Just wondering what everyone’s policies are on kids? It hasn’t been an issue before but recently we have had people come in for events and leave their 4/5 year old unattended in the space.
I’m torn because I know its difficult for single mother entrepreneurs to find childcare (its expensive and its inconvenient) but at the same time a) an unattended child can easily hurt themselves on tables/running into things, cords, heavy doors b) a lot of members have their expensive tech on their desks which easily break if knocked over and c) they are often loud and disruptive. In addition to that, one of the events involved 100+ people and alcohol, which is a big risk area for a small kid.
We don’t have a dedicated area for children, and as far as I know there is nowhere around here for daycare.
How do we stop kids coming (and how do we manage it when they are already here)?
I have a 4 y.o. and would never leave him unattended.
Those parents need to find a better solution.
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On Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 5:14 PM, Kate Kirwin [email protected] wrote:
Hey everyone!
Just wondering what everyone’s policies are on kids? It hasn’t been an issue before but recently we have had people come in for events and leave their 4/5 year old unattended in the space.
I’m torn because I know its difficult for single mother entrepreneurs to find childcare (its expensive and its inconvenient) but at the same time a) an unattended child can easily hurt themselves on tables/running into things, cords, heavy doors b) a lot of members have their expensive tech on their desks which easily break if knocked over and c) they are often loud and disruptive. In addition to that, one of the events involved 100+ people and alcohol, which is a big risk area for a small kid.
We don’t have a dedicated area for children, and as far as I know there is nowhere around here for daycare.
How do we stop kids coming (and how do we manage it when they are already here)?
In my experience, this has a lot less to do with kids and more to do with people taking consideration for others.
This isn’t really that much different from the person who talks on the phone all day, driving the person who sits next to them up a wall. If they actually knew who the person they were sitting next to enough to care, they’d take the call somewhere else. 9x out of 10, relative anonymity leads to people being less considerate of the person they’re affecting.
As more and more of our members have kids, we’ve gone out of our way to think about them and their kids. Setting expectations of what’s kid friendly (if anything) and what isn’t. Instead of making it about their kids, make it about making sure that they’re more aware of their surroundings.
You specifically mentioned that this was guests for an event, vs. your members. This is DOUBLY important because event guests rarely have an introduction to the space and the community enough to have those relationships where they’d think about who they’re impacting. It’s just an event venue to them. Whenever we have guests, we go out of our way to explain “what is this place” and focus on the fact that this is effectively other peoples’ home and so it’s important to be respectful of their space, belongings, time, and attention.
Don’t be afraid to set the bar high, and let people step up to it. Sure, some people will let you down, but you’d be surprised how often people will surprise you in a good way.
-Alex
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On Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 8:14 PM, Kate Kirwin [email protected] wrote:
Hey everyone!
Just wondering what everyone’s policies are on kids? It hasn’t been an issue before but recently we have had people come in for events and leave their 4/5 year old unattended in the space.
I’m torn because I know its difficult for single mother entrepreneurs to find childcare (its expensive and its inconvenient) but at the same time a) an unattended child can easily hurt themselves on tables/running into things, cords, heavy doors b) a lot of members have their expensive tech on their desks which easily break if knocked over and c) they are often loud and disruptive. In addition to that, one of the events involved 100+ people and alcohol, which is a big risk area for a small kid.
We don’t have a dedicated area for children, and as far as I know there is nowhere around here for daycare.
How do we stop kids coming (and how do we manage it when they are already here)?
Kate - Although I don’t have a space yet, I host events at coffee shops wherein I can’t prevent a member from bringing their child, but it’s been a good launch for conversations on this. The member brought her 10-mos old which worked fine as they were in their carrier the whole time and everyone there was a grand/parent, aunt or mom so we all coo’ed over the baby. However in the space, it’s a whole different story.
I want to invite nursing mothers and/or fathers with babies to come into the space; generally the babies will be quiet and sleeping at that point. However it should be clear as soon as the baby wakes up and needs attention, coworking is probably over unless a client room is available. I will install changing tables in the bathroom as well as a quiet place to nurse (unless they want to discretely do so in the team or open space)
We have to be cognizant as to why people are choosing mobile work and/or work from home. U.S. child care is becoming a cost burden (more than 10% of the household budget) and that’s an economic crisis, one often solved by a parent (usually mom) staying home. How can coworks’ partner with child care or take the next step of offering child care on premise (which I wouldn’t do myself)?
We have a strong mompreneur community here who I will rely on to think this through, as well as hopefully host in the cowork
We have community guidelines which cover this: http://collectiveagency.co/community-guidelines Holding people accountable is then expected, once started. It is amazing and joyful and appreciative.
