[Coworking] Re: I hate a morgue feel (need a space with life)
We spent about $2k for a controller and maybe 12 speakers for our 2,000 sf first floor open space, and put maybe 3 in our upstairs quiet zone. Later we went back and added one in every bathroom, phone room, and conference room, and some of the offices. Each speaker was maybe $100 in the second round of purchases. We added them to the small rooms because the door of a phone room or bathroom ends up screening out the white noise, but not the conversation, leading people to believe (mistakenly) that their private conversations and bathroom noise is heard outside by others (which it's not). Psychology is everything! On Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 12:04:40 PM UTC-5, AK wrote: > > As we embark further on our plans to create a coworking space. I have to > explain something. One of my hopes is energy within. I sure don't want > someplace where there is only library quiet. Am I out of line? I enjoy > banter and a feel where people enjoy where they are and with whom they are > around. > > So...how quiet is a coworking space expecting to be? I am not professing > it to be a loud frat house...but do people frown on others who engage in > lively conversation within the open space? > > In your mind--what is the perfect decorum? > -- 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.
Re: [Coworking] Re: I hate a morgue feel (need a space with life)
Echoing (heh) a bunch of comments in here: 1 - There's no one personal preference that will work for everyone. Anecdote I like to share from years ago when we started hearing people ask for quiet space: we shared this feedback with our community and the leading feedback we got was "please don't turn Indy Hall into a library - there are lots of places I can get quiet, I specifically come here for the buzzy energy and sound." Lesson: You don't have to be everything to everyone. Focus on finding people who want the same thing you do, and support them. You'll always find people who want a different version. That's fine. 2 - phone calls and conversations are very different kinds of sound. conversations are easier to tune out because they flow naturally, vs phone calls with tend to be louder (people have louder phone talking voices than in person, or just become unaware of their voice when they are on the phone). phone calls also mean you're only hearing one side of a conversation, which is VERY distracting due to being intermittent and your brain subconsciously trying to fill in the convo. It's great to overhear a conversation and possibly jump in. That's not the case with phone calls. We encourage phone calls to happen in meeting/phone rooms, and not at desks. Conversations are okay, but extended conversations are better taken to a common space instead of talking across another person. Lesson: avoid talking across people, or forcing others to listen into your phone conversations. 3 - zones and common areas are your friend. this is way harder to do in smaller spaces, but it's very possible. make it easy for people to have conversations in common areas, and encourage them to use them as such. create smaller, cozy areas as far away as possible from those noisy areas for when people need a break. Lesson: design your space to allow for people to choose noisier areas vs quieter areas. When space is limited, focus on creating common areas where sound is more likely to be concentrated (even if it's not contained). 4 - expectations matter, and everyone was socialized to different versions of what is "normal." it's a mistake to believe that people will just automatically understand how to interact around others. part of tours and onboarding is setting explicit examples of what's okay and what isn't in terms of sound, and letting people know how to be good citizens of the space. don't be afraid to re-up this often, it's easy for people to forget. Lesson: this ties back to my first point, but in a different way. Bottom line is that YOU get to define what's normal, and calibrate based on the people in the room. All the more reason to have a community of people involved from the very beginning - you can shake out all of these questions and expectations with them, and their preferences, rather than the preferences of people on the internet who are probably never going to work at your space ;) -Alex --- --- --- --- --- --- *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org ( http://indyhall.org/ ) * * Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com ( http://coworkingweekly.com/ ) My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten On Sat, Dec 01, 2018 at 10:20 AM, Trevor Townsend < 1...@trevortownsend.com > wrote: > > > > Thanks for the tip on sound masking - I'm checking that company and others > for something like that. > > > > I think that in larger spaces having a nice sales-y background buzz is > good, but would that working in smaller settings? My space is built up of > rooms that are only 19'x22', 12'x13', and 9'x13'. > > > > For my space, I think acoustic treatment and sound masking could to > support a healthy buzz. > > > > -- > 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+unsubscribe@ googlegroups. com ( > coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com ). For more options, visit https:/ / > groups. google. com/ d/ optout ( https://groups.google.com/d/optout ). > > > -- 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: I hate a morgue feel (need a space with life)
Thanks for the tip on sound masking - I'm checking that company and others for something like that. I think that in larger spaces having a nice sales-y background buzz is good, but would that working in smaller settings? My space is built up of rooms that are only 19'x22', 12'x13', and 9'x13'. For my space, I think acoustic treatment and sound masking could to support a healthy buzz. -- 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: I hate a morgue feel (need a space with life)
Hey Liz, You are one of many coworking operators that have told me about the benefits of white noise in their office. If you don't mind me asking, approximately how much did it cost to supply and install? Carl On Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 1:12:31 AM UTC+11, Liz Trice wrote: > > A few thoughts: > 1. A good sound masking system will create a level of white noise so that > any individual voices don't stand out. If it's too quiet, people are scared > to talk. > We used: https://speechprivacysystems.com > 2. It's nice to have a few people who are at least available to socialize. > That might be underemployed freelancers and/or your front desk people. Even > if most people just come in, say hello, and go to a a private nook to work, > they'll appreciate the human connection and an opportunity to come back and > chat when they want to. > 3. It's nice to indicate social places and times. So, our front couches > and kitchen are always a social place, and we have a snacktime every > afternoon that is always a social time. That helps direct people who only > have some small amount of time to be social to the times and places where > other people will be available. Otherwise, there's the risk that every time > you take a break no-one else is available. > > PelotonLabs > > On Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 12:04:40 PM UTC-5, AK wrote: >> >> As we embark further on our plans to create a coworking space. I have to >> explain something. One of my hopes is energy within. I sure don't want >> someplace where there is only library quiet. Am I out of line? I enjoy >> banter and a feel where people enjoy where they are and with whom they are >> around. >> >> So...how quiet is a coworking space expecting to be? I am not professing >> it to be a loud frat house...but do people frown on others who engage in >> lively conversation within the open space? >> >> In your mind--what is the perfect decorum? >> > -- 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: I hate a morgue feel (need a space with life)
One of the MAJOR draws to me for opening a space is HUMAN contact. I am the type of person inspired by others and motivated when around more people. The thought of working in a place void of this is a killer to my plan. Therefore, for me, having a good mix of people in our space is important. Not all computer facing people and techies. Al On Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 11:04:40 AM UTC-6, AK wrote: > > As we embark further on our plans to create a coworking space. I have to > explain something. One of my hopes is energy within. I sure don't want > someplace where there is only library quiet. Am I out of line? I enjoy > banter and a feel where people enjoy where they are and with whom they are > around. > > So...how quiet is a coworking space expecting to be? I am not professing > it to be a loud frat house...but do people frown on others who engage in > lively conversation within the open space? > > In your mind--what is the perfect decorum? > -- 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: I hate a morgue feel (need a space with life)
A few thoughts: 1. A good sound masking system will create a level of white noise so that any individual voices don't stand out. If it's too quiet, people are scared to talk. We used: https://speechprivacysystems.com 2. It's nice to have a few people who are at least available to socialize. That might be underemployed freelancers and/or your front desk people. Even if most people just come in, say hello, and go to a a private nook to work, they'll appreciate the human connection and an opportunity to come back and chat when they want to. 3. It's nice to indicate social places and times. So, our front couches and kitchen are always a social place, and we have a snacktime every afternoon that is always a social time. That helps direct people who only have some small amount of time to be social to the times and places where other people will be available. Otherwise, there's the risk that every time you take a break no-one else is available. PelotonLabs On Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 12:04:40 PM UTC-5, AK wrote: > > As we embark further on our plans to create a coworking space. I have to > explain something. One of my hopes is energy within. I sure don't want > someplace where there is only library quiet. Am I out of line? I enjoy > banter and a feel where people enjoy where they are and with whom they are > around. > > So...how quiet is a coworking space expecting to be? I am not professing > it to be a loud frat house...but do people frown on others who engage in > lively conversation within the open space? > > In your mind--what is the perfect decorum? > -- 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: I hate a morgue feel (need a space with life)
So in my mind the perfect decorum is a space that is filled with people that will stay for a while and get used to one another. Once upon a time, we had a small recruitment duo join our space, they would work on the phones every day, but after a while their phone patter faded into the background. Every 4-6 months they would grow the company and hire someone new, and with that the noise would also grow. Last month they had brought on their 11th hire, and were too big to stay in the space, so they moved out. Its weird, but having been used to their phone patter for so many years it now feels so quite to work in the space, and I almost want to get a new sales team in to fill the sound void left. I guess my long winded point is, I have seen that mostly people will adapt to their surroundings, so the longer a person stays a member the better your community will be with working alongside each other, and they will set a sound level that suits them. Carl - Your Desk On Friday, November 30, 2018 at 4:04:40 AM UTC+11, AK wrote: > > As we embark further on our plans to create a coworking space. I have to > explain something. One of my hopes is energy within. I sure don't want > someplace where there is only library quiet. Am I out of line? I enjoy > banter and a feel where people enjoy where they are and with whom they are > around. > > So...how quiet is a coworking space expecting to be? I am not professing > it to be a loud frat house...but do people frown on others who engage in > lively conversation within the open space? > > In your mind--what is the perfect decorum? > -- 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.
