Office Space Advice
Don’t abandon your office space – yet
Published October 30th, 2008 by Mike Sullivan
I recently read an article at Wired Magazine that discussed the overwhelming body of evidence that working away from the office is good in many ways. First let me be on the record as agreeing completely and I don’t dispute the research.
As a matter of fact, I live by it. I spent 10 years working for corporations where the idea of telecommuting was not given much credence. I recently left to start my own business, partly so I no longer had to worry with dry cleaners, ironing, commuting, gas, etc.
But the article went on to say that we should scrap the office altogether — that we should be a nation of telecommuters. I always find it interesting that journalists, pundits, politicians or any expert tend to go to extremes in their analysis and recommendations. Really, it’s just not practical for every company in every situation to have their employees telecommute. I just don’t believe all managers nor all employees are ready for it. I have friends who admit that they would never be able to get any work done at home and I know managers who have a hard time even doing something as simple as sending an email. I would never want to see those people try to manage a remote & distributed team.
So, don’t scrap the office just yet. If you really want to work from home, start your own company, and consider the flex space of a serviced office for you and your employees when you just gotta get out of the house.
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Maggie Correta November 11th, 2008 at 9:15 am
I don’t dispute the research either. Telecommuting has been slowly gaining ground for many years but I can’t see the need to do away with offices completely. There is an element of socialization and collaboration that only happens in a bricks-and-mortar office. Creativity is sparked when folks come together, build face-to-face relationships, and learn to leverage synergies.
I think the role of telecommuting is where employees telecommute one or two days a week, and go to the office otherwise. This could allow companies to have smaller offices, because all the employees wouldn’t be on site at the same time.
Elizabeth Sanchez December 3rd, 2008 at 10:46 am
I can’t see us scrapping the office altogether. We are social beings. New York City offices are abuzz with activity from the Wall Street to Madison Avenue — and that adds to the success of companies. High-tech collaboration tools have their place, but serviced offices do too. The concept is proving that it can bridge the gap between the home-based business and traditional office rentals.
Bill Brookshire December 8th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Working away from the office is a blessing — but it can also be a curse. A serviced office helps ensure work-life balance. For example, if you have an office rental in Detroit and your home is in a suburb, you may have a short commute time but you can use that time as a buffer between your personal and professional lives. By contrast, if you work from home you have no buffer and you are tempted to work longer hours. I speak from experience. I think serviced offices’ ability to entrepreneurs separate work from personal life is an advantage we don’t speak much about but is certainly valid.