at a Temporary Workspace will reveal the strong emphasis towards women. As balancing work and family is at times an unenviable, onerous and recurring task, many workshops are designed around such themes thereby providing insightful tips to women.

To sum it up, marriage, maternity and movement tend to derail the careers of women in India. Temporary Workspaces can prove to be an effective tool to help them restore their work-life balance and what’s more, they can have it all.

The author of this article is Mr. Jaideep Gandhi, Co-founder of mymatchbox (a platform that aggregates temporary work spaces – their robust technology allows users to book Meeting Rooms, Hot Desks, Training rooms, and Board Rooms in real-time for less as one hour to more as a month)