A place of efficiency in the countryside

Daniel Kruse is a Scrum Master at Ernsting's Family and deals with agile working methods on a daily basis. He demonstrates his own agility by regularly using the Coesfeld coworking space "CoCoWo" in addition to the company premises in Coesfeld-Lette and his home office. In this interview, Daniel explains the benefits of leaving his familiar surroundings for certain forms of work and what his employer thinks about the occasional change of location.

Please note that the following text has been translated freely.

Daniel Kruse: I actually have my roots here: The building that is now home to the coworking space used to be my primary school. A few years ago, I realised that Christofer Wesseling - who I knew from a professional context - had set up his company here and was also offering workspaces. When I was looking for seminar rooms for a design sprint a little later, I came across the CoCoWo again more or less by chance. We from Ernsting's Family then used CoCoWo for the first time for this five-day sprint at the end of 2022. Because we were very satisfied with the premises and their facilities, we have since held a few more training courses and workshops here that we didn't want to do at the Ernsting's Family campus in Lette. We have really nice and well-equipped offices there, but sometimes a change of scenery is good. We've found just the right place for that here.

Daniel Kruse: To be precise, I don't use CoCoWo as a coworking space in the traditional sense. We "only" use the seminar room for workshops and training courses every few weeks, depending on the project situation. Because Ernsting's Family is very large, some of us may be here more often - you don't always realise that given the size of the company.

Daniel Kruse: For certain workshops or training courses, it makes sense not to hold them on your own premises because you are always within reach of your colleagues there. Of course, we also have rooms of a suitable size at the company location, but it is much more difficult to take part in a workshop or training course in the office without distraction. Here at CoCoWo, we are so far away from the hustle and bustle that we have peace and quiet - but it is still very easy to reach. The technical equipment is also perfect here: At Ernsting's Family, many colleagues are "mobile office ready", which means they can theoretically work from anywhere - and thanks to the corresponding internet bandwidth, it works perfectly here at CoCoWo too. And finally, we are also impressed by the rooms themselves - the layout of the building as a former school makes it ideal for workshops, training courses, seminars, etc.

Daniel Kruse: That actually rarely happens with us because we really withdraw into our bubble when we're here. When you're doing a workshop, you're really deep into your topic and want to use the time as effectively as possible. So we're not really looking to socialise here, although you can certainly network very well here! Others probably use it too - but when we come here, we tend to nestle in the seminar room and keep to ourselves.

Daniel Kruse: No, fortunately my employer is very open when it comes to this topic - so I didn't have to do any hard persuasion when I suggested using the CoCoWo. It has long been the case that we don't always hold workshops and similar events at our own location in Lette - but in hotel conference rooms in Münster, for example. However, this sometimes involves travelling a long way: Ernsting's Family employees come from all over, some from Münsterland, but also from Emsland, for example. I myself live in Coesfeld, for example, and am a committed commuter by bike. So not everyone can get to Münster quickly and easily. CoCoWo, on the other hand, is easy for everyone to reach via the A31 and A43 motorways - and thanks to its proximity to Lette, it is not a major diversions even for those who normally come to the office. The argument of good accessibility therefore plays a major role and also convinced our employer.

Daniel Kruse: The employer benefits from the same advantages that I see as an employee and that I mentioned earlier: We are not distracted here and can work in an extremely focussed way - as a result, we work very efficiently at CoCoWo, which is good for both the employees and the company. The peace and quiet we have here is also due to the fact that the coworking space is very secluded and we are not surrounded by the hustle and bustle of seminar hotels in Münster or other large cities. It does cost the company money if we rent a room here for a few days, but so does a hotel in Münster.

Daniel Kruse: That's when we really immerse ourselves in our work. But during the lunch break, we go outside - fresh air and exercise are important to recharge our batteries. The landscape around the CoCoWo with all the fields is super idyllic, so we like to go for a walk during our lunch break. There's no shortage of catering here either: during all-day workshops, we've often had food brought in from catering and heated up in the convection oven, which Christofer Wesseling organised for us on request. You can also cook for yourself in the kitchen - but we haven't tried that yet, just like the table football, which we've never touched (laughs).

Daniel Kruse: My view of the future of the world of work is probably very much characterised by my own preferences. But regardless of that, I think that mobile working is here to stay. It will become more and more common. I don't believe that there will be a huge increase in "workations", that everyone will suddenly buy a camper and travel the world working. But I do believe that more and more people will want the opportunity to do so. And this will also be reflected in the design of office space: it won't get any bigger. That wouldn't make sense either, if only because of the high demand for working from home. As a father, like many other parents, I enjoy being flexible and being able to work from home from time to time. Of course, it doesn't give me more time with my children, because I still have to work the same amount - but at least they get to see my face when I open the door for them after school. At our Ernsting's Family store in Lette, we are also currently trialling the shared desk model, where there are fewer desks than there are employees. That's also working really well. Experiments like this - and the opportunity to use coworking spaces - simply offer a great degree of flexibility. And I really enjoy that!