It is okay not to have an office but you MUST have meetings

These are the ones with wi-fi

Not having a real office is a great thing. It's free, it's fun, it gives you a chance to work in different places.

When people talk about the benefits of not having an office, they usually cite (after the cost savings) the fact that you are more productive because you no longer "waste your time" in face-to-face meetings. That is where I disagree. If you don't have a physical office, those meetings are really important. You MUST have meetings.

Human contact is where it's at. It's where all the good ideas come out. Klementina and I were really productive on the train together last week, for example. We were able to do what would normally take us a couple of days in just an hour of concentrated collaboration in person (we are business partners but we live in different cities).  We also had time for friendship maintenance, which requires a lot of time for telling stories and laughing.

Yesterday we had an excellent meeting with Ed in New York via Skype (our other partner), and Klementina and I were somewhere outside of Udine, Italy with our client. The agenda was well-organized beforehand so that we could get a lot done in a short time. In the end it was creative, positive, happy. We all left energized and excited. People time is important for solidifying relationships with clients, but also with partners.

Last week we had a meeting that went in the opposite direction. On paper everything was perfect. We had been asked to participate in a meeting with a couple of other companies whose services seemed complementary to ours. We were really excited about the possibilities. Then we got there and had the meeting and realized that it was not at all what we expected. There was no feeling of collaboration or understanding. We couldn't have known that without sitting down with them at the same table and talking about what we do, though. Was it wasted time? Maybe, but we did learn a few things anyway. One of them being that the feeling you get from someone when you spend time with them is important. Just having a "bad vibe" with just one person can poison a whole project unless you do some tweaking and communicating and clarifying. You can also avoid those situations altogether by sitting down together ahead of time to figure out if your working styles are compatible.

At any rate, for all the meeting haters out there, the important thing is to create a balance so that you get the most out of both working autonomously and with your partners so that you feel free yet supported when it's time to create.