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.”
Categories: HR Trends · Place Neutral Work · Results-Only Work
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.
Categories: Home Office Alternatives · Place Neutral Work · Workspaces
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).
Categories: CoWorking · Tech People · Workspaces
