WorkSpace 3: Next Generation Office Space

Nice little update on CoWorking at PSFK. CoWorking advocate Geoff DiMasi says:

“It’s not about making money,” explains DiMasi. “It’s like when you were a kid, and you had a clubhouse… it’s a way to feel like part of a community.”

Awesome description. Looks to me like the guys over at The A Place in St. Paul are onto the right thing. I’m looking forward to checking it out.

A banner day: I think I found a web-site with the some of the most thorough and articulate discussion about this idea of “distributed work.” It’s called the Future of Work, and while they write about a lot of things, they have a healthy amount of dialogue about distributed work in this great White Paper, called How Come Distributed Work is Still the Next Big Thing?

The paper starts by listing the now-familiar reasons why distributed work should be big:

“This is the easy part. There are at least six solid reasons why just about all organizations should establish distributed work programs:
1. Reducing basic workforce support costs;
2. Increasing workforce productivity;
3. Attracting and retaining talent;
4. Increasing organizational agility;
5. Reducing the business risk of disruption from terrorism or a natural disaster
6. Reducing traffic congestion, air pollution, and environmental impact more generally”

More important, they go on to give eight reasons for the resistance to distributed work. My favorite:

#7 - The CEO “Edifice Complex” that leads to visible corporate facilities

To the extent Wired Magazine is an accurate reflection of what techies are doing, CoWorking is apparently where it’s at. From the latest issue of Wired:

It may be true that ‘working in Starbucks’ is tired, but at least here in Minneapolis, it seems as though working in a Caribou, or Dunn Brothers, is not just Wired, but downright jittery. Could it be that Minneapolis is such a vanguard that we cruised right by the specialized CoWorking space and went straight to the vertically-integrated coffee shop-cum-workspace (a la Dunn Brothers)?

In fact, it seems like this town is some kind of coffee shop epi-center. On a lark, I went to Google trends and typed in ‘Coffee Shop.’

Minneapolis leads the nation in searches for the term ‘Coffee Shop‘. WTF? What on earth does this mean? Ideas?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the old trap that frequently befalls otherwise competent researchers. That is, gathering only data that supports one’s already-formed conclusions.

Why have I been thinking about it so much? Because I realized it’s exactly the trap into which I have:

a) Fallen.

b) Settled for a good long nap.

I realized it when I almost chose to ignore a post about workspace concepts similar to WorkSpace 3 that, heaven forbid, closed up shop.

The post, from Garrick Van Buren, has got me reconsidering the whole Workspace 3 concept. On the bright side, if I can see my way around these obstacles, I’ll be even more resolute in my pursuit of the Utopian Workspace. But for now, the warning signs are worthy of serious consideration.

What I knew before: Intuit makes Quicken and TurboTax.

What I know now: Intuit has an Institute for the Future.

Wow. While I’m tempted to examine what it must have been like to coin the term Institute for the Future (and get away with it), I will skip that and tell you about a nifty report they put out called the Future of Small Business Report.

In it, all roads point to: more small businesses, more startups, more single-person businesses, less formal structure, and less working in traditional offices. In other words, a bona fide recipe for a flexible, comfortable, community-focused office space.  From page 13:

Starting a personal business can be a lonely and difficult task. Many people miss the social environment the workplace provides, as well as the business infrastructure. Coworking facilities are emerging to provide office space, meeting rooms, Internet access, printers, copiers, and so on as well as access to a community of like-minded people. These café-like collaboration and community spaces often start as local, grassroots efforts. They provide more than just office space and equipment; they also provide access to a network of small and personal business entrepreneurs.

Workspace 3 is gonna be huge.

Great post from the trendwatchers at psfk, asserting that ‘bedouin workers’ may be killing the coffeeshop. Makes sense.

“The Bedouin Worker has so taken over his cafe that [coffee shop owner] Mike now vigilantly restricts laptop use to two long tables at the weekend. Pull out a laptop at a 2-top on a Saturday and you’re out!

Come to think of it, the last time I visited a Starbucks, there were so many cellphone-talkers and laptop-gazers it looked more like an airport terminal than a coffee shop. The article continues:

Maybe it’s time that Starbucks saves its Third Place. Instead of developing different brands offering basically the same thing (which will be inundated by the laptopers), maybe they should offer a modern version of the Second Place to keep the Bedouin Workers and the cafe dwellers happy and apart.”

Hmmm … the ‘modern version of the Second Place.’ Place 2? Place 2.1.?

Most readers will have heard by now about Best Buy’s move toward becoming a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). They are doing what I have argued to be true for a couple of decades now: being in a traditional office does not equal being productive.

I do admit I was skeptical that the idea would gain traction at a corporate behemoth like Best Buy. But, after several years, the concept is actually gaining momentum. ROWE advocates, in this BusinessWeek writeup assert that, “Offices waste space and time in an age when workers are becoming more and more place-neutral … The goal at Best Buy is to judge performance on output instead of hours.” There is hope for corporate America yet.

What does all this have to do with WorkSpace 3?  A lot, actually.   Where will all those corporate employees go when they are no longer tethered to their desks?  A lot of them will work from home.   Where will they go when they realize that home is not always the best place to actually get work done?  Answer: WorkSpace 3

Other press on Best Buy’s ROWE effort at CNNMoney. And, my favorite, the KnowHR blog sums it up: “Face time is overrated.”

Just got wind of this place in Portland, called CubeSpace that offers subscription-based office environment for people on the go. They call their patrons Cubesters. One Cubester “came to us when he needed to have a meeting, but didn’t want to invite his clients into his messy house.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Unfortunately, I missed MinneBar.

MinneBar, from what I can tell, appears to be a large annual gathering of uber-intelligent technology devotees. Mostly software and web-development types.

What on earth do I have in common with these people? The short answer: not much. But, they did have an entire session devoted to exploring this idea they call CoWorking. Sounds fantastic.

It appears that they’re looking to create a central, community-focused space where entrepreneurs and technolgists can use office space, and also hang out together to share ideas and opportunities.

For now, the WorkSpace 3 model is, frankly, a bit lower on the office space ‘hierarchy of needs.’ We’re just trying to create a space where sales-people don’t have to bake (or freeze) in their cars making phone calls between appointments. So, we’re still thinking multiple locations in fast-access areas like strip malls (think Curves for the mobile office worker).

That’s not to say our path might not evolve to a CoWorking type model. After all, those MinneBar people look pretty smart (these photos of the event are pretty cool, actually).

Please take a few minutes to read the overview of WorkSpace 3 on the About page. Then, link to the Feedback Survey to tell us what you think. Once you complete the survey, we’ll enter you in a drawing for one of five $10 Dunn Brothers gift certificates.

Thanks for helping us design WorkSpace 3!