The Evolution of the Traditional Office to Virtual Office Space

In 1968, Robert Propst designed what many considered a solution to the open-office wasteland wherein employees sat in rows of desks typing away—corralled and arranged together like a factory shop with supervisors observing employees’ every move. The cubicle. Propst had changed office design in ways never before seen.

The fabric-wrapped mobile walls were designed to hinge together in groups of three. They even included storage to encourage employees to move within their confined space. This utopian design allowed companies to really pack it in without making employees feel like they were sharing their desk space with the 50 others working on the same floor.

People were excited about the cubicle and saw it as the perfect solution to the problems of an open office. By 1998, just two years before Propst died, he estimated approximately 40 million people were working in cubicles. It seemed to revolutionize the office space design industry.

Though just as quickly as cubicles took off, people began seeing the problems with the design. Cubicles provide minimal visual privacy and the office space was still just as noisy as the open-office wasteland was. The thin, short barriers weren’t able to block out the phone calls happening in neighboring cubicles. Even keyboard clicking remained a problem. At times, the sterile, repetitive appearance was enough to make employees crazy. As Peter Gibbons, from the comedy “Office Space” quipped, “We don’t have a lot of time on this earth! We weren’t meant to spend it this way! Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day.”

Many believe this small, confined, workspace fad triggered the era of bigger homes. People felt so confined in the workplace, they began to design their homes to be more spacious—even bathrooms grew to sizes larger than a standard cubicle space.

As time passed, the office space evolution continued.

Now, more than ever before, people are able to work in the space they feel most comfortable—their own home. Modern technology and other tools make this transition very possible and, in many cases, seamless. Even running an entire business from home can be done, though certain tools and services are usually utilized to meet all demands for a business that doesn’t own an out-of-home workspace.

The most valuable and comprehensive of the work-from-home tools has proven to be virtual office space. What is a virtual office? This somewhat new solution provides home-based businesses with many of the benefits of owning an office without paying the large overhead of office maintenance. With Davinci Virtual Office Space solutions, a small business owner can select a Davinci location to use as their office’s physical company address in addition to a variety of other services. See some of these services in more detail:

• A professional business address: This address can be used as a registered business license address as well as used to list in local directories, on a website, or on business cards.

• Mail receipt: Companies that receive mail at their Davinci virtual office space location can specify the frequency of mail forwarding services (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.). Most Davinci locations even include a locking mailbox.

• Conference room and office access: All virtual office space owners have access to thousands of Davinci offices to host meetings or use as day offices. This is especially helpful for the traveling business owner. Davinci Virtual has over 5,000 meeting spaces around the world. Some of the international locations include Hong Kong, Korea, France, Germany, India, Spain, Mexico, England, South Africa, Australia, and Indonesia.

• Lobby greeter: At all registered virtual office locations, there are onsite lobby greeters available to assist any walk-in customers.

• Lobby directory listing: Most Davinci Virtual offices have the option of listing your business’s name in the building directory of that location.

These services help account for the start-up and small business boom which has happened in recent years. Now those small, valuable businesses can compete with corporate competitors at a level they’ve never been able to reach before thanks to the evolution of traditional offices.

Does your business see a need for an office space but can’t justify the costs? Speak with a member of our Davinci team to learn more about virtual office solutions today.

 

About Coco Quillen

Coco is the Chief Operating Officer at Davinci Virtual Office Solutions. She manages the strategic development and operational implementation of services for Davinci. She works closely with all teams to ensure customers are well taken care of.