We asked you… How to save WeWork
How many of the Sales Confidence community are reading this in a WeWork right now? Have you noticed any little changes recently?
Did you catch the long-read in the FT this weekend about WeWork? I’ve linked to it here. It inspired me to write a (slightly tongue-in-cheek) LinkedIn post on how I’ve noticed a few changes since they’ve had to cut their costs by a few billion a year.
Now, in the next in our occasional series of Sales Confidence articles where we ask a question on LinkedIn and get a debate going, it’s time to find out what you thought.
#weworkdontwork
The article, which is amazing by the way, is the story of WeWork. It’s about how WeWork and its founder, Adam Neumann, lost billions of dollars from its valuation due to an ambition that was out of control and reckless spending. It now has to cut its budgets drastically to stay alive.
That got me thinking. I’ve spent a lot of time in WeWorks in the last few months. Maybe I’m on to something… Have you noticed?
· Lifts out of action… I spoke to my engineering friend… apparently it saves them a fortune in electricity
· No more community…they now drive profit and want you to be tied to your desk
· The fruit water no longer has fruit in most of the coolers
· Beer keeps running out
· Office space in the glass cube section is being reduced a few mm each night… set up a measuring tape
· Dogs are being asked not to bring their owners to work
· Apparently they want to start stacking desks on top of each other!
The serious bit…
OK, maybe I was having a bit of a laugh, especially towards the end there! But here comes the serious bit…
And finally, staff are disengaged and have little time to service members and customers…
This is where I’ll be focusing my help.
Anyone working for WeWork globally can schedule a 10-minute call and I will make at least 5 introductions to help them find a new role.
Next steps:
1) Like, share & comment
2) Send to a friend that needs help
3) Join the movement
The responses
I was thrilled to see that my post got a great response from my followers on LinkedIn. It got over 3000 views in less than a day, which is terrific.
It was great to hear from Kristian Lees Bell, the business psychologist and stress management consultant. What valuable work he is doing. Anyway, he replied…
‘Great post! Did some coaching work at WeWork last year. So much talent and ability there, so hope those that need other options take you up on this offer.’
Cal Hewitt, Head of North America Partnerships at Flipd, left a reply too.
‘I’ve definitely noticed a reduction in the amount of events being hosted at our local WeWorks in Toronto. They used to happen all the time, now I never hear of any happening.’
So I’m not alone in my thoughts, at least.
Over to you
Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my post. It’s times like this that I love the Sales Confidence community even more than usual!
I’ll ask another question like this on LinkedIn soon, so keep your eyes glued to your feed. If you leave a comment, maybe you’ll be featured in our next article and LinkedIn fame will be yours!
Let’s keep the debate going. If you would like to share your thoughts on your experiences with WeWork leave a comment below.