Dream office for a small team of social game developers

I decided to gather a small team of people who like to develop social applications to conquer the galaxy together. And the question arose: how to provide team members with such working conditions so that it would be pleasant and convenient to work?

Since before we begin to capture space frigates and small colonial planets, budgets will not be very large, you have to think about how to make start-up capital last for a longer time, but without detriment to the team member. Therefore, the option to simply rent a chic office in some mega-cool business center of class A + 100500 is not rational in this situation. But boxes in class C and D buildings (various former research institutes, etc., with the Soviet level of service) are also not suitable - you cannot force people to work in such conditions.

And the question arose: do you need an office at all?



It’s worth noting right away that I consider the office not as a place where every person is obliged to come, but as a place - where he can come to work if he wants and where it will be pleasant and convenient.

Entrance conditions: a team of 3–7 people. Moscow. It would be nice to meet the rent of 45 tons / month It is clear that for such money you can’t take off chic mansions with a view of something fascinating.

First you need to understand why an office is needed at all, but for this you need to decide what they will do in it. In my understanding, the ideal workflow looks something like this:

1. ideas;
2. brain storm;
3. draft on a napkin;
4. forced prototype development by the forces of the whole team;
5. crystallization of the prototype;
6. iterative development and refinement of the application.

As you can see, from the 1st to the 5th points a very intense work is going on, which requires a quick reaction and tight interaction from the whole team. At this stage, it would be nice for most of the participants to interact live - since due to this, the loss of efficiency between the links is greatly reduced. After the application has crystallized, a measured and predictable work begins on its development and improvement. It is no longer necessary for everyone to sit together, but everyone can work where and how he likes.

That is, the office is really needed only for the period when there is an active study of the new application. And the rest of the time it can be idle, since it is mandatory to force people to come to the office and at the same time it is pointless to spend 2-3 hours a day on a crush in transport or traffic jams - it is stupid and cruel.

If you need an office only part of the time, then you can opt out of it altogether, and the money saved from renting it can be collected every week at Starbucks, go-karts, a beer hall, etc. for brainstorms.

Everything would be great if it were not for one “but” - not everyone is comfortable working at home. And if at home there are small children or relatives, then without their own office this task is only possible for masters of concentration and self-organization.

Therefore, it turns out that the office is still needed. Now you need to figure out how much it will cost.

Personally, I have such requirements for the workplace:

1. Not far from the metro so that you can safely walk;
2. Access to exit and exit 24 hours a day, without days off and holidays;
3. Enough personal space to not elbow against each other;
4. A comfortable table (at least 1.2 m wide) and a chair (so that the back does not hurt);
5. The opportunity to eat cheap and tasty nearby;
6. Unlimited high speed internet;
7. Comfortable temperature conditions - in summer it should not be too hot, and in winter - too cold;
8. A decent bathroom - so that you can brush your teeth, staying at work for the night, and take a shower, arriving at work on a bicycle;
9. Relaxation area with a sofa, a floor lamp, a cup of tea and a bookshelf. If there is a game console with a large TV set - generally a schick-a-arno. A relaxation zone is necessary to get out of the stupor, which sometimes occurs. Otherwise, you can get stuck in it until the end of the day.

A small search in Cyan reveals that a more or less decent room for 45,000 p. can be found. But they are all in a dismal state. Therefore, you can calculate how much it will cost to equip this whole thing.

Let's go over Ikea and calculate the cost of arranging one workplace:

1. Table: www.ikea.com/ru/catalog/products/90209731#/60117016 + www.ikea.com/ru/ru/catalog/products/50105293 × 4 = 2 000 r.
2. Armchair: www.ikea.com/ru/ru/catalog/products/30163892#/10163888 = 4 000 r.
3. Light: www.ikea.com/ru/ru/catalog/products/60370183 = 300 p.
4. Pilot with a bunch of outlets: 1,000 p.
5. Shelf: www.ikea.com/ru/ru/catalog/products/60103632 = 600 p.

Total at an acceptable minimum is 8,000 + 3,000 for little things = 11,000 for the workplace. For 3 people - 33,000 p.

1. For common areas:
2. Sofa www.ikea.com/ru/ru/catalog/products/S59892956#/S49885409 = 14 000 p.
3. Telik + xBox ≈ 30 000 r.
4. For all sorts of decorations, printers, etc. ≈ 50 000 p.

In total, the minimum set for comfortable work is 130 - 150 tons. I do not include computers in the calculation, since they are an asset, not a liability.

If you depreciate for the year the team works, it turns out 150,000 / 12 = 12,500 per month.

You also need to remember about food. This is a minimum of 500 p. per person per day multiplied by 20 days, i.e. 500 × 3 × 20 = 30,000 p.

The total cost of office for a small team is:

1. 45 000 p. - rent;
2. 10 000 p. - Internet (for lawyers it’s expensive, infection);
3.   2 000 p. - utility bills for the office.
4. 12 000 p. - depreciation of the situation;
5. 30 000 p. - meals in the office.

Total: 99,000 p. per month. And the question of its necessity again becomes controversial. Indeed, for the same money, you can, for example, go to karting every three days, drive, drink beer, brainstorm, etc. And it is not known which approach will allow people to work more productively and harmoniously.

But this is how I see the situation. It is very interesting to hear the opinion of the Habrachians on this issue. Since you want to make a really pleasant and comfortable atmosphere in which you can work with pleasure and solve interesting problems, because the tasks will be exciting, and you do not want unorganized life to distract them from them.