Written by Lori Thiessen

The main reason businesses are cool with their staff working out of a coffee shop instead of their offices is simple: money.

Offices cost money to run. In bizspeak, it's called overhead. Think about it, there's rent, cleaning, electricity, coffee, heating/cooling, furniture, computers, printers, telephones, etc. Businesses are now starting to take a serious look at their real estate costs. Is it worth it to have an office if most of your staff and do their work from home or the coffee shop or wherever they chose?

Meetings can happen over the Internet on chats or via conference calls. If a face-to-face is really called for the group can meet oh, at a coffee shop for instance. No office necessary, really.

What about supervising staff? How do you make sure the work is being done and being done to the deadline requirements? Cell phones (or as I like to call them, electronic leashes) make keeping up with your staff really easy. As for the work, it is either turned in on time or it isn't. Granted, being in shouting distance of your work team members is much quicker in some cases if you need to check a point or two, but if there is a need for a collaborative work session cuddling up in a cozy corner of your local coffee shop can fit the bill.

The whole idea of downsizing seems to be moving from people to places. Instead of laying off staff, lay off the office.

Q: What are your thoughts on not having a centralized office?