… except it’s under the guise of advice on staying in touch overseas. Still, most of it is perfectly applicable to hotdesking, like tips on VoIP, mobile data roaming, Virtual Private Networks, mobile email and remote desktops.
Camerson Sinclair writes about hotdesking or Global Tele-Offices as an answer to working through the recession -
In the last year I’ve met the [Hub] pavilions founder Stan Stalnaker in Singapore, New York, Davos and most recently Venice. Another global citizen that sees beyond borders and works in a highly mobile fashion. We are part of a growing group of professionals who circle the globe working in an agile manner, using social networks and email as a main means of communication.
He goes on to describe how hotdesking spaces serve as a sanctuary to him after hours in cramped airplanes, where he can relax and unwind, and still get work done. All of which he considers well worth paying for even in a recession.
I feel likewise about hotdesking spaces. While hotel lobbies and hotspot benches are convenient at times, more often than not I’d be happy to pay for a space that gives added value and benefit.
Bernie Goldbach, lecturer in Creative Multimedia at Tipperary Institute, says We Need to Telework -
“Research commissioned by O2 reveals that roughly 45% of senior executives in small to medium-sized businesses are teleworking from home at least one day a month. This is a big jump from the 25% figure first published by O2 in 2004. According to the study, carried out by TNS MRBI, 28% of executives now telework at least four days a month. This number misses a big percentage of people who work while untethered from their office networks. A variety of reasons contribute to people working from home. Some (15%) need to catch up on work or meet deadlines while 12% of respondents say that working at home allows them to concentrate without distraction on major projects.”
While Nomadesk covers hotdesking mainly from the perspective of the independent freelancer we’re also very interested in hearing from employees about their views on the subject. Afterall, teleworking need not be limited to the home-based office and could well be suited to hotdesk space at a coworking facility.
I just love uber niche blogs like Shedworking - “the only daily updated guide to the lifestyles of shedworkers and those who work in shedlike atmospheres”. Full of quirky photos, news and anecdotes from the world of garden offices, Shedworking is a delight for cube-dwellers and hotdeskers alike.
OfficePOD
But far and away the coolest shed-office I’ve come across recently was not on Shedworking, but rather on that bible of cool business ideas - Springwise. OfficePOD looks like the ultimate in garden office chic -
“Whereas [competitor] Garden Lodges aims its offices and other structures primarily at consumers, the OfficePOD focuses on employers who want to give their staff the option of working at home. The unit is a 2.1-by-2.1-metre structure that can be installed in less than a day and typically requires no planning consent. Designed to maximize efficiency in its use of space, the OfficePOD features innovative storage and desktop solutions using high-quality materials chosen for their visual, physical and environmental characteristics…. The OfficePOD is available to employers through a flexible leasing arrangement with full service including all surveys, enabling work, installation, help-desk support, health and safety assessments, repairs and removal.”
I contacted OfficePOD for more information and they told me that the level of interest has been so high, Grand Designs Live have asked them to exhibit at their forthcoming annual event at London’s EXCEL centre.
Catherine Costello from the Macroom E Business Centre contacted us to tell us more about their hotdesking facility. Halfway between Cork city and Killarney it’s quite possibly the ideal base for many visitors to the southwest.
One thing to note before checking their website is their (alternative) usage of terminology for services on offer. For instance -
The Business Centre offers ‘hotdesks’ for €225 per month. Hotdeskers at the centre have access to shared facilities such as the meeting room, canteen, printer & reception. Free parking is available for all, as is high speed broadband, direct dial telephones and 24 hour access. Soft supports in the form of on-site training programmes, networking events and access to advice & information are also available and create a supportive environment to help develop and grow your business.
A short term option is also available: the flexi-desk can be rented for full (€15) or half (€10) days on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Of course the latter, flexi-desk, option is what we would refer to as true hotdesking. Afterall, how ‘hot’ is it really if you have to commit to a month?
Satellite Telework Centers, Inc., based in California, is developing -
“A network of staffed telework centers in neighborhood cores and town centers within commute distance of major metropolitan areas. The Satellites offer private offices, cubicles, open space, common break areas and conference rooms that teleworkers reserve online, by phone or in person and pay for via monthly subscriptions.
The Satellite also offers the opportunity to be around other professionals, eliminating the isolation often experienced by home-based telecommuters. Most of all, Satellites will provide a calm, efficient, professional environment in which to get the job done - all for less money than the average commute.”
What I like most about the Satellite is their emphasis on quality of life; locating their telework centers where people can cycle or walk to work and remain close to their children’s schools. Idealistically perhaps they want their members to ‘get out for a few minutes and walk to the local coffee shop, be part of the life of the neighborhood or town you live in.’
This hotdesking stuff is all well and good, you might say, but just who and where are the people making use of such facilities? Well they’re all around us actually.
Take Shane Mc Allister for instance, founder of Mobanode. Shane is based in Limerick but does a lot of business in Dublin and other parts of the country. This morning he’s taking the train to Dublin and enjoying the fact that his mobile broadband dongle has kept him on line for all of the journey.
While yesterday he was in Limerick city center enjoying lunch at the Strand Hotel where he broadcast the message - “good food, free wifi, comfy seat - might move office here altogether! €10 per lunch a day = rent paid in office!”
A tongue-in-cheek comment but nevertheless a reflection on his hotdesking lifestyle. Also yesterday, Galway based entrepreneur Anton Mannering wondered if there was, “Anyone interested in a Coworking/hotdesking space in Galway?”. And immediately his question was re-broadcast twice.
The interest is there, the people are there. But there’s a lack of general awareness and that’s where Nomadesk fits in.
The benefits of hotdesking have clearly been recognised by the people of Carlow with the arrival of not one but two hotdesking and co-working facilities being put in place in Carlow town. Shamrock Plaza which is right on the Dublin/Kilkenny road in the centre of town boasts a fantastic location and facilities any ‘office’ building could be envious of.
Keith Shirley, a Carlow native has been doing some on the ground investigations and has posted quite a comprehensive blog post with all the finer details on this wonderful facility.
It’s a very impressive building with a finish that I hope other businesses will be inspired by. It’s always a pity to see a company move into a new premises and to let themselves down by using poor signs/flooring etc. There are a number of large corporate suites (with suspended floors) available which at the moment are completely open - you can configure them to match your requirements.It’s the small offices and hot-desk room that was most interesting for me.
Its great to see this sort of initiative which will really help foster growth in the Carlow area.
For further information about Shamrock Plaza you can contact Jacqui McNabb or for more information about hotdesking in the general area Keith Shirley is only too happy to help.
The Ideas Campaign, is an online drive to generate constructive ideas for the economy, which came about after Aileen O’Toole, one of the founders of The Sunday Business Post, appeared on RTE’s Prime Time to speak about ways to counteract the downturn.
Over the last few weeks thousands of suggestions have been submitted to the website and republished in filtered form in regular batches. Batch #7 included a particularly interesting suggestion regarding ‘state funded/subsidised telecommute centres at key transport and broadband hubs in Ireland’ -
These centres would allow workers reduce the number of commuter journeys and also help distribute jobs more evenly throughout the state.
When this idea is raised, people often ask: “Why can’t’ people telecommute from home?” The answers are:
- Many people find it difficult to be disciplined enough to work effectively at home
- People like to separate their home lives from their work lives
- There may be young children at home
- People need the social contact of a workplace
Telecommute centres already work to some extent within organisations like the HSE and eircom. But there are no public telecommute centres yet in Ireland where workers can book space to work. These centres should provide:
- A place for a worker to connect a laptop to a quick and secure Internet connection Instructions for workers and employers showing them how to establish VPN sessions and VOIP calls with their workplaces
- Heating, toilet and parking facilities
- Perhaps a privately franchised canteen facility if the location is out of town.
Needless to say, we at Nomadesk give an enthusiastic two thumbs up to this idea which is very much aligned with the coworking and hotdesking lifestyle. But the question is - why limit it to ‘key transport and broadband hubs’? Why not foster a telecommute centre in every parish in the country? Where independents, freelancers, virtual assistants and entrepreneurs can work in the community where they live.
Nomadesk will be viziting Bizcamp Limerick this weekend and looking forward to meeting up with some very interesting entrepreneurs. Such as Vicky O’Connor - a “Virtual Administrator who partners with start-up and small business owners to help them manage their daily administration duties while they can spend time building their business.”
Vicky is the founder of Tralee based Cuile Virtual Administration Services, which is pioneering the delivery of an extremely attractive value proposition for small and medium sized enterprizes. As she explains - “the math is easy – subtract my rate from your own hourly rate, and that’s what it’s costing you per hour, every hour, that you’re doing your own admin instead of hiring me.”
On her website Vicky points to a recent Reuters article which explores the upswing in demand for virtual administration services in the States - “A lot of clients are replacing their brick-and-mortar offices with virtual offices. They’re staffing virtually. Indeed such arrangements save companies that can no longer support full-time staff large sums in costs such as overhead, workers’ benefits and most important, paid time for unproductive hours when the workflow ebbs.”
Our own interest in Virtual Administration Services stems of course from the fit we see with a hotdesking and coworking lifestyle. While a majority of virtual assitants like Vickly may work out of their homes for most of the week there’s a real and exciting synergy to be explored between coworking and both the delivery and utlization of virtual administration services.
Freelancers and entrepreneurs providing and consuming services in a densely interconnected and localized ecosystem could lead to the rise of the eCottage - ‘cottage industry’ for the 21st Century.