The USA Today article titled Working Out of a “Third Place” may date from October 2006, but it’s still relevant today, and especially in the context of Coffee and Code. Some points from the article:
- About 30 million Americans, roughly one-fifth of the nation’s workforce, spend significant hours each month working outside of a traditional office. Even the U.S. federal government is pushing to give one-quarter of their workforce the option to occasionally work remotely.
- The number of these mobile/flexible workers is growing 10% annually because corporations are increasingly supportive of teleworking for various reasons, from cost savings to redundancy in case of a disaster.
- The rise of the office-less worker has fueled the rise of places like Panera, which has grown to 1,000 locations by catering to them with living room-like surroundings and free wifi.
- Although the people interviewed had home office setups, many found that working in a cafe or other “third place” at least some of the time kept them from feeling isolated.
The article is accompanied by a sidebar piece that lists some of the unwritten rules of etiquette for working at a cafe, which include:
- Pay the rent. Buy a coffee or food reasonably often if you don’t want the owners and staff to think of you as a squatter.
- Watch your stuff. Take your laptop and other valuable gear and documents with you if you’re going away from the table for anything other than a quick run to the sugar-and-napkin station.
- Respect the invisible office walls. Don’t walk into another remote worker’s “office space” unless you’re invited, and no “shoulder surfing”!
- Learn to live with other people’s power cords. “All electrical outlets are fair game, so expect to accommodate the odd power chord as it snakes past your dominion.”
- Don’t be a squatter. “It’s fine to keep your things piled on a table when you step out for a breath of fresh air, but not if you plan to be away a while.”
The article also features bits from interviews with a number of people who either do their work in cafes or study the phenomenon. One of the interviewees, who works at the Pew Internet & American Life Project observes that "It remains to be seen if this is a cultural breakthrough or a generational artifact."
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Although I admit to spending a few hours a week sitting in Starbucks with my laptop, I don’t use it as a “wordplace” and I hate it when people do that, sitting next to me talking to clients on their phone or bringing clients in for meetings. I go to a coffee cafe to relax and maybe do a little work but I don’t want to feel like I never left the damn office.
heh.. I was wondering who made that “power chord” typo/pun, but it appears to be in the original
This especially works when you are not in your home town but travelling and dont have a place to sit and work without intruding into somebody else’s office space and connectivity. While the above discussions are centered around spaces and experienes in the US, I do it in Bangalore, India. A few coffee shops do have the WiFi Hotspot, and free. Yes, possible intrusions into your privacy might be something one has to figure out how to handle, depending on the crowd flow. But I love the idea, as I also love having coffee periodically. Not bad place to make an occasional business meeting.