{"id":1023,"date":"2023-09-26T13:10:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T18:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/?p=1023"},"modified":"2023-10-23T13:14:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T18:14:14","slug":"humans-tech-general-managers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/humans-tech-general-managers\/","title":{"rendered":"Humans + Tech: General Managers"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog is supported by Yardi<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Coworking spaces are multifunctional melting pots for different professions and disciplines, so their General Managers have a lot to remember, a lot of staff to take care of, and often a lot of physical ground to cover. While managing a coworking organisation or flex workspace is rewarding in so many ways, it\u2019s also\u2026 a lot.<\/h3>\n

We were curious to find out how our hard working GMs are using tech and AI to help run their coworking spaces. Are they committed to tried and tested ways of holding it all together, or could a clever computer become their right hand\u2026 robot?<\/p>\n

Tech behaving humanly<\/h4>\n

Coworking is founded on the values that underpin the hospitality industry. For coworking operators like Working From_, which is part of the Hoxton Hotel, a human team will always be present. \u201cWe\u2019re front facing,\u201d Sarah Parker, General Manager of Working From_, tells us. \u201cWe have a team here on site permanently from the second we open to when we close.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo Credit – Working From_<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

On the other hand, Yoooserv<\/a>, which provides premium serviced workspace to businesses of all shapes and sizes, have already started integrating cute robot concierges into their team. \u201cLots of offices just put fruit on a countertop, but we have a robot that goes around delivering fresh fruit to each individual office,\u201d says Area Manager Will Grealey. \u201cThere\u2019s a novelty factor to a cute robot arriving in your office \u2013 it\u2019s a bit like the Harry Potter sweet cart!\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say that Will undervalues the importance of real human interaction in Yoooserv\u2019s<\/a> spaces. \u201cThe day we go down the route of AI overshadowing real humans will be the day we suffer as a human race. I believe that AI is actually here to empower us as human beings, not to do our jobs. It\u2019s here to make our communities stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo Credit – Yoooserv<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Tech builds bridges<\/h4>\n

Many of us have the option to work from home now, but those that choose to cowork tend to be seeking human connection throughout their working day. When coworking spaces embrace AI, it\u2019s often to help their members get to know one another better.<\/p>\n

Jessica Samson, General Manager of PLATF9RM<\/a>, told us about some new AI software that the team has introduced into the online community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re trialing a new piece of software called Hey There.\u201d The aim is to get people sitting down for coffee together more regularly, she explains to us. \u201cIf you’re part of the Hey There group on Slack, it will match you with somebody else in the group once a week, and set up a meeting between the two of you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Photo Credit – PLATF9RM<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Working From_<\/a> community uses Meta\u2019s Workplace to connect with one another. It\u2019s a great place for Sarah to receive feedback about her members\u2019 experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently, a member wrote a post about our housekeeping team,\u201d Sarah remembers. \u201cShe\u2019d lost her engagement ring and our housekeeper dug through the whole bin and found it! We reward individuals in our team for going above and beyond, so it was great to receive that feedback.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Working From_<\/a> team also stays in touch using Meta\u2019s Workplace. \u201cWe\u2019re part of a big company and Meta\u2019s Workplace really helps us to stay close to one another, even if we can\u2019t be together in person.\u201d Embracing instant messaging has been game-changing for the Working From_<\/a> team\u2019s productivity. \u201cEmail exchange is down by about 80%, as we can instantly chat instead. We’ve got a site in Chicago and I can just drop them a message whenever I need to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tech informs big decisions<\/h4>\n

The new hybrid working arrangements that so many companies have adopted are a blessing to the flex office and coworking industry, which is growing month-on-month around the world \u2013 but can also be challenging when it comes to managing bums-on-seats. Emerging tech can really help General Managers of flexible workspaces to capture data and understand the behaviours of their employees and members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have GDPR compliant occupancy sensors on the ceiling.\u201d Will tells us. \u201cThey don’t actually catch anyone’s facial features or personal details \u2013 they just tell us that there is a person at a desk.\u201d These kinds of sensors can help manage budgets by monitoring the occupancy rates of coworking desks, and provide behavioural insights that can help operators to make decisions on new spaces. They can also provide extra value for office tenants. \u201cI can give our tenants insight into their occupancy, and they can save money by downsizing if they aren\u2019t using all the space they\u2019re paying for.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The challenge for many General Managers is how to organise, store and make use of this kind of data in the long term. \u201cWe don’t need technology to tell us that someone sits in a certain place, because we\u2019re there on site all the time,\u201d says Sarah. \u201cBut it\u2019s important that we find a way to retain the data that is held in the brains of our team members when they leave. We\u2019re looking into a tech solution that will act as a single source of truth for the whole company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can tech keep people safe?<\/h4>\n

With so many people in a building together, health and safety has to be high on every GM\u2019s list of priorities. Tech powered door entry systems not only keep members safe and their belongings secure \u2013 it also helps General Managers to get everyone organised in an emergency. \u201cLock and key is a thing of the past in our flex office spaces,\u201d Will tells us. \u201cIf we need to lead an evacuation or there\u2019s any kind of incident, we know who is in the building and in what area, thanks to our entry system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is AI to be trusted when it comes to health and safety, though? Sarah isn\u2019t so sure. \u201cPeople are wary of AI, especially for things like risk assessments. I think it\u2019s all still a bit unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tech, taken care of<\/h4>\n

Members love the idea of a fully tech-enabled space, but they don\u2019t love encountering those pesky tech hitches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re dedicated to giving our members everything that they need to do what they need to do, quickly and effectively,\u201d Sarah from Working From_ tells us, \u201cso we have a Tech Manager on site for all of our members, every day.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To maintain the hospitable vibe, Working From\u2019s Tech Manager goes along to new member inductions with the Engagement Manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompanies tend to ask a lot of questions about online security, so having a Tech Manager on hand to meet them and answer any questions really helps to put them at ease. Our tech team can\u2019t interfere with members’ equipment, but they can offer advice and be proactive with our equipment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Tech Manager doesn\u2019t just wait around for something to go wrong. They go around checking all the meeting rooms and the tech around the space throughout the day. Their role is crucial to the success of the coworking space. \u201cWhile people do love the personal approach, it’s a fast paced life and it’s getting faster, isn’t it?\u201d Sarah says. \u201cWe just want things to be as easy and seamless for our members as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Setting boundaries for tech<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s clear that tech and AI have enormous potential to help General Managers run their spaces, but it\u2019s important that it\u2019s treated with caution. To use emerging tech to its best potential at PLATF9RM<\/a>, Jess knows that she\u2019ll need to do some solid planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re planning to invest time into creating a strategy around the use of AI, to ensure it\u2019ll contribute to our company’s development.\u201d Like anything else, this strategy needs to fit into the wider brand picture. \u201cIf, for example, we want to use Chat GPT to help us come up with ideas for a community event, we need to be asking: does this idea fit with our values? Is it something our community wants to go to? Or is it actually a pretty run-of-the-mill idea that Chat GPT has picked up because it\u2019s currently doing the rounds?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, there\u2019s potential for brand new roles to be created as AI becomes more widespread and integrated. Jess is already thinking about what this might look like. \u201cMaybe at some point, when the technology is good enough, we’ll have an \u201cAI guardian\u201d who inputs the right prompts to AI and edits the outputs to make sure that the content that\u2019s being produced feels on brand.<\/p>\n

Does this industry really need tech?<\/h4>\n

As Jess pointed out to us, the speed at which technology is developing can be a challenge in itself when it comes to running a coworking space. \u201cYou’ve got to invest time and money in new products and platforms, but you want to see a return on that investment immediately because there\u2019s so much out there to try.\u201d There\u2019s a temptation to try it all but doing so can be pretty overwhelming.<\/p>\n

At the same time, it\u2019s important to keep up.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I think coworking needs AI? I don’t necessarily think so – not in the same way that the space needs internet, Wi Fi, coffee and a good team. But it\u2019s going to be used whether we need it or not, so we might as well make the best of it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jess acknowledges that tech and AI can be of huge benefit to certain people.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor instance, someone with ADHD might prefer to send a voice note than a text message because they can get across what they want to say in the way they want to say it in less time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the flip side, receiving a voice note might not be ideal if you\u2019re in a public space. Jess reflected on this and came up with a solution that would work for the PLATF9RM<\/a> community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the future, it would be great if our members could choose how they want to send and receive messages based on the way they prefer to deliver and process information.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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This article was researched and written by humans Emilie Lashmar and Rose Radtke, with the help of AI. We interviewed all of the General Managers on Zoom, and used Otter.ai<\/a> to record and transcribe our conversations. We used Notion to capture our thinking.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you to Yardi<\/a> for sponsoring this article. Yardi is a software company that is passionate about creating engaging content whilst championing those working within this evolving industry. Their extensive range of software products and services is used by a variety of coworking and real estate companies and professionals.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blog is supported by Yardi. Coworking spaces are multifunctional melting pots for different professions and disciplines, so their General Managers have a lot to remember, a lot of staff to take care of, and often a lot of physical ground to cover. While managing a coworking organisation or flex workspace is rewarding in so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,32],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1023"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk.gcuc.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}