Every industry has companies that land somewhere between great and poor customer service. It would seem that all businesses look at what sort of customer service they provide in different ways. Some will be priced higher and provide better customer service, while others will sell at low prices and provide the absolute minimum customer service that they have to.

The biggest problem that i find with companies and the customer service they provide, is often the difference between the service they promote and they claim to provide, and the actual reality is quite different. It would seem that they want to be seen as providing something, but then feel they can almost get away without providing it but still get the boost from claiming to provide it. This has started to become more visible to me, especially in how i want to work with No Fixed Office. Lets take a look at one industry that best fits here specifically, that being Cafe’s where as a mobile worker we do most of our work.

CAFE CUSTOMER SERVICE

What’s on offer – When you look at cafe’s there are a few different style’s of customer service which you will encounter. Each is dependent upon the type of establishment, and is often reflected in the prices.

• Counter Service only – In reality these are not really Cafe’s however there are a number of different businesses that could be seen in this category. They mostly offer Coffee and Cake take away options without seating (or very little) and is usually reflective in the price.
• Counter/Table Service – This is similar to the above however you place your order and it is served at the table. Pricing is entirely relative, you pay a little more for being able to sit down and have the order brought to your table. Dependent upon the cafe though you may still need to wait for your order at the counter and take it to the table yourself.
• Full Table Service – Just as the name suggests this is where you are fully served at the table. In other words you can walk in and sit down, have a menu brought to you, have your order taken at the table, and served to you at the table. Of course this service is a little going to cost a little more in the price of food and drinks, however it can often make it easier.

What to expect – As you may see there can be a big difference and there is certainly a different in the pricing as well. The difference can be anywhere up to 30-50% more for table service. Which is maybe rightfully so. There are definitely more cost associated with providing full table service in leasing of space, additional staff, costs of furniture and reusable cups and glasses, and a need to wash it all up.

Why this post – Well maybe you are asking why this post and why the focus on Cafe’s particularly. Well as a mobile worker we rely on cafe’s often as a quick place to work and easy to get a cup of coffee or something to eat or drink. For many people, but i know for myself especially i choose where i go for the level of service.

I choose the cafe that i go to because of the fact they offer Full Table Service. I also am happy to pay the little bit extra for that service. What i cannot stand though are cafe’s that claim full table service that do not really provide it. Now with table service you have to be willing to accept a little variance in time to take the order and getting that order to your table, and the busier the cafe the longer this might take. Which i can completely understand.

However I have been becoming more aware of a drop in service at the cafe that i am very much a regular at. Where for quite some time the level of service often saw me with a coffee in less then 5 minutes. However more recently this has been more like 10-15 minutes to take my order, and on occasion anything up to 30 minutes before getting a drink at the table. While on occasion this has not been much of an issue for me, as i always have something to do on the laptop. With it becoming more frequent and longer wait time, it just becoming more and more obvious to me, that the extra I end up paying for the table service, is not worth the extra.

Whats the morale – The first part of the morale starts with the fact that due to the service getting worse there is a good chance that i will be making a change in the cafe that i visit often. This leads to the second part, you need to ensure that your business can live up to the claim of the service that it is going to claim to provide. If as a Cafe you want to offer Full Table Service, then you need to be sure that is what you are able to offer, not just in the respect of eventually, but in a reasonable time frame that the customer is going to be happy with.

So take a look at your customer service level, even find someone that can test the level of service provided by your business, and be sure that the service provided when you are there is the same as the service provided when you are not.

But they are often not really that accurate. There are always things that seem to push one to take up another. Things like commuting to work, gets taken away from the time for ourselves. Sleep gets cut back when something comes up. The more that comes up the more that gets taken away from personal time and sleep.

This is really where having No Fixed Office, can come into it’s own. When you are working for yourself, (or even to some extent for someone else) and you are not restrained to a set office, with set office hours, you have a lot more freedom to work, when, where and how you like.

Working can start to take on a new and more exciting point of view. As before you often would be stuck working from 9-5 in a fixed place, where you often may have been stuck to your office or cubicle. Once you can break this you can be much more freely able to work when it is easier for you to work.Maybe the following scenario might strike a chord for you;

Imagine waking up a little late, maybe 8am, taking a walk, before enjoying breakfast. Around 9.30 sitting down with your laptop, to check your email, complete a few quotes, and call a client or two. Followed by a little bit longer lunch break. The Afternoon finds you sitting at the local coffee shop with your laptop working on some projects for your clients, for a couple of hours. You get home and prepare a home cooked meal.

You Spend the evening working on one of your favorite hobbies. Then you realize, you only spent about 5 hours working today, and managed to get about twice as much done as when you used to work in an office, and did it feeling more relaxed and with not surprisingly more time to the things you enjoy.

Maybe that is not everyone’s idea of the perfect work day, but you change some times around, and change what you are doing at different times, and the same can be adapted to fit almost anyone’s perfect workday.

While you may be thinking no workday can be perfect because i have to work. Well this is something that does not become a problem when you are working in a way that you have more free time and get more done. Which is the whole reason i see having No Fixed Office is good. You are anabling yourself to have more control and to approach the day in a way that you are more comfortable with. Which you would hope could only be a good thing.

Of course though trying both will cost you time, money and a lot of wasted effort on whichever option you do not end up choosing. For this situation if you could take a choice, what would you try first. Working with an office, that has a lot of fixed expenses, is likely to lead to more expenses, in staff, a perceived need of stationary, and technology. Or maybe try working with no fixed office, with very minimal costs, no excessive leasing, or staff costs, that need to be offset.

At the end of the day really if you decided to try both options you would be spending a lot more to try the idea of having an office. Potentially anywhere form 10-times what you may have to outlay for no fixed office. It is hard to ignore this sort of cost for something that you may be just trying and ultimtely not continuing with. More so something that you have never had, so really will you actually miss not having an office.

Following are just a few of the people i have connected with the most in the past month or so that have really helped me to think more, grow more, and are one of the reasons that i love to be on twitter.

@LilianeRausch – Liliane, is a really amazing person, she is from The Netherlands, and is the found and CEO of  The Ultimate Self/U! Virtual Coaching Center. Liliane is a Personal Coach, Strategic HR Consultant, Certified Psychologist, plus more, her website is U! Virtual Coaching Center. I am so grateful that i have connected with Liliane.

@AprilFilms – April, is another amazing person, doing fantastic things with video using a mobile phone to film many different events around Vancouver, Canada. You can find a lot of her work on the site for AHAMEDIA, and i definetly urge you to take a look. I so much appreciate connecting with April.

@tpr2 – Terry, is a really great guy. He has so many things on the go i do not know how he manages to get it all done. But he is definitely one of my role models now. One of the great projects he has is “My Hug Club“. Again i am so grateful that i have been able to meet Terry through twitter.

@DanHaneveer – Dan is from Tasmania, and shares not just my views on having no fixed office, but also of a Location Independent Lifestyle. He shares his experiences on his blog “DanHaneveer.com“. You should take a look. Again i appreciate being able to connect with Dan through Twitter.

While there are many others that i have had the pleasure of meeting via twitter, or connecting with, i really want to make it special for the people that i connect with the most, and show how much they are appreciated.

For some people this can be a challenge. A challenge that for some they cannot get past and end up carrying what could almost be mistaken for over night luggage just to the coffee shop to work for an hour or two. What you really need to consider that much of the things that we associate with an actual office, or working are in fact redundant, not needed or just dead weight.

So it really comes down to the question. How do you know what you do need and what you don’t need. To some extent this will depend on just what type of business you are running. However in almost every instance there are quite a number of things that can be done away with, especially with the current technology that is available. But before we look at some of the things that are not really needed, lets consider the potential basics that you may want to consider.

• Laptop – Really if you are going to be moving around to a coffee shop, bar, or any other place frequently, then a laptop is essential. It may be possible to get by without a laptop, however it may generally make things more difficult.
• Accessories – A Wireless mouse (if you don’t like the touch pad on laptop’s, Mobile Broadband modem, if you want to be sure of internet access, and a Carry bag that will fit the laptop, charger and just these couple of accessories.
• Notepad & Pen – Just always handy to have something to take a note on that can usually be flipped back through.

In reality this may essentially be the full extent of what you need. For some there will be other specialised equipment, a photographer needs a camera, a DJ needs music, and a mobile bank lender, may need a printer to print contracts. You will know from your business just what you really do need and what may be a luxury you do not really need for your business, at least what you need with you.

Consider some of the things that you may not really need now.

• A lot of paperwork – While some business still rely on hard copy paperwork, there should often be little need to take it with you, unless you are going to a specific meeting where you need it.
• CD’s – Be it programs or music, you really probably don’t need it with you. By all means if specific software you use, needs the disc then you need it. But if it is just a habit to carry your little folder of Cd’s everywhere, you could easily lighten your load.
• stationary – While you may think it is needed, generally it isn’t envelopes, paperclips, etc etc are all things that can often be left at home where you are more likely to need them.

Along with these items thare are often many other’s that can easily be done without, and not only make your load lighter, but mean you have less distractions when you really need to get your work done. Which is really what it comes down to when you go out to work, that is what you need to do, not be going through piles of papers, or searching cd’s for a file or such, but getting focused on your work and making the most of your time.

There is almost always one problem which comes up for those that want to start working from home. Once they do start working from home, they find that they end up feeling trapped in working from home. They end up having to much of what they wanted. To much time with the kids and they don’t get enough work done, or that there is to many distractions (game consoles, movies, tv) to get any work done.

There are ways to avoid some of the problem’s, although for some people this can be easier said then done. Because for the most part the best way to avoid these problem’s is through controlling urges. However lets take a look at some of the problem’s

THE KIDS ARE TAKING TO MUCH TIME

If you are working from home to try and save on childcare and such, then this is going to often be an unavoidable problem. If you are going to be the only one there to look after the kids and they are young enough then you will find that you are spending to much time looking after them. However if they are being looked after by someone else, then you need to setup distinct area’s, for example an office in a spare bedroom, which is offlimits when you are working. Or maybe a area in the garage or something so that you are away from where the children area, and not likely to be disturbed.

OTHER DON’T TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY WORKING FROM HOME

This can be a problem that can come from both your own actions and others, for example if you are fairly loose with how you work then other’s will see this and not take it seriously. Where as if you have a dedicated area and spend the time in this area working when you say you are, then you will show people that your working from home is serious.

TO MANY DISTRACTIONS

Literally this problem is caused only by yourself and not being committed enough to what you are doing. If you are finding that the time creeps away and you are spending more time playing the Xbox then working, you may find that the area you have picked for doing work is the wrong area. You need somewhere that you cannot see the distractions and the only thing there is to do is work. Plus a healthy dose of will power always helps as well, but if it does not work then working from home may not be something that is a feasible long term option for you.

At the end of the day though you are going to have some distractions at home, as opposed to if you were in the office. However how different are these distractions then if you were getting distracted by co-workers at work. Or do they take up more time then you would have normally spent driving to work. Plus if you find you are more productive in the time that you are working, then you may find that the distractions are not such a problem afterall.

Things like online banking, printing invoices, confidential phone discussions, and any range of other things sometimes are better left to do at some place that is not so public. Inevitably if you have no actual office this will most likely end up being at home, which really can be a good or bad thing just dependent upon your actual situation. While for the most part it can be a good thing, there are times when you probably wish it wasn’t so.

The biggest problem working from home is the possible distraction’s of family, personal matters you may think are more important when at home, and friends who do not see that your business is more important. This makes it quite important to set up boundaries and maybe even a dedicated area in which you can work with a minimum of interruptions. The most important rule that you need to set is the time frame that you are going to work in. This helps not only to limit the distractions but also help you to focus on the tasks you should be doing.

The additional limitation of a set desk or office area, will help to enforce this time frame you set. Especailly if the area is defined as a when i am here i am working area. This will help you to like the time frame be on task when you are in this area, and additionally can help define a no go zone to stop family and friend distractions.

Today late in the afternoon, at the local coffee shop that i visit, there are two of us using laptops right now. But this is a quite afternoon, i have been here when as many as 4 or 5 people have been sitting working away on their laptops.

This coffee shop is hardly a inner city hub though, i imagine if i went in closer to the city i would find cafe’s with many more people working on their laptops. Some for many hours on end, just drinking a few cups of coffee.

How about on the flip side if you were working for yourself, there would probably be a good chance that you would take less coffee breaks as it is. This is probably because often times when you are aware of the costs of a business you are more interested in getting the job done and having your own time once you are finished what you need to get done.

How about taking your coffee break from 10 minutes to two hours and still get more work done. It is as easy as putting your laptop in your bag and taking a walk to the local coffee shop. If they have Wifi, fantastic, if not maybe connect with a mobile broadband supplier. But take your work with you and enjoy your coffee while getting your work done.

Now this is of course a much more acceptable solution if you work for yourself, rather then an employer. Working for an employer, there is a good chance you will get questions why you were gone for 2 hours, and told not to do it again. Maybe if you are lucky and can show better results they may consider allowing it, but the chances are not that great really.

For the most part it is not the intention of a company to build office’s that prevent effective working environments. However purely by the nature of how most offices are built and the limited colour range used the majority of office’s are just that uneffective.

The biggest problem that i see with office’s is that there is literally to many distractions and to many causes to do tasks that may be associated with working but are not actual work. This may to some extent be a kind of shallow or maybe not in depth view of things, however it is in so many cases the actual truth of it.

Distractions

• Open plan offices especially have no real way to minimise the build up of noise from everyone in cubicles. This often means any noise out of the ordinary will have the whole office looking.
• In an office environment, where person to person communication is often easier people will just stick their head in to ask something, which diverts you from the task at hand.
• Some office’s that have the main phone ring to everyone, leave all their employee’s in the position of getting interrupted every time the phone rings whether they answer it themselves or not.
• Being in the same general area as your direct manager can lead to potential micro managing and this is really not that great for anyone involved. It adds to company overhead, for managers that potentially are not really needed. Additionally i means that employee’s spend more of their productive time conferring with manages and not working.

Time Wasters

• Attending meetings in some other part of the building, a 15 minute meeting could easily take an hour out of your day, getting to the meeting, early, and discussing the meeting afterwards, and finalyl getting back to your desk. It is maybe not intended to be this way, however i am sure that it is how it happens in more then a few offices.
• Fetching Printouts, from the printer can waste unknown amounts of time, interrupting what you are doing, getting up and walking to the printer, and then walking back and getting back into what you were doing. This is not to say if someone else stops you to talk, or if the printer jams, or any number of other things that can double, triple or extend the time that it takes even more.
• The constant countdown, while this is maybe not something that every one does, but there is i am sure more then a fair share of office works that spend much of the day watching the clock for when it is time to knock off for the day. As soon as you start watching the clock you are not as productive as if you are working on the idea that time does not matter.

While these distractions and time wasters, are maybe not entirely specific to offices, and to some extent exist no matter where you are working, they do not all have the same effect. For example when you work in an office if someone interrupts for a quick chat there is a good chance that you will chat with them. However if you are working at home or in a coffee shop, this same distraction would more then likely be worked into your work process, deferred because you know that you can get what you are doing done and have a more quality time with the person, or you are actually more productive and the interferance does not affect you to the same degree.

Finally while all of this may be true, there is something else that is also very true of those that work outside of a normal office. This is that time management skills are essential. None of these distrations, or time wasteres, will make any difference if you are going to find a way to waste time no matter what, either by surfing websites you don’t need to for most of the time you have allocated to working, or if you are not actually creating anything useful in the time.