How Shared Office Spaces Optimize Hybrid Work for Wealth Managers
A December 2020 remote work survey of financial services leaders found that just 20 percent of them wanted to be in the office more than three days a week.
Since that survey was conducted, hybrid work has grown more common – even tech giants like Microsoft and Apple have backpedaled on their full-time return-to-office plans and started offering hybrid work permanently.
But making hybrid work work for wealth managers takes a great deal of coordination and planning. One crucial component of this planning? Finding a suitable place to work privately, meet with clients, and connect with colleagues.
Here are three reasons why that place is a shared office space – and how using one can help you optimize hybrid work.
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1. Dedicated Office Spaces When You Need Them
If you run a wealth management firm, leasing an office is often a sizable investment. But if you don’t use it every day, you’re losing returns on that investment. And as we face stubbornly-high inflation and a possible recession, many leaders are looking to cut back on extra expenses – like full-time offices they don’t use.
Not to mention that the enduring popularity of hybrid work has made leasing a full-time office space unnecessary for many businesses and solopreneurs. Still, it’s important to have a place where you can convene with colleagues and finish work in peace.
This is where shared office spaces come in. They meet your hybrid work needs and preserve your bottom line. Say you want to travel out of state to meet prospective clients – or take a well-deserved work vacation. With a full-time office lease, you foot the bill while your space sits there empty.
But shared office space providers offer flexible terms, from day office passes to month-long commitments. That means, if you plan to travel, you don’t have to pay for a space you’re not using.
And a bonus: if your shared office space provider has locations across the country, you can find one near you and book a space to meet with those prospective clients or power through a deep work session.
2. Secure Environments that Uphold Client Privacy
Whether you’re helping build an investment portfolio or walking through the retirement planning process, you’ll want your clients to feel they can freely discuss financial matters with you. That’s why working from a dedicated office space is so beneficial.
It’s important to know that every shared office space is different and offers unique benefits. Renting a desk in a communal coworking area isn’t the same as grabbing your own dedicated office with sound-dampening walls and doors that lock.
But physical privacy is just one element of a secure environment. A recent McKinsey report found that wealth managers spend 60 to 70 percent of their time on non-advisory tasks, like product-level paperwork and data processing. In other words, most of a wealth manager’s time is spent online and on their computers.
If you’ve adopted a hybrid work model, you’ve likely invested in platforms and programs that keep documents – and correspondences – private. Your shared office space should build on those cybersecurity efforts. It’s why we've outfitted every proworking space with individual wireless access points and comprehensive firewalls.
3. Professional Experiences that Impress and Delight Clients
It’s important to maintain a professional reputation. You don’t want to host meetings in a cafe or other communal area. And while video chat platforms like Zoom are useful, sometimes it helps to discuss matters in person.
A shared office space gives you a high-touch environment to host client meetings as well as access to professional amenities.
Let’s say a client wants to draft a beneficiary deed. You can make this change easily – but it requires notarization. Typically, getting that document notarized could take days or weeks. But with a proworking space’s professional services hub, you can find a notary public onsite and finalize that change immediately.
The right shared office space provider doesn’t just give you a place to do your work; it helps you finish it.
Optimize Your Work and Your Spend with the Right Shared Office Space
Working remotely isn’t a new concept for most wealth managers. But if you want to optimize hybrid work, there are plenty of considerations you need to make, from the security of your software to the privacy of your office.
The right shared office space provides you with all the resources you need without obligating you to pay for them while you’re not there. When it comes time to meet in person, a shared office space fits your needs, whether it’s a dedicated office space for deep work or a conference room for meeting with your stakeholders.
If you’re curious about how a shared office space can benefit your wealth management practice, reach out and book a tour of your local Firmspace location.