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 "Many telecommuters are finding that neither Denny's nor their family room is an effective space for a business meeting. " "There is a market for the hoteling concept as a place for meetings and also as a "rest stop" where you can get an hour or two of work done between sales calls."
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Scott Wilton: Instant Offices
interviewed by
Scott Wilton: Given more and more tools at our disposal which enable mobile work, it seems clear that the office will become much more of a meeting place in one sense or another. Of course, that won't just mean a traditional boardroom-style conference room. For 20 years, we've been part of the evolution to a more flexible and cost-effective officing solution -- from our original concept, OfficeAway, which allowed business travelers to get work done while in airports -- to our current solution, OfficePlus, which provides national companies the right mix of space and support to successfully accomodate their regional sales and support reps. As more of our customers experiment with telecommuting, they are talking to us about providing videoconferencing, high-speed Internet access, and even more flexible "officing" solutions so that they can use space in "class A" buildings as they need it. (Commercial space is given unofficial grades based on location, how new the construction is, what the available amenities are in and around the building, etc. There are no hard and fast rules -- generally people know when they're in "class A" space when they enter the building.) We've always included a lot of collaborative space as part of our solution, and we anticipate the demand for more of this space to meet the needs of the mobile/home office worker. Many of these telecommuters are finding that neither Denny's nor their family room is an effective space for a business meeting with co-workers or clients. Tripod: How do you plan out work spaces now -- and how will the physical "shape" of the office environment change in the next few years to accommodate technological innovations such as Web videoconferencing and work collaboration? SW: As a provider of space to many different client companies (rather than many different individuals/departments within the same company), we face additional challenges in redesigning our space to accommodate the mobile office worker. In the past, we have sub-divided our space to maximize our rentable area. Usually, that meant 50 - 70 offices between 125 and 175 square feet. We also dedicated a fair amount of space to "common areas" -- a big boardroom-style conference room; 2+ smaller conference rooms; a spacious reception area; a full-service kitchen; and work areas for making copies and preparing other printed materials. In the future, we plan on devoting more space to "common areas" in the sense that they will be accessible to many different individuals or groups. Rather than build out traditional offices, we will invest in modular furniture which can be reconfigured based on our client population on any particular day. We will also add modular storage units which will allow us to store our clients' files and promotional literature on-site, so that our personnel can help them when they're out of the office. That's where we really add value in developing an "office hoteling" solution -- by knowing their business. With regard to technologies which will be built into the space, we've already built a number of videoconferencing and training centers in our existing locations. We will wire new locations so that ad hoc peer-to-peer networks can be established and taken down as members of the same company happen to be in our space at the same time. We will also make our color and laser printers accessible over the network so that an individual can simply plug in at a workstation and get right down to business. As demand for networked access to the Internet develops, we would like to provide high-speed connections which would draw our clients out of their homes and into our space -- of course, if cable modems take off, the best cost-to-bandwidth deal might be right in your living room. Tripod: What trends have you been following in terms of telecommuting? Have you found that more companies are having their employees work from home and if so, how has this affected hoteling?
SW: We follow any technological developments which will make telecommuting more practical and easy for end-users. We also keep an eye on the social forces which affect the acceptability of telecommuting in the business world. On that front, so many big companies are "forcing" their people to work out of their home, there really isn't much of a social stigma against doing it anymore. The prevailing attitude seems to be that it's better than being downsized out of a job. Many companies will fork over a lot of cash to build out your house so that you can have a "real" office there. Nevertheless, there is still a need for face-to-face meetings with clients and co-workers. This should create a market for the hoteling concept on two fronts: as a place for meetings and also as a "rest stop" where you can get an hour or two of work done between sales calls. Tripod: Are home office people inclined to use your facilities to supplement their own? And if so, for what purposes? SW: We've really seen this side of our business grow in the last year. Home office workers are using our "Business Link" services -- which provide them with a business address, professional phone answering and voice-mail, and the use of our conferences rooms on an as-needed basis. Capturing the support service revenue of these clients can be more challenging, as many of them are very self-sufficient and would rather do their own work. As we talk to these folks, they admit that their "control freak" tendencies tend to hold them back in terms of growing their businesses (if they're entrepreneurs) or in making more sales (if they're sales reps for national companies). The hoteling concept should enable us to get them into our space more often and show them the ways that we can support them and help them make better use of the their time. After all, these folks should be doing what they do best -- not stuffing envelopes or standing at the copier.
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