Transcript: Co-Working with Wendy Spreenberg Part I

Hello, I'm Brittany Campbell Turner and this is the Constructor Podcast, session number 11. Hello and welcome to this episode of Constructor. I'm Brittany Campbell Turner and this podcast is dedicated to helping property owners have certainty in their decisions about their construction projects. I want to help property owners foster trusting relationships with their project teams, help you understand how to lower risk, be under budget and on schedule in your construction projects and exceed your end user's desires. Hello everyone, thank you for joining me today.

I'd like to thank you for making it with me to podcast number 11. Last week I released my tenth podcast and although it's been only a few, I'm really happy to make it to the double digits. To give you a sense, I have 548 all-time downloads and that's pretty exciting given that I started back in July. So, I don't really say anything beyond the numbers but I must say that I post on LinkedIn and Twitter and I'm very appreciative for those of you who are downloading and listening.

If you like my content, please subscribe at Constructor.com. This will encourage me to just keep providing you with great interviews with excellent interviewees and when you subscribe, you'll be getting an email from me every week letting you know when a podcast is being released and you'll have the link to the content directly from your inbox. So to talk about today's podcast, today I'm starting a series of interviews with Wendy Springberg. I found that Wendy is a great resource not only for her expertise and workspace as a but I genuinely felt that the way she cares about the success of her clients is truly shines through.

We discuss in this three-part series the most important things that I thought would be useful to anyone who's trying to start a co-working community. The first part is about what characteristics a co-working host must have and how a host should think about how they're impacting their community. In part two, we discuss how understanding the community translates into the necessary or design architectural elements in a co-working space. In part three, Wendy and I talk about making sure that the business model is sustainable to ensure that the business owner gets the success that they're looking for.

So because the topic is so trendy right now, co-working, I thought that it might be relevant to anyone who needs a workspace and may one day have the desire to start a co-working space community. Without further ado, here is part one of my interview with Wendy Springberg. Welcome to the Constructor Podcast, Wendy. How are you doing today? Britney, I'm doing great.

Thank you so much for inviting me. Thank you for taking the time out today and being willing to talk about this amazing topic of co-working. It's really been a trend, hasn't it? Oh, absolutely. And I'm really happy that we have the opportunity to talk about why it's trending, to talk about what it takes to even start thinking about what it means to develop a co-working space, why it's so trendy, things of that nature.

And could you just tell us really quick a little bit about who you are and where you're from and what you do? Sure. My name is Wendy Springberg and I am the founder and president of a company called Site Resolutions. And we've been in the business of helping clients all over North America, literally Vancouver to Puerto Rico, start a collaborative workspace since 2001 and we're based in Chicago. Very nice.

So without saying, you definitely seem to be an expert in this space and I'm happy to have the opportunity to ask you questions about co-working. So I'm happy to hop right in. Are you ready? I am ready. All right.

Awesome. Why should someone, if they're thinking about starting a co-working space, why should they do so? Well my first thought is that it's someone who might be reading about the topic and hearing all that's going on and thinking, you know, this is super interesting. I'd really like to explore it more. I have a passion for creating community and building community and having a hospitality mindset.

So I think those are some of the basic elements of why someone who's thinking about it should really go to the next steps and either learn more or actually pursue it and activate it. Part of what else is happening in this grander world is the trends that they're seeing and hearing about are actually measurable. And one of the reference points I'll keep selecting from is a group called Desk Mag and it's D-E-S-K-M-A-G and it's a group of folks based in the Netherlands who have done extensive research and data points since 2010 on the co-working world and literally globally.

It is a trend and one of the specific trends of recent date that they've shared is that more employers are giving employees choice of where to work as opposed to telling them where to work and that's increased per Desk Mag's data points to 55% of the polled population in 2016 versus only 39% say in 2014. So even employers are getting the idea and so because it might be a passion someone has, it's also a trend from the outside looking in saying, yeah, co-working we like and approve that someone, you know, our employees work from a well-managed, professionally managed co-working space.

So it's not a hobby but a true business. And I think finally, you know, someone might want to try it because of the variety of work facets that it offers from technology exposure, sales and negotiation, facility management, human resources and then really a leadership role in the larger community that is work space these days. So it's really interesting that you mentioned about the companies and how they are interested in making sure their employees have flexibility. It's more important for them to take place. That to take place, it's showing through Desk Mag's statistics here, which is really interesting.

It's so funny because when I think of co-working, at least initially when I started being exposed to it, I thought really of just small business, maybe, you know, sole proprietors starting their businesses from scratch and needing a place to just sit. So that really kind of gives us a vast understanding of who is looking at co-working. It's not just that small business. It really could be from the perspective of a larger employer. Yeah, and I think what they're seeing is that it's a combination of increased productivity by their employees because it's a more vibrant environment to work from, say, rather than from home or goodness, working from a coffee shop where Wi-Fi isn't secure and it's not especially private.

So I think I see that trend too and I hear what you're saying where it used to be that individual entrepreneur that might need this space and now employees are being encouraged to use it as well. I think that's really interesting and very cool to know. Yeah. Okay. So looking on into more of the business model that someone should make sure that they have in place to support a co-working space, what is the type of leadership perspective that someone should have if they're thinking about starting a co-working space?

I think really the cornerstone from a leadership perspective is really that you are building a community. So it's not simply that you're hosting people. The difference in this type of an environment, whether it's several offices or office and open plan or just wholly open plan, is that you really are essentially living with your the people that you serve every day, all day during the work day. So it's a different sense of leadership that you're creating those connections within the community and not just within the space that you lease or own yourself, but the greater community that might be within walking distance of the space.

So other businesses in the community that you can create relationships with to be able to serve your members, like the local sandwich shop or literally even the brew pub down the street is a really good set of connections to make. And you're a community leader and a community builder beyond your four walls of your own co-working space. So does that then say it makes a lot of sense to create partnerships with people or businesses that are in your immediate community that could potentially support your co-working environment?

Yes, and it goes both ways, I think, because the fact that you're reaching out to those local neighbors, business neighbors, means that you also want to support their business by and again, let's just call it the bakery this time. And you know, they make cupcakes or amazing things and they'll bring in goodies or you'll have, you'll pick up some goodies from the baker down the street. But it also gives that baker the ability to say to somebody who's walking in the door, hey, did you hear about this co-working space?

It's a really fascinating opportunity and we in turn support other small businesses and this is another small business that we'd like to share with you. So both ways, so it's really an interesting dynamic that is starting to take shape within this whole vast concept of what is co-working and what does it mean? Okay, that makes a lot of sense. I do kind of want to piggyback that question with, okay, you want to be able to make accessible those businesses that are around you, but as a co-working host, what is the difference in the services that you would be providing versus the ones that you're wanting to promote from your business partnerships?

I know that in some co-working space they may throw events or provide specific services. How would you say people should make decisions about what services they should provide versus maybe outsourcing or partnering with someone else who could provide it? Well, first of all, I think if we look at why people want to be in a co-working space, just on the basic initial premise is, gee, you know, I need to be productive, I need to get work done and so they want really a seamless experience. They want to be able to come in, use very enabled Wi-Fi, grab a cup of coffee or a cup of tea, sit down, really get themselves to work in a very productive environment.

The bonus really in the broader scope where retention is created of those people who want to come in is really in those additional services and events. And some of that might be something as simple as saying to someone, you know what, we have dry cleaning service here. So if you come in and show up with your dry cleaning, we then expand into the neighborhood relationships and say, we provide a drop-off service for that dry cleaner. So you don't have to go to a separate, make a separate trip to dry cleaner, just drop it here, they will pick it up, they will bring it back.

You can have one spot without creating an additional errand. So it's just one of those additional services that could really enhance the experience of the co-working member. Combined with say events, so the events that really benefit both the co-working space and co-working member as well as the community at large would be having some sort of lunch and learn, for example, where someone could learn either from someone in the community, say the accountant who may not be in the co-working space but has offices down the street who wants to share details on, you know, tax preparation and tax planning.

So something from that side or even how to set up if you're a brand new business and you're working in a co-working space, how to set up your own accounts and chart of accounts, etc., all the accounting principles to make certain that your financial picture is compliant with all sorts of U.S. regulations and federal regulations of that nature. So something that could seem to be, you know, very complex could be just an ancillary service that someone could use in a co-working space from a vendor or someone in the community providing an ancillary business right down the street.

So it all goes together. But those events, I think, are really informed by the community interests themselves. So you don't necessarily just want to say, hey, we're going to get, you know, a lunch and learn and have a CPA come in. Is that beneficial overall or something in demand by the members of your co-working community? And I think that that speaks really well to who is that co-working host, right?

Who is that person making sure that they're tapping into that community and understanding the true needs of the people who are utilizing that space. Okay, so I'm thinking three areas now, so make sure I got them here. You mentioned pretty much three different ways you could provide those services. You yourself as a co-working host could provide something. Obviously the basic needs, you know, fast internet, maybe some phone rooms for people to make phone calls, obviously, you know, seating and what have you.

And I think we'll talk a little bit more about that in a little bit. But those basic needs are supported by the host. You mentioned the services provided by businesses around and they could come in to do lunch and learns or what have you. And then you also mentioned about somebody who works in the co-working space that can provide a service, for instance, like accounting. So it sounds like there are three areas or rather three sources that you can get that sort of support from, which is really, really cool.

Okay. Yeah, it makes for a stronger community too. If that community leader, right, the owner and manager of the co-working space is a leader in the community or sees themselves as purposed in that role, that's absolutely how all those pieces come together. It's really amazing when it does come together and creates a stronger business overall. What an interpersonal sort of approach to hosting a space where people work.

You typically think about that. I mean, I know that, you know, depending on who the company is, yes, they may, but there are not so many companies who think about how they integrate with the community. And by being a co-working host, you certainly can do that and benefit the most by doing that. So, yeah, and if I may, I'll share one other statistic from our friends at Desk Mag because one of the other pieces that they've measured is why someone chooses to work in a co-working space.

And now the statistic is really 76% choose co-working because of that sense of community versus either working in isolation or working in a totally different type of environment that doesn't encourage community. And then the next stat is, which I think is significant, is that 58% of those in the co-working membership choose because they are close to home. So over half of the members really want to work close to home from a work life and quality of life balance. And so I think it makes it very significant that if you choose relationships also with the community immediately outside, these are potential vendors that most of your community may already be familiar with too, and they may already use some of those vendors in your community.

So it's really a powerful message. Yeah, I would absolutely agree with that. Wow, okay. So I guess moving on to some of those, I guess, foundational amenities that a host should provide, how do they decide specifically? And we talked a little bit about making sure to tap into what the community needs, but could you maybe give us a couple of examples on how a host would provide what amenities they need?

Sure. I think, again, if you do a little bit of a survey of your members or discussions, and part of that is as you're building this community and people are interested in working from your space, you're going to take them through a walk through the space to begin with. And as they are, say, interviewing you, you're also interviewing them. And part of that will be encouraging them to expose more about what are their interests, what are the things that are most important to them from a work environment, but could also be some really interesting things that you never thought about.

Charging pods. So someone walks in the door and gee, while there are lots of outlets all over the place, they forgot their phone charger. Oh my goodness. So charging pods. It's pretty essential because they're just about ready to go on to a conference call and they're not necessarily using Skype or a Google Meetup.

They're actually going to connect via cell phone. And so their phone is almost out of power. So it could be something as basic as a charging pod. So it's thinking about how your users are actually going to experience their workday. And some of the other things that you may consider based on what your community seems to feel most comfortable with and certainly the size of your space.

Some co-working spaces have a fully staffed cafe, you know, with three or four people who might have a really amazing espresso machine and other coffee, ancillary coffee and tea products. But some others may find that self-serve is really the way to go and that's how it's maintained as best as possible with a lot of variety. There also may be an interest by the community in either wellness programs, so that could inform some of the events you have in addition to the amenities. But do you partner with someone on that basis?

Or is it productivity programs? Is it something, whether it's a piece of software or recommendation and things of that nature, or productivity as it relates to how you configure and design your space? So it's always asking what seems to be missing from the potential co-working member's current experience. Because honestly it isn't always about beer and ping pong. So yeah.

Yeah, I wondered how high on the list coffee would be or, you know, having coffee available. I wondered how high. But I mean just having, just used by you saying that at that sort of coffee cafe-like area where you could literally purchase whatever coffee or tea beverage you're hoping to have to get your day started. Sounds like it's super important. I've heard that actually from a couple of people.

They're like, hey, if there's the coffee, I don't have to worry about picking up coffee on my way there. So it seems to be highly important. Yeah. I'm not a coffee drinker, so I guess I can't identify with that very much. But I do wonder, is that sort of that gather around the water cooler need?

You know, the need to bump into people to drive conversation. I wonder if that, you know, comes along with the desire to have a space for that? I think, I think, yeah. Brittany, I think very much so. So that people are really having an excuse to bump into each other and create a conversation where it may not already exist.

But I think this also goes back to that leadership role within the co-working space is being proactive at creating those connections. And I think more and more the community leader or the operator of co-working space is the one that creates live hand-to-hand, face-to-face introductions, as opposed to just connecting via a welcome email to the community indicating that Brittany just moved in. Welcome Brittany. We're thrilled to have you. It's actually walking Brittany down the hall or introducing Brittany while making a cup of tea or sharing a bottle of water with or a beverage of Brittany's choice and introducing Brittany to Wendy, who's in the space and does such and such a type of work, because it's those as has been commonly referred to over the last several years, these serendipitous opportunities to make connection.

So the more that that can be actually created and really personalized versus ad hoc versus technology is really a way that enhances and I think again creates a sustainable community because those are real authentic and intimate types of introductions that you're making that make a difference to the to the Brittany's of the world who are the co-working members. So true. Okay. I love that. I love that so much because you really as a co-working host need to understand the value in the services or products that your co-working members provide.

It's almost as if you have to do an interview process. Is that typically what takes place? I mean have you seen that where your hosts do interviews with each person that comes in or how does that go? I think it really depends upon how the co-working space has been established. So some co-working spaces really require that their members apply online first and they fill out some questionnaires and then that they are truly curated.

So that's one method so that the membership doesn't become dominated by say one particular industry or someone that they feel or a group that they feel might bring a different vibe to the community that they prefer not to have in that community. But there are others that are just completely open to whomever is interested and still I encourage operators and this is part of what we provide from a training and education perspective based on our experience is to really get to know that perspective community member in that interview process because while they're looking to you and saying yeah I need a space to work and so on, the difference will be in how you make them feel comfortable in the space, maybe even allow them to use it for a day giving a free day pass which I think is very very common and just saying we'd love you to try it before you buy it to make sure this is the right

environment for you and you can get your most productive day out of this experience and that you feel like it's productive in another way that you can get up move around have several postures within the space you don't have to be sitting at a desk all day long and really making that interview more important to the community member because I think that really instills yeah it's not just workspace it's not you're not just going to work here and sit down and have a coffee you're going to actually benefit by making the relationships and the connections in the community and in order to do that we need to know more about you and how we can satisfy your needs so the more thorough the interview the more effective you'll be at creating community as a whole and winning that number.

Yeah that that really places the value on on just building relationships for the purposes of creating lasting and quality more more of those relationships just just right I think that's amazing and you know I just I love that myself um okay I that just makes me pretty ecstatic about the idea of of co-working and being a host that yeah you might you might be you might be convincing me yeah so at that at that point where you can create that introduction and make it meaningful to both parties makes all the difference in the world because you you have clearly different personalities in a co-working space too someone who is a little bit maybe more reserved and shy and isn't so extroverted to go up and introduce themselves but by creating that segue the community leader really makes all the difference and that other person who may be super outgoing may either overwhelm the the quiet it more

introverted reserved person or simply may not approach them because it doesn't occur to them to do that so so simple but so valuable when it's done well right correct hmm okay love it love it love it love it okay I hope you guys enjoyed the first part of this interview with Wendy she was such a pleasure to interview so to find the show notes for this particular podcast find it at constructor.com slash 11 and don't forget to subscribe the next part of this interview is coming out next week so look forward to it it will be found at constructor.com slash 12