32. A company with 20,000 employees reducing
shadow vacancy by 20% would save 40M/yr
Higher rates for peak periods
Business units with 300 desks eliminating 20% unused
desks would increase their profit margin by 600k/yr
OPTIMIZING UNDERUTILISED SPACE
@caleb_parker
@meetingroomsCOM
Source: Agilquest http://agilquest.com/The-Agile-Workplace-Blog-Workplace-Strategy-
Management/make-better-decisions-with-actual-space-utilization-data.html
33.
34. HIGHLIGHTS Rents in the
prestigious Mayfair
district increased
by 10%
Supply of
office
space fell
by 20% in
2014
Office
space
Converting
to
residential
In the Northern City
district, rents were
up 5%
Rents
rising
by
7-10%
Office rents in the
City of London
increased by 4%
Office
space
demand
levels
remain
strong
ECONOMIC
Before we get started, is there anyone live tweeting? Remember to use the event hashtag, and the twitter accounts below during this talk.
My name is Caleb Parker, and I am CEO of MeetingRooms.com. We are the world’s first global marketplace that brings people and meeting space together, on-demand.
Our customers range from startups and SMEs to global leaders who are responding to the way mobile technology is changing how people work.
Through our online marketplace and our global accounts team, our customers gain access to local venues with flexible workspace and meeting rooms, on-demand, anywhere in the world.
And when I say flexible, I mean it. Some people go online and book space for as little as an hour for a small meeting, and others give our accounts team a schedule of dates for their corporate training requirements.
Needless to say, I am honored to speak with you today, and co-sponsor this event with our sister company, SearchOfficeSpace.com, the first global one-stop-shop for flexible office space, founded 22 years ago by my business partner, Richard Smith.
As I begin this talk, first let me say, I am not a facilities management expert.
I’m an American.
We are not experts at anything.
(especially outside of the country)
I am an American entrepreneur living here in London still learning what words not to say. When I first came across the pond to start the business my Board invited me to go for a fancy meal in town after a long day; I told everyone I wanted to go home first to change my pants.
Yep!
When I realized what I’d actually said, I nearly did need to go home to change my pants.
On a serious note, as an entrepreneur I’m driven to ask questions, look at trends and solve problems, and be brazen from time to time,
which brings me to:
The Future of Work.
The future of work is being defined today by a new generation employee. We are ‘savvy’, talented, clued up, techie, we’re on Linkedin, and we’re plugged in – we are employees who everyone in the room wants to keep happy.
Some of us are probably at home online right now booking our holiday – we choose the where, when, what, and how down to every detail of our lives.
We are passionate and results oriented. We are engaged and want to make a difference.
It’s because we embrace mobile technology that workspace is no longer just an office or a cubicle.
We want to stay plugged in outside the office and stay productive.
We’re highly motivated.
It’s because of us that 86% of businesses today have some kind of remote working setup
Workspace is no longer just the corporate portfolio.
Workspace is wherever we are.
Workspace can be at “home.”
With the proliferation of moBILE devices, workspace can also be at a Third Place – a workspace that’s not in the office and not at home.
Third place can be a coffee shop – how many people in here have worked from a coffee shop?
a hotel lobby
the airport
Ever worked on a bench
Workspace can be anywhere – because we’re always connected!
But imagine talking to a client on the phone while a barista operates a noisy espresso machine and calls out customer orders,
or struggling with intermittent Wi-Fi when you’re doing a video call
The lengths some people go to in order to find a quiet spot can be quite ludicrous, but necessary.
Mobile working is not always the fail-safe solution for all circumstances and it’s not right for everyone.
Whether meeting with prospects and partners, or looking to be left undisturbed for a while, it can be invaluable to have a ‘somewhere’ to work from when mobile working; an environment that we control.
Until now, that ‘somewhere’ has clearly been the missing piece of the mobile working puzzle.
That puzzle is now being completed as a new commodity – meeting space – starts trading in a shared economy that has proved so successful for the accommodation industry with the likes of Airbnb and the transportation sector with the likes of Uber, among others.
Now, we CAN choose the environment that best fits our needs.
Today there is a new category of Third Place emerging that competes by endeavoring to offer the best private and professional environments
with onsite teams offering various service levels such as coffees, teas, catering and a whole range of hospitality
environments better suited to success in business than any other Third Place.
These are Professional Third Places that provide workspace AND hospitality on-demand, giving mobile workers greater control over noise levels, better digital infrastructure and fewer distractions from the general public when on the go.
A new category called ‘workspace-as-a-service’.
Workspace-as-a-service can be spaces in hotels, offices, conference centres or other venues, which often sit empty, ready to be matched with mobile workers.
We’re at a moment in time where the hospitality and workspace sectors are colliding.
I see that because I started my career in hospitality. And 8 years ago I got into commercial real estate.
Let’s talk about the revolution of the hospitality industry. Many years ago to make a hotel reservation we had to call a travel agent with our travel requirements, who would then go out and source hotels. That travel agent would write down our details and called the hotels in their rolodex. They then called back with options, and we selected preferred choice. Finally the travel agent would go back and make the booking.
20 years ago the hospitality industry was revolutionized by online marketplaces - the internet put hotel bookings at the fingertips of consumers.
Today we have Expedia
Booking.com and others to quickly find and compare numerous brands, and book with a few clicks.
Workspace is following suit.
In the old days, we told the real estate broker, “I need space, here are my requirements.”
The broker would go out and find the buildings, come back with the options, and eventually multi-year lease negotiations would begin.
Today, Third Place workspaces of all types are beginning to trade online.
Now employees have at THEIR fingers tips the ability to choose the workspace that provides the right atmosphere to stay productive.
The new world order is a one-stop-shop
for hospitality and accommodations we have Airbnb
For commercial real estate – SearchOfficeSpace.com
And now for workspace-as-a-service – meetingrooms.com.
What does this mean for Facilities Management executives?
Facilities management is about providing employees with the right atmosphere that aligns with the culture of the company.
It's about empowering people.
It is THE foundation for your team's productivity and for your company's success.
And we have to balance that with managing costs and compliance.
To do this in the future requires a new way of thinking.Companies must support multiple work styles and give employees workspace choice while ensuring management expectations are met.
While my talk may seem to favour the changing habits of the mobile workforce, there are compelling numbers that make it an extremely attractive option for employers:
Let’s discuss a few other trends:
There are supposed to be 1.3 BILLION mobile workers by the end of this year
IBM says 42% employees are already mobile workers
That’s a lot of empty workspace!
Workspace-as-a-service enables you to optimize underutilized workspace by placing it back on the market.
This can be done at lease renewal, or potentially straight away by joining the shared economy.
Today’s global economy is unpredictable.
As a facilities manager, does it make sense to bet on a long-term lease?
You may have staffing projections for the foreseeable future, but it’s a best guess.
If you do X amount of business you need Y employees
But what if the economy takes the wrong turn?
What if a different Gov’t is elected?
What if Greece defaults?
Workspace-as-a-service keeps you agile – offering workspace that can be traded by the hour, day, months or year as needed.
The BBC is smack in the middle of its largest ever property rationalization programme; a massive money-saving project that is reducing the number of buildings it occupies from 200 to 154.
A key element of this scheme was selling Television Centre in west London, for £200m. The BBC said the sale reduced running cost by £30million a year and cut the size of the BBC’s property portfolio.
Issue of Shrinking Office Supply –
In London, as in other major markets, office supply is shrinking and rents are rising. Not a good sign if you’re planning to scale operations.
Workspace-as-a-service matches demand with empty workspace in real-time.
But I go back to the new generation employee. The up and coming talent.
We embrace mobile working– it improves our quality of life, and that keeps ups engaged.
But sometimes we need a somewhere – a Third Place.
Group discussion
Discuss challenges OR benefits of mobile working / workspace-as-a-service
Partnering with a flexible workspace-as-a-service platform like MeetingRooms.com enables companies to remain agile, gives employees choice and empowers them to choose the right environment that will make them productive.
One size does not fit all companies. We’ve developed a bespoke tool that facilitates employee choice while meeting management expectations and business compliance.
Next month we are launching our corporate pilot program, and I would be thrilled to speak with any companies who are interested in inegrating Third Place into their agile workspace strategy.
I hope what I’ve shared with you today has inspired you to think differently.
Thank you for having me.
Cheers!