I just wanted to chime in as a coworker to give a little perspective from the other side...
Before freelancing I worked at an internet startup, where we were supposed to be casual and awesome and independent. We had a kitchen situation that was "everyone's responsibility" but inevitably, this meant that people always assumed someone else would unload the dishwasher or take out the recycling. You can't really blame us, because when the day was full of frantic work (as is often the case at a startup) we all had more important things to do than dishes. Besides we all had dishes waiting at home. Because the community manager at my space (Hi Angel!) doesn't require us to pitch in on these chore-type tasks, we've been able to avoid all the reminder notes and awkward scoldings about picking up after ourselves that I hated about working in an office. This is not to say that we're all slobs and expect to be cleaned up after. In fact, I'm even more aware of how I treat the surroundings at Cohere, because I know that someone has been kind enough to make sure they were clean/ stocked etc. This has created a genuine sense of pride in our community. Members are more than willing to jump in and lend a hand when needed, or when someone new shows up, because we're excited to show it off :) Basically, I think that if you do it right, the team attitude will evolve organically, and that sense of community will ensure everything is taken care of--even if the community manager takes a day off. Beth @gonecoworking On May 2, 10:19 am, Angel Kwiatkowski <fccowork...@gmail.com> wrote: > I think that the phrase "should run itself" is fraught with a level of > expectation that can't be upheld especially by new space catalysts and > owners. New owners: your space will NOT run itself and you shouldn't > feel like you're failing or doing it wrong if it's not. I take care of > most of the infrastructure of our space b/c I set an intention that I > didn't want my members to have to worry about chores like trash, > cleaning, greeting people and giving tours. I wanted the space to be a > place where really busy (and sometimes very sleep deprived) > freelancers could come for respite from the crumby tables of coffee > shops and the piled up dishes of home and concentrate on their craft > and on one another. > > I easily worked full time for the first 6 months to get systems and > processes down pat. Even now, here are some of the tasks that are done > by myself or the 2 interns. > Unlock/lock doors > Greet visitors/members and give tours > Make coffee > Put away dishes > Take out trash, compost, recycling, do laundry > Clean tables, straighten chairs > Buy and restock cream, sugar, pp towels, tp > Respond to phone, twitter, facebook and email inquiries > Do invoicing, enter bills, pay bills, take payments > Update the website > Blog 3x/week > Think up and schedule educational and social events > Find partners for events or promotions > Answer member's questions > Go out for coffee and lunch with members and interns (okay, not really > a "task" but it takes time) > Train interns and delegate work to them > > Now to clarify--the members cover for me ALL THE TIME. They'll orient > visitors, give tours and make coffee and open and close when I want a > day off, am sick or am traveling. However, MOST of the time I'll just > take care of those details for them. The members really appreciate > that they don't have to think about where the next clean cup will be > or where the wipes are for the toilet rim are. I think as community > cultivators, we should take care of the simple stuff so the members > can do the "hard" stuff that requires a lot of mental gymnastics like > collaborating, solving client problems, learning from one another and > starting companies together. > > Angel > > On May 2, 8:14 am, Miguel <miguel.w...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > On a daily basis, other than the typical chores (clean up little > > things, trash, coffee pot clean out, etc), most of my time is spent on > > interacting with members, answering emails/calls from potential > > members, giving tour to drop-ins, organizing and promoting events, and > > if there's time left, I will tweet a little bit :-) For us, we are > > very young, and still trying hard to grow, so my focus is more on > > outreach and community building. Sometimes half the day is gone > > before I get to sit down to do my "normal" job. > > > As mentioned, I am actually having a LOT OF FUN doing all these, and > > don't mind the chores at all. And it's good to be busy fielding > > questions, and meeting interesting people. But as this was not > > intended to be a source of income, I just wanted to get a realistic > > sense for labor resource budgeting. I've visited a few awesome > > coworking spaces, and talked to a few veterans. I get the sense that > > this is a solid part-time job. Hearing the idea that "the place > > should run itself", I just thought I may have missed something, or > > been doing too much? > > > Have a great week everyone! > > > Miguel > > > On May 2, 3:38 am, Jeannine <flexkantoorkame...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Hi, Miguel, > > > > I think this depends on what kind of a community you have. > > > Particularly in large cities, I think the DIY mindset does prevail. I > > > have a space in a smallish city (50K) which is attached to my house. > > > So this space is all about the personal. My members are not asked to > > > do much of anything; but I note that when they really feel a part of > > > it this is marked by their starting to do things themselves -- they > > > clean up, they buy stuff for the space, they set coffee for somebody > > > else. It's at that point that they have made the transition to > > > feeling that it is really theirs. > > > > I will say that nobody volunteers to clean the bathroom but other than > > > that..... > > > > This is also the basis of my theory of parenting, so it pleases me to > > > see that it works for adults also, right down to (not) cleaning the > > > bathrooms now that I think of it. :-) > > > > Anyway, just as within my family, I don't delegate things to my > > > members because I am ultimately responsible for it and I see no sense > > > in pretending that is not true. If your workload is uncomfortably > > > high then it's time to have a look at that, what is it that is taking > > > up most of your time? > > > > Laters, > > > > Jeannine > > > > On May 2, 1:55 am, Miguel <miguel.w...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > I am one of the founders/managers at Coworking Evanston. Happy to > > > > report that things are going well since we opened 3 months ago - > > > > steady membership growth, members have started to "collaborate", > > > > organizing meetups and other events, etc :-) I am having a great > > > > deal of fun managing the space, but find that the workload is higher > > > > than I originally expected. > > > > > I started talking to a few coworking managers about ways to more > > > > efficiently manage the space. One person mentioned that a coworking > > > > space should really "run itself", and that the founders/managers are > > > > just "members who moved desks in, and pays the rent". The theory is > > > > that most of the work, if any, can/should be delegated to members. > > > > Personally I do not agree with this, but wanted to see what the group > > > > thinks > > > > > Cheers, > > > > > Miguelwww.coworkingevanston.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
