by Tim Devitt
It’s all about the people not the spaces!
At the recent Business Centre Association (BCA) Conference, executive director Jane Sartin, who picked up leadership duties from the irresistible force that was Jennifer Brooke, wasted no time in making a statement and announcing that the Business Centre Association would be renamed the Flexible Space Association.
The name change is driven by the fact that the business centre product is just one of a range of business types in the coworking sector.
Artificial Intelligence and the Human Workspace
The conference’s keynote speaker was Philip Ross of Unwork, who gave us a look into what might be, as the technology revolution speeds up. Facial recognition and artificial intelligence were high on the agenda.
We members of the GCUC UK team in attendance couldn’t help feeling that the videos from giants such as Microsoft lacked a real human touch. This would be a repeating theme all day.
Start Small and Don’t Rush
It was great to listen to Olly Olsen and Charlie Green from The Office Group interviewed by Emma Jones. After their performance at GCUC UK in September 2018, the double act is even more in demand. It should inspire us all that they started with a 5000 square foot building with 70 desks.
A further lesson gleaned from the session was that Olsen and Green never felt in a rush. So often we try to go fast to keep up with competition. Their message to slow down was so enlightening, as was Olly’s admission that they had wrestled with community apps and that the most successful community building-activities in their spaces were those that involved social interaction.
Coworking Data
Shortly afterwards we were treated to another double act. Straight from their starring roles at GCUC in Denver, James Rankin and John Williams from the Instant Group shared valuable data about the coworking industry and the growth of corporate customers.
John was quick to say the corporate workplace manager jobs had changed and we are about to enter a new age of managers who are less concerned about facilities and more concerned about user experience. However, there is still a lot of learning and education as, Williams explained, many “corporate workplace managers don’t get it”.
Keeping the Focus on People
Keven Winstanley from Technology Within then chaired a panel called “People: the Real Technology Within Your Business,” where panelists debated that technology is an enabler and it is the people that count.
The B Word
Before and after lunch the dreaded B word was discussed, with heckles from David Kinnaird from Essensys of “remain”. There was a sense that, in some part, Brexit may have had a positive impact on the sector and that the only recession we were in was “emotional”.
Hospitality and the Workspace Industry
Julie Grieve’s call was to continue the theme of how fast the speed of change in hospitality is. It brought to mind Olly Olsen’s wise words about knowing your client in order to design your product. What is the tech that makes the client’s daily routine easier?
Workspace Valuation and Operations
Douglas Green of GKRE and Giles Fuchs of Office Space in Town (OSiT) gave excellent presentations and real examples of the need for change within the valuations area of coworking spaces and, with the help of the “Fuchs Formula”, progress was being made with RICS for future valuations.
David Kinniard and James Shannon from Essensys provided fascinating insights about the importance of technology in successful operations and driving product development, whilst keeping a close focus on the end user needs and a frictionless interaction with technology.
Workspace Design
Inga Taylor of Opstech Services gave the final presentation, highlighting that workspace design needs to be functional and easy for the customer to use.
The event highlighted the importance of
- Understanding what makes your offering different, meeting your customer needs and driving your competitive advantage.
- What it’s like to do business with your company, from a customer perspective
- Significant growth coming from secondary markets.
- Technology assisting in the effectiveness and efficiency of delivering service and people being the vital providers of the service
- Successful service hinging on giving the diverse range of users choice
It’s All About the People
In summary, flexible workspace success all about the people, understanding their needs, and using technology to meet their expectations.
All three of these topics will be keenly discussed at GCUC UK 2019 on 23rd and 24th September.
Book your tickets now to join the conversation
[ssba-buttons]