Into the office

This week, we moved into new offices and hired our first employees, both huge milestones for the company.  Although technically still pre-revenue, we’re feeling a lot more ‘real’ (and I feel much more responsible – its all a bit sobering to think about).  Still, it’s a quiet thrill when someone asks where we can all get together and we say ‘How about our offices?”

Truly a milestone.

The furniture went into place nicely – the activity areas fit in the way we expected that they would, the internet and phones are up, and the blinds and kitchen supplies are in.  We’re missing a few bits of miscellany (plugs, scissors, coat-rack…) and the printer and server took longer to set up than expected.  The room is a bit echo-y, but there’s a plan for everyone to bring in their favorite (non-family) picture to blow up into fabric panels to soften the walls  The view out the balcony and over the gardens is wonderful. And it’s great having the whole group together and able to have a face-to-face conversation when things come up.

It’s a change in work-style though.

“The Office” means getting across-town in traffic, morning and afternoon, I’m still learning the tricks of back roads when the A14 is clogged, and the “PlusBus” train-transit combo from Shepreth to St. John’s still eludes me.  It means dressing for a real office rather than a home office.  It means appointments and meetings.

The balance between meetings and individual work time is still coming into focus.  Scheduling via a shared calendar is an evolving art (I will not use Outlook, though: it’s too reminiscent of Corporate when it dictated my every waking minute).

But, overall, it’s an agreeable change and feels like a big organizational improvement.