When you work in a serviced office, you quickly learn one thing.
There is no such thing as a typical day.
You can arrive with a perfectly simply plan:
Answer some emails.
Sort some post.
Show someone around an office.
Prepare a meeting room.
Do some admin.
EASY.
And then the building, tenants, visitors and the occasional plot twist make it very clear that this is absolutely NOT how today is going to go.
So, here’s what we think our day will look like…versus what actually happens.
8:30am – “Today is going to be SO productive!”
What we had in mind:
A nice, quiet start to the day.
Coffee made, emails checked and admin underway.
What actually happens:
We arrive to discover the electricity has decided to take the night off.
The first job of the day is now figuring out what’s happened, checking everything is okay and wondering whether the coffee machine will be joining us today.
The admin can wait.
Coffee cannot.
Eventually, everything is back up and running, and we can get on with the day…probably.
9:00am – Time for a couple of meetings
What we had in mind:
A few meetings throughout the day, with plenty of time in between to get everything else done.
What actually happens:
The meetings are still happening.
They are now just joined by a visitor who arrived early, a delivery that needs signing for, a phone call that needs answering and somebody asking if there is a spare chair anywhere.
Nothing dramatic. Just lots of little things happening at once.
This is usually the point where the carefully planned diary starts becoming more of a suggestion.
10:17am – The building has other ideas
What we had in mind:
Back to the desk for some uninterrupted admin.
What actually happens:
The front door has decided it would like some attention.
The lift has decided not to participate
The car park barrier is hovering at an angle that suggests its simply had enough.
So now, we’re making phone calls, checking things, speaking to engineers and generally looking like we know exactly what we are doing.
Do we know exactly what we are doing?
Absolutely
Would we like an engineer to confirm that?
Also, absolutely.
11:34am “Right, back to the admin”
What we had in mind:
Some uninterrupted time.
What actually happens:
“Can we just ask you something”
Of course
And actually, this is one of the best things about working in a busy business centre. There are always people around, and we’re here to help.
Although sometimes “can we ask you something” is the beginning of a conversation that lasts significantly longer than that phrase suggests.
We’re not complaining.
We just haven’t answered that email yet.
12:46pm – “Better get some lunch”
What we had in mind:
A quick lunch break.
Sit down, eat something and come back feeling refreshed.
What actually happens:
We made the mistake of saying:
“I’ll just finish this first”
The phone rings.
Then a visitor arrives.
Then we remember that thing we were supposed to do this morning.
Suddenly, its 2:15pm and we’re eating lunch whilst answering an email.
At some point, someone asks:
“Has anyone actually had lunch?”
Nobody knows.
2:30pm – “This afternoon should be nice and calm”
What we had in mind:
A quiet afternoon
Maybe finish off some admin
Get ahead of tomorrow.
What actually happens:
There is suddenly far more people in the building than there were an hour ago.
A meeting is underway
Another one is starting
A tenant needs a room
Someone is looking for a chair.
A visitor needs somewhere to park.
And somewhere in the building, a question has appeared that we have never been asked before.
Suddenly, we’re doing six things at once while mentally trying to remember what the first thing was.
It’s impressive, really.
We should probably add “professional plate spinners” to the website.
4:15pm – “Surely that’s everything”
This is an important lesson we’ve learnt…
NEVER SAY THIS.
Because that’s when something else happens.
A phone call
A small maintenance issue
A last-minute request
The door has once again developed opionions.
Nothing major, but just enough to make you laugh and think:
“Of course”
5:00pm – The daily debrief
How we thought it would go:
Look back at the day and feel very pleased with how much we’ve achieved.
What we actually achieved:
We look at our to-do list.
It appears to be almost exactly as long as it was at 8:30am.
But then we look at everything else we have dealt with.
The meeting room we arranged
The deliveries
The door
The lift.
That random thing we can’t even remember anymore.
And that’s the thing about working in a serviced office or busy business centre.
Some days, we hardly see anyone and wonder why we ever thought we’d struggle to get our admin done.
Other days we barely sit down.
Sometimes we’re receptionists
Other times, we’re event organisers
On another day, we’re problem solvers
Occasionally, we’re amateur engineers
And every now and then, we’re moving a desk while simultaneously trying to remember who we were supposed to call five minutes ago.
It’s not always what we planned.
But that’s the nature of working in a busy business centre.
There will always be something unexpected.
And honestly?
We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Because behind the offices, meeting rooms, reception desk and everything else you see, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly.
From welcoming visitors and helping tenants, to preparing rooms, handling deliveries and dealing with those little unexpected problems, no two days are quite the same.
So, if you ever wonder what we do all day…
The answer is:
A bit of everything!
And if you ask us at 8:30am what we’re doing today, we’ll happily tell you.
Just don’t ask us again at 3pm…
We probably wont have the same answer.
Fancy being part of the chaos?
Whether you’re looking for a serviced office, meeting room or somewhere to work, find out more about what we offer at our business centres: