š Rise of the Convenience Workspace
Part 1 of a trilogy for a new way to think about coworking spaces
Coffee shops changed into what I call āconvenience workspaceā and this is what I think LAUFT is. I define this term to refer to the set of attributes of the commercial retail locations that host LAUFT Smart Workspaces, as well as the characteristics of the workers who work there. This definition highlights the differences between LAUFT and other coworking spaces efficiently and provides a way for the reader to quickly judge their utility without wasting time understanding the complexities of the coworking environment. A framework for determining a āConvenience Workspaceā is provided, along with examples contrasting between traditional coworking offerings.
Generally, the coworking industry serves the following Worker Types:
- Entrepreneurs
- Remote Workers
- Salespeople
- Work Groups
- Freelancers
- Consultants
- Other digital workers who primarily work over the Internet
Deeper segmentation granularity of the customer demographic can be achieved a number of different ways, such as role type ( ie. software developers, project managers, etc ). This level of granularity is not desirable and not necessary for our definition. There should be a simple way to identify and locate a convenience workspace and decide whether you should use one. I think the following 6 dimensions that form the basis of the Convenience Workspace Framework are:
- Work Decision Timeframe
- Work Execution Timeframe
- Budget Scale
- Consistency / Differentiation Needs
- Proximity Pull Factor Dependence
- Community Demographic Anonymity
It might be helpful to understand that the Worker-type Needs and workspace service Offerings together form the definition, and its hard to define a convenience workspace without both dimensions. This helps with the expected subjectivity of what space is deemed āconvenientā for whom, which can vary widely.
1. Work Decision Timeframe
On the Work Needs dimension, this is the amount of time a worker has between initially deciding they need a place to work and the the time when they are planning to start work. On the Offerings dimension, this is how far in advance and at what terms the workspace provides space booking. Included in this is the length of any sales cycle necessary in order to complete the reservation.
For example, A tech startup has closed a deal in which they plan to start working 1 week from today. That is a Work Decision Timeframe of 7 days. Another example would be an entrepreneur who works from home, and impulsively decides they need a place to work for the day other than their home in the next hour. This is a Work Decision Timeframe of less than one hour.
Low Timeframe Workspaces: LAUFT, cafes, libraries, coworking spaces with drop-in hot desks. These are seamless and can quickly be acted upon.
High Timeframe Workspaces: coworking spaces that allow you to book weeks or months in advance, traditional commercial real estate master leases. These typically require location tours, lease negotiations and scouting research to be done prior to the planned work session.
2. Work Execution Timeframe
This is the amount of time the worker needs to actually perform their work. This is different from the Work Decision Timeframe due to the actual execution of the work being considered, and not any planning / setup time preceeding.
Low Work Timeframes: Consultants or Freelancers who work in blocks of hours, Salespeople needing a workspace between two bookended meetings
High Work Timeframes: Large organizations needing coworking spaces for multiple months, startups needing space for multiple weeks
3. Budget Scale
This is the scalability of budget space the Worker Types have at their disposal. This is defined in terms of overall flexibility and in the absolute.
Low Budget Scales: Freelancers with a short term contract and uncertainty about demand for their work beyond the current project, Entrepreneurs who need to manage costs while maintaining productivity
High Budget Scales: Work Groups with a large department budget to complete their project
4. Consistency vs Differentiation Needs
Some spaces provide workers the utilities to be productive while others aim to inspire and offer elegant furnishings in their locations. This dimension is another way of saying utility vs inspiration. Generally, convenience workspaces offer utility in priority to inspiration. This does not mean that a workspace canāt be both, but generally the environment that a convenience workspace is more utilitarian due to budget scale, work timeframes and other dimensions mentioned in this article. A corollary to this is that convenience workspaces are able to be more consistent between individual locations of the same brand. Since design furnishings and exotic locations are chosen to inspire, convenience workspaces put less of a premium on these things.
Low Consistency / High Differentiation : Traditional coworking spaces, one-off coworking spaces, large footprint coworking spaces
High Consistency / Low Differentiation: LAUFT retail locations, retail coffee shops such as Starbucks
5. Proximity Pull Factor Dependence
There are pull factors that influence the decision to work at a given workspace. The proximity of a workspace to a workers reachable transportation route is the first such factor. Workers with ability to commute or who reside near coworking spaces are more likely to use the workspace that they are able to get to. This usually means the closest location in their proximity. On the other hand, they are less likely to commute across town in heavy traffic to reach a particular destination, unless compelled to for other reasons (ie. meeting). There are other use cases, like ride sharing with your spouse and getting out of the house for a day, so you go to a coworking space. So physical location proximity is a pull factor, and the existence and reliance on this pull factor in the business model may indicate a convenience workspace.
High-Dependency on Proximity: LAUFT, suburban shared workspaces
Low-Dependency on Proximity: Urban coworking spaces have less dependence on proximity due to increased access to commuter and a larger population pool.
6. Community Demographic Anonymity
The demographic of the population in the workspace also factors into whether it is a convenience workspace. Different Worker Types will prefer a different demographic of members who use the space. Entrepreneurs might prefer to network, while Remote Workers just need to get work done. Salespeople would like to promote their wares, while Work Groups have their own unique needs.
This concept can be explained by the preferred level of anonymity between working members in the space. The term āanonymityā is used loosely here and is a proxy for the likelihood that someone you know will be working the same time as you, and therefore the likelihood that you will be distracted while working. This is especially important in convenience workspaces, as the hot-desk component of the model relies on working together in the same space and reducing distractions between members. This is the reason why working at a coffee shop is preferable to some than to working at another open-office coworking space. The customers at a coffee shop can vary widely and usually you donāt see the same people every day. Thus, there is a higher probability of working more productively. Alternatively, if your goal is to network your business and meet other members, this changes the dynamic of the workspace altogether in favor of preferring a lower level of anonymity. A similar demarcation emerges for varying demographics of introvert and extrovert personality types.
As you can see, the demographic impacts the workspace environment. The workspace is partly responsible for setting the tone of anonymity and what kind of culture is promoted. This makes it harder to determine whether it is a convenience workspace or not, but still provides a framework for evaluating its convenience factor.
High Anonymity: Coffee shops, workspaces with less emphasis on community, more emphasis on work
Low Anonymity: Membership based workspaces with open-plan layouts, workspaces with more emphasis on community
In this article, weāve identified 6 scales that helps determine a convenience workspace. These scales were identified as the LAUFT Smart Workspaces platform was built and compared the offerings in the market with what we wanted to use for ourselves. This market research included many trips to the coffee shop, as well as the abundance of written material on the shared workspaces movement; the teamās experience with working at home, remotely and in a shared workspace; and of the feedback that we got from the community.
The name comes from āconvenience storesā, but another equally considered term is āretail workspacesā. Although I consider LAUFT to be a retail workspace, that definition is more specific to our offering rather than a broad label that can be usefully applied to multiple places.
I think there is an opportunity for a globally distributed convenience workspace retail chain to exist in the market. These 6 dimensions might prove to be axioms that form the foundation of understanding the emergent needs of the remote, digital and mobile workforce. There might be solutions today and in the future which satisfy parts of the definition. In fact, the closest thing right now is probably your favourite coffee shop chain. But these places are not designed for work and productivity, so therefore are excluded as true workspaces. Some, like Workwell Cafe in Toronto are breaking this mold and combining both experiences.
Shared workspaces transform communities, build networks and enable smart work. Iāve been preparing for Part 2: Dawn of the š Convenience Workspace followed by the Part 3: War for the š¦ Convenience Workspace. I would love to build the next part of the story. Drop me a line!
