While we're on the subject, is there a guideline for private office size (i.e. offices that are permanently rented out to members on a monthly or even yearly basis)? I was originally thinking 10'x10', which fits into the 100sf rule. But maybe it's different when you've got four walls to define "your" space?
Jen On Thu, Apr 27, 2017 at 8:48 AM, Alex Hillman <[email protected]> wrote: > Jen's numbers are pretty close - 100sf per person (that's counts for all > common areas, too) is a decent rule of thumb. The 4-to-1 ratio only works on > flex desks though, so that final count isn't quite right. > > I generally recommend staying between 40-60% full time desks, and keeping > the rest flex, to avoid territorialism and maximize the > serendipity/collision potential that everyone raves about with coworking. > > So 5000 sq ft would could be 50 spots, and if you did an even split of full > and flex (you'd have a estimated membership capacity of 25 + (25*4), or 125. > For a 5000 square foot space, this is a much more realistic number before > you start running into issues or ever needing to worry about overbooking. > > With all of that math said, two caveats: > this calculation depends SO heavily on everything from the kinds of members > in your community, the other work environments they have access to/use > already, and even the seasons and weather. > > The OTHER thing, and this is the most important, is that knowing what I know > now I would actively try to avoid tying membership capacity to square > footage. Yes, the workspace has finite resources but the COMMUNITY can exist > (and thrive) beyond the walls of the space. 60%+ of our members almost never > use the space, but get value from membership through events and online > community interactions. > > Honestly, we had this baked into our founding community and it kinda fell > off a few years in, but once we started focusing on it again it's been the > biggest aspect of our growth. People join before they need a desk to have a > supportive community as they figure out their next professional move, and > people keep memberships after job changes and physical relocations where > they don't need a desk, but still have ways to belong and contribute. > > So get the numbers as a baseline, and make sure they add up. Then look for > ways to grow membership that aren't tied to square footage. That's where the > growth and resiliency is! > > -Alex > > > On Apr 27, 2017, 9:30 AM -0400, Kevin Haggerty <[email protected]>, > wrote: > > Thank you, Jen. This was very helpful. :) > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/coworking/dcS5nb6vpvQ/unsubscribe. > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -------------------------------- Jennifer Dunham Luby [email protected] c: 847.207.0358 -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
