The way that small businesses and startups work in 2016 is changing.
Last week, BetaKit hosted a Twitter chat with Dell, inviting other industry leaders to explore the benefits of remote and shared working spaces for productivity. It was clear from the conversation that agile businesses have new needs and new opportunities that must be addressed: a desk and a Wi-Fi connection simply aren’t enough.
Below you’ll find commentary from Upverter, Breather, WeWork, Lighthouse Labs, and many other #DellSMBchat participants on the changing ways we work. Don’t hesitate to offer your own opinion in the comments section below!
Agile businesses have a lot of options in 2016 to get work done.
https://twitter.com/DellSmbCA/status/707989697528729601
https://twitter.com/DellSmbCA/status/707994786985328640
Personally I wish @upverter was more distributed, more accommodating of letting our employees work from anywhere. Soon i hope. #DellSMBchat
— Zak Homuth (@zakhomuth) March 10, 2016
As business moves faster, agility becomes more critical. Cloud gave us that for servers. Coworking gives us that for space. #DellSMBchat
— davemacboston.eth (@davemacboston) March 10, 2016
There are so many work options available to agile businesses. No excuses for not choosing right one. #DellSMBchat https://t.co/sLwFcE0T58
— BetaKit (@BetaKit) March 10, 2016
Shared working spaces can provide multiple benefits.
. @DellSmbCA shared spaces make offices more affordable for small teams, maintain access to amenities/large tools but save $$ #DellSMBChat
— MakeWorks (@MakeWorksTO) March 10, 2016
A1: Super vibrant community = MOST important. Help co's share knowledge & networks to all grow faster. #DellSMBchat https://t.co/tVfTTjCu4f
— davemacboston.eth (@davemacboston) March 10, 2016
A2: Definitely a continual flow of ideas, feedback, moral support! Also, helps to see others #hustling #DellSMBChat https://t.co/KdUsnffVFu
— Danielle Smith (@DaniMcSmith) March 10, 2016
In shared workspaces like @WeWorkMTL, u only pay for what u use and easily scale up or down. #DellSMBchat https://t.co/MMKnVWQxk4
— davemacboston.eth (@davemacboston) March 10, 2016
A1: For us important is freedom to tear stuff apart, and use power tools. Internet and chairs important too! #DellSMBchat
— Zak Homuth (@zakhomuth) March 10, 2016
#DellSMBChat A1 – Great workspaces are available on-demand at a reasonable price, offer privacy & are designed for productivity and comfort
— Breather (@breather) March 10, 2016
.@BetaKit ABSOLUTELY! With sr and jr devs sharing space, our students benefit from natural mentorship! #DellSMBChat https://t.co/HSIj9uj1wN
— Lighthouse Labs (@lighthouse_labs) March 10, 2016
Workplace culture can be as important as facilities.
@DellSmbCA it all comes back to culture and community. It takes a village to raise a startup, cowork members help support, not exploit.
— MakeWorks (@MakeWorksTO) March 10, 2016
A3: You can have the nicest facilities and still stay at home if it isn't fun to come into the office. #DellSMBchat https://t.co/NHpxS2xG4E
— BetaKit (@BetaKit) March 10, 2016
#DellSMBChat Community is #1 at LHL. How do you all take advantage of your spaces to promote feelings of community and collaboration?
— Lighthouse Labs (@lighthouse_labs) March 10, 2016
A3: Needs to be both! Culture should be such a huge part of the decision. Startup is nothing without its culture. #DellSMBChat
— Upverter (@upverter) March 10, 2016
A6: Need a culture that gets that people hate offices and enables results, but cares less who / where / how they happen. #DellSMBchat
— Upverter (@upverter) March 10, 2016
A3 Great workspace is form & function.Beautiful spaces that inspire creativity & productivity make happy, engaged team members. #DellSMBChat
— Breather (@breather) March 10, 2016
A3: Definitely beyond function. Positive vibe + meaningful connections are so important for #startups #DellSMBChat https://t.co/9br1Nm3gJU
— Danielle Smith (@DaniMcSmith) March 10, 2016
Shared workspaces come with their own challenges.
A9: We fit 17 employees into a little house together with 6 people living in the house. It felt like the breaking point. #DellSMBchat
— Zak Homuth (@zakhomuth) March 10, 2016
A8: Our challenge is we live and work in the same space – cooking smells, showers coming on at funny times, customers visiting #DellSMBchat
— Zak Homuth (@zakhomuth) March 10, 2016
@DellSmbCA A10 – Privacy is a big reason why many people are using Breathers for meetings vs. coffee shops/shared spaces. #DellSMBChat
— Breather (@breather) March 10, 2016
@DellSmbCA Many shared spaces get noisy, over crowded & often lack the private space teams need for meetings & brainstorms #DellSMBChat
— Breather (@breather) March 10, 2016
With great WiFi comes great responsibility. #DellSMBChat https://t.co/MWOlwBI9bz
— Lighthouse Labs (@lighthouse_labs) March 10, 2016
Opinions on the value of coffee shops are mixed.
https://twitter.com/DellSmbCA/status/707987923216502785
A4: How doesn't it drop everywhere? Love coffee shops for meetings and writing blog posts, hate them for white boarding. #DellSMBChat
— Upverter (@upverter) March 10, 2016
A2: We try to spend a lot of time near our users, and coffee shops end up acting as our temporary offices when we do this. #DellSMBChat
— Upverter (@upverter) March 10, 2016
A4: Breather was born out of the frustration of trying to work in noisy, crowded, uncomfortable coffee shops, so… #DellSMBChat
— Breather (@breather) March 10, 2016
Okay, office dogs are pretty great.
(A1) We <3 open space that allows for collaboration & conversation.. oh, and office dogs.. definitely office dogs! #DellSMBChat
— Lighthouse Labs (@lighthouse_labs) March 10, 2016
.@lighthouse_labs wasn't lying about the importance of office dogs. Noelle is the best. #DellSMBchat pic.twitter.com/wDSJwOE7zT
— BetaKit (@BetaKit) March 10, 2016
@BetaKit Noelle and Sherman are going to be an adorable pair when he makes the move to @devhubTO next month! pic.twitter.com/NA7dS9BIjD
— Lighthouse Labs (@lighthouse_labs) March 10, 2016
@DellSmbCA More offices need a dog. This is ours named Zeus #DellSMBchat pic.twitter.com/aS4rGuTkdu
— Zak Homuth (@zakhomuth) March 10, 2016
