Re: [Coworking] Re: Building A Community
Hi Michael, YES! Lots of ways to integrate Slack (keeping this on the main thread as I think it could be useful to others). Namely, by watching what *doesn't* work - we've all been part of those FB and Slack groups that are just...crickets. Or worse, they're overly promotional. In order to avoid that, here's what I did: (1) *Limit Channels: *This gives people direction and a "beautiful constraint." When you have 600 channels you get decision fatigue. Limit your channels (5-10 max) (2) *Give your channels VERY OBVIOUS names*. If people dont know what the channel is for, they won't use it. I have fun with naming but it's still clear what its' for (like #treatyoself is a channel, that's where we talk about self care) (3) *Tag people*: Don't awkwardly ambush people, but if someone asks a question about instagram and you know one of your members knows instagram, tag them in the thread like this, "@jon do you know anything about this?" or "@jon might be able to help, he's way better than me at instagram" <--- You want to be careful not to obligate them, just engage them. (4) *Set Rules for Engagement: *You dont have to state them explicitly, but you do have to enforce them publically. For example, if you post "Hey guys! I just published this would be great if you shared!" I will shame you bc that is a terrible and self-serving post. You have to lead by example and teach people how you want them to engage AND show them it's safe to be real. The example above is when your communication is transactional and not real. (5) *Moderate: *I will comment directly on threads and say, "Give us context, WHY do you want us to read this?" My tribe feels protected, like someone is looking out for them. Because I am. I want the conversation to have depth. There's a place to recommend your stuff but we have a thread for that. So you need to moderate until people understand what the rules are for engagement. (6) *Most activity happens in the DMs*. At least, that's been our experience, which is *great* news. It's annoying bc sometimes main channels can be quiet and you freak out that no one is getting value - but slack will send you activity data each week so you'll see if people are DMing (it's great news because that means your members are connecting!) Curious to know what others have done that's worked. - Margo On Thu, Oct 25, 2018 at 3:38 PM Michael Jon wrote: > Hi Margo, > > I have my first get together coming up and I would like to introduce Slack > as a tool we can use to compliment our ongoing coworking get togethers. > How would you suggest implementing this virtual coworking space/slack to a > small group of people new to coworking? What can I do to get people > interested in joining and staying active? Are there some virtual exercises > that you have found successful? > > Thank you! > > On Monday, October 1, 2018 at 1:41:56 PM UTC-4, Margo Aaron wrote: >> >> Hey Michael, >> >> My coworking space is completely virtual, so we're almost *entirely* >> community. >> >> What's worked: >> >>- Personal introductions and taking the time to get to know everyone >>in the space >>- Exclusivity: stressing this is for "people like us" and having some >>common thread that connects your members. In my case, it's solopreneurs >>with online businesses. For other coworking spaces, it could be that you >>all live in XYZ city or are trying to raise venture capital. >>- Having a forum for members to meet each other >> >> What hasn't worked: >> >>- Oversharing articles or business opportunities - There is NOTHING >>that will kill community quicker than interactions like, "Hey Guys! Will >>you share this post I wrote! Thanks!!!" You want to push for substantive >>conversations that build relationships instead of creating transactional >>ones. >> >> That's not to say our members don't do business with one another, they >> do. But it comes up organically. And it's sprinkled in between adding >> genuine value to each other. >> >> We use slack for most of this. And Zoom. >> >> Hope this helps! >> >> - M >> >> On Mon, Oct 1, 2018 at 12:14 PM Angel Kwiatkowski >> wrote: >> >>> I wrote a step by step book on how to do this. Find it at >>> https://diycoworking.com. >>> >>> Angel >>> >>> On Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:17:47 PM UTC-6, Michael Jon wrote: Hello, all! I've recently begun the journey to open up a coworking space in my city. After reading through various postings, books, websites etc...it seems that many owners stress the importance of building a coworking community BEFORE opening a space. What are some key recommendations on how to build this community. Very curious to hear what worked/didn't work. Thank you! >>> -- >>> 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
Re: [Coworking] Re: Running Coworking During a Recession....
This is a super interesting thread - I agree with *lots* of the advice/perspective in Angel's article (and not just the stuff attributed to me lol). An important thing I wanted to expand on a bit: People who cancel for the reason "I'm not using it enough" is probably among the most common reasons (behind people changing jobs and/or moving). But I've learned to read this as *"I don't see value in staying a part of this community now that I don't need a desk"* which is only a short hop to either *"I haven't really connected with anyone here"* or *"I'm not aware of the other ways to get value besides using a desk" *and in both cases I consider that a failure of communication on OUR part. We I can look at their profile for our online community and see that they never created an account, or never intro'd themselves. We can go back to their tour notes and get a sense that they came in with an expectation of "I can rent a desk here" and we didn't do a good job of showing them how they could participate in other ways. There isn't a correct way or pace for people to discover their place in a community, but we DO look at *early* indicators that they weren't actively seeking a sense of belonging. And that's okay! Lots of people aren't, at least not actively. But quite often, people just aren't actively aware of the options that already exist (like a membership option that lets them downgrade instead of cancel) or that they have the agency to create something that they want, but doesn't exist. They haven't asked for it, and we haven't done a good job of showing them that it's possible. Another thing is that when we opened (at the beginning of the last recession) we had an INFLUX of people who were "newly independent" - some by choice, many by force. They weren't looking for an office, they were *looking for people* who were already independent and they might be able to learn from. That was literally the foundation of our first wave of growth. In our next economic downturn, I expect we're going to see something similar except that a decade later the physical and social infrastructure to support a newly minted independent is WAY better. I think this will likely be a good thing for coworking spaces, with a caveat that people see and feel a sense of connection to the other members. If not, the coworking space is simply a cost that can be removed/reduced. And I think *that's* going to hurt a lot of spaces, especially the larger ones. All of this is to say: people join coworking spaces for lots of reasons, but the reasons they *stay* are fairly consistent, and that's the relationships. I can tie retention patterns *directly* to active and passive relationship building, and the interactions that our members have with each other. -Alex -- *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten On Tue, Oct 30, 2018 at 12:37 PM Angel Kwiatkowski wrote: > Thanks Tracy! If a recession comes, I'll be SO curious to see how it > affects coworking esp. if there is a major difference in chain vs. indie > coworking. > > Angel > > On Friday, October 26, 2018 at 4:25:59 PM UTC-6, Tracy Wilson wrote: >> >> Angel - This is great. I hope that operators keep this in a handy spot >> to pull out when (assuming) the next economic downturn comes. As someone >> that opened centers in both 2008 and 2009 - when I thought things were >> tough but had no idea what misery was to come - I would say a lot of this >> is 'right on.' There is no substitution for the creativity and flexibility >> required to keep things going during those times - and your piece will be a >> good framework for those people needing some fresh ideas for looking at >> their operation. Probably the hardest thing was finding the balance >> between holding to optimism and making the really tough decisions, and >> having the faith to know when each was the required course. And, that no >> matter what, I'd survive. >> >> On Wednesday, October 24, 2018 at 1:34:13 PM UTC-7, Angel Kwiatkowski >> wrote: >>> >>> I *just* wrote an article on Recession-Proofing your Coworking Business >>> >>> https://www.diycoworking.com/blog/2018/10/24/how-to-recession-proof-your-coworking-business >>> >>> Angel >>> >>> On Tuesday, October 23, 2018 at 5:04:27 PM UTC-6, Carl Sullivan wrote: Hey Guys, I have seen with increasing regularity, news articles are not being written daily about the "impending market crash/correction" both in Australia, in Asia, across Europe and in the US. I founded Your Desk in 2011, three years after the GFC hit the world, but unlike almost every other country, Australia never saw any real negative effects from that time in history. So it would be fair to say that while I started coworking in the aftermath of one of the (only) market crashes I
[Coworking] Re: Running Coworking During a Recession....
Thanks Tracy! If a recession comes, I'll be SO curious to see how it affects coworking esp. if there is a major difference in chain vs. indie coworking. Angel On Friday, October 26, 2018 at 4:25:59 PM UTC-6, Tracy Wilson wrote: > > Angel - This is great. I hope that operators keep this in a handy spot to > pull out when (assuming) the next economic downturn comes. As someone that > opened centers in both 2008 and 2009 - when I thought things were tough but > had no idea what misery was to come - I would say a lot of this is 'right > on.' There is no substitution for the creativity and flexibility required > to keep things going during those times - and your piece will be a good > framework for those people needing some fresh ideas for looking at their > operation. Probably the hardest thing was finding the balance between > holding to optimism and making the really tough decisions, and having the > faith to know when each was the required course. And, that no matter what, > I'd survive. > > On Wednesday, October 24, 2018 at 1:34:13 PM UTC-7, Angel Kwiatkowski > wrote: >> >> I *just* wrote an article on Recession-Proofing your Coworking Business >> >> https://www.diycoworking.com/blog/2018/10/24/how-to-recession-proof-your-coworking-business >> >> Angel >> >> On Tuesday, October 23, 2018 at 5:04:27 PM UTC-6, Carl Sullivan wrote: >>> >>> Hey Guys, >>> >>> I have seen with increasing regularity, news articles are not being >>> written daily about the "impending market crash/correction" both in >>> Australia, in Asia, across Europe and in the US. >>> >>> I founded Your Desk in 2011, three years after the GFC hit the world, >>> but unlike almost every other country, Australia never saw any real >>> negative effects from that time in history. So it would be fair to say that >>> while I started coworking in the aftermath of one of the (only) market >>> crashes I have experienced in my adult life I know there were many others >>> that successfully navigated that market correction. >>> >>> So when the next negative cycle hits the world's economies (and with >>> Australia poised to be hit harder than almost any other country) I am >>> curious about how others successfully navigated or pivoted to keep the >>> business going and support their members? >>> >>> The areas I am currently looking at being stronger in are: >>> >>> *Community:* >>> Our community is great, but not well supported right now, with our >>> approach to date to simply leave them be to do their work. I am looking at >>> rolling out an internal referral program as both a cheap way to source new >>> members and as a jump start on those members already having at least one >>> meaningful connection with another member in our space. >>> >>> *Message:* >>> As we grow and as other coworking spaces set up (weekly) we are going >>> back to the basics of "what do we stand for". As a suggestion from Alex >>> from Indy Hall, I will start to do Town Hall meetings with the members to >>> allow them additional opportunities to voice concerns, observations and >>> suggestions on how we can improve our ecosystem to best suit them >>> >>> *Operations: * >>> We already have a lean team, and while I will be hiring some (sorely >>> needed) additions from February 2019, we will purposefully keep our team >>> small and agile. >>> >>> *Finance Operations:* >>> An initiative by my brother Oliver, we will continue to review every >>> transaction monthly and ask ourselves if we can reduce the cost here while >>> maintaining our service, feedback from the Town Hall Meetings will also >>> help inform this process >>> >>> *Business Intelligence:* >>> I work with a business coach, who monthly comes into our space, review >>> our finance, operations, team and culture, and asks the hard questions that >>> we as a team have not yet considered. This process has already allowed us >>> to grow our profit from 6% to 30% in 1 year, while at the same time growing >>> member satisfaction (measured through the NPS survey) from bad (NPS of -36) >>> to great (NPS of 53) >>> >>> >>> What I am most interested in is understanding what other spaces >>> experienced with member churn, specific way that churns happened and if in >>> hindsight there was a way that you could have supported that member more to >>> stay in your community. >>> >>> Also any other tips, tricks or observations would be welcomed. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> Carl >>> Your Desk >>> >> -- 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[Coworking] Re: Want to start up...should I buy or lease a co-working space?
You needn't worry about whether to rent or buy until you do about 100 other steps first to establish that there are real people interested in what you want to do. Most of the chapters in my latest coworking workbook have hands-on activities you can complete over the course of a few weeks to determine the viability of your idea. Once you have a small posse of raving fans, you can worry about real estate. https://www.diycoworking.com/shop/ultimate-coworking-launch-sequence-ebook Angel On Friday, October 26, 2018 at 4:26:05 PM UTC-6, Kia Moore wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > I am thinking about starting a co-working space in New England (USA) and I > was wondering if it is better to buy a building or lease an existing > building. I am also looking to buy a house right now and was wondering if I > could roll a co-working space and house into the same property somehow, but > zoning and codes seem complicated. So I guess I am wondering - is it better > to get a business loan and buy a commercial space or is it better to find > an existing venue and rent? How have others managed to finance their > property? I would love your feedback as I try to get started! > > Thanks so much, > > Kia > -- 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[Coworking] Re: office space vs open space--what is a good percentage today?
I think this space would be very workable to do coworking. I would recommend soft/lounge seating in the lobby, desk seating in your open area and yes to making one office a meeting room though I would keep it flexible as possibly a phone room/meeting room to start. Adding a kitchenette would be a huge amenity on the wall that shares the plumbing with the bathroom sink. I wrote a step by step guide for starting a coworking space at https://www.diycoworking.com/shop/ultimate-coworking-launch-sequence-ebook Angel On Monday, October 29, 2018 at 9:55:55 AM UTC-6, AK wrote: > > We are in an office space (about 1500 sq ft) that we are considering > changing to coworking. Currently, we have 4 offices (we occupy one and one > could be for a meeting room), thus we have 2 rentable offices, a lobby and > open space. The open space accounts for about 50 % and each office is about > 10x13. > > > Is this a good percentage? Looking for ideas. Thank you. > -- 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[Coworking] Re: Coworking for Therapists/Counselors
There are two well-established ones that I am familiar with http://somavida.net/ in Austin, TX https://www.boulderhealinghub.com/ in Boulder, CO Angle On Sunday, October 28, 2018 at 1:26:22 PM UTC-6, Penny Mechley-Porter wrote: > > Hello, Do any of you have experience starting a coworking space for > psychotherapists (or massage therapists, even) as some considerations are > unique for this group. I am writing up a business plan for this type of > space but would like to converse with other therapists who have a coworking > space. > > One of our unique considerations is that therapists will need an > individual office for a specific amount of time, and must be able to > reserve it ahead of time. The length of time could be 2 hours, or 4 hours > or 8 hours, and a single office could have 5 different therapists using it > on any given 12 hour day. > > I'm planning for 6 offices, one group therapy room, and a Therapist-only > hang out room where therapists can get a coffee, commune with other > therapists, do their notes, etc. Has anyone else in this group created a > therapist coworking space? Thank you. > -- 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
