Picalike and the betahaus Hamburg

Published by Sandra Kade on 4. November 2020

From our preppy, conservative offices with conference room and kitchen, where almost once a week our boss cooked for the whole team, we moved to betahaus Hamburg in the summer. Several reasons led to this. Now we are very happy about it, as this super flexible way of working fits so much better to our spirit. You could already get a small impression of it in our article “Our new office”, but now I would like to introduce betahaus to you in more detail and tell you about the philosophy behind it. In Hamburg, betahaus operates betahaus in Sternschanze and since 2019 “finhaven by betahaus” in Hafencity. We are in the Schanze.

©Janine Meyer Photography

The building

In very simple terms, betahaus is a co-working space founded in 2010. The 2500 square meters are spread over 4 floors, with about 34 offices in different sizes (for 4 to 8 employees), 4 areas with several tables for flexible working (flex spaces), small kitchens, 10 phone boxes, 3 workshop rooms, 6 meeting rooms, a café and a lounge. In addition, betahaus 1 offers remote studio for podcast, green screen and webinar productions, underground parking, separate bicycle parking, ramps and toilet for wheelchair users and a terrace. Space for meet-ups and evening events is also offered here. So, a lot of space where you can work even if you don’t necessarily want to sit in your own office. Or if there are more team members on site than can fit in the office.

The Community

You can feel the vibe here in the hallways, where you meet freelancers as well as teams from startups or smaller companies. Until recently, there was even a midwifery practice here. Here, you never know what field your counterpart is in, as the members are very cross-industry. The work is concentrated, but at the same time there is a lot of exchange – whether in the Slack channel, in the café, at the foosball table, in yoga classes or in the coffee kitchen. Sometimes in chance encounters, sometimes in planned meetings. And that was also the original idea: Instead of every freelancer sitting at his/her desk at home while the ceiling falls on his/her head or he/she easily gets lonely, which is the main problem of lone fighters working alone at home, he/she can work here in a professional environment. In addition, he/she is integrated into an active community.

©Janine Meyer Photography

Teelke Meyer, Head of Community Management at betahaus, described it very aptly: “It’s like having colleagues but no boss. Colleagues you choose yourself.” And of course, it’s also about networking, finding contacts with whom you can exchange ideas, who inspire you, and whom you can help out yourself. As the slogan on the homepage says, “The community makes the difference. Every man for himself was yesterday.” In general, the exchange of knowledge is very important here. For example, if a member gets stuck, he or she is welcome to post a question in the Slack channel. Given the great diversity of the members, someone will (almost) always/often have an answer. In general, it’s easy to find people here who you can ask for something, whether it’s a charging cable or specialist advice.Teelke Meyer, “I’ve always wanted to work somewhere where I come home smarter in the evening than when I left in the morning. Where I learn simply by having gone to work. I got that here at betahaus.”

©Janine Meyer Photography

You quickly feel welcome here, as the betahaus management attaches great importance to getting to know each individual personally. However, you also get to know each other at an onboarding or during the betahaus tour. In addition, there are happenings such as the beta breakfast (which is open to the public and can be attended by anyone) and the beta lunch, although this is only for the beta house community.

The own workplace

What the workplace looks like for you personally depends entirely on your own preferences. The four memberships offered by Betahaus are very different. The first is the Club membership, which includes the Flexdesk area, community events, global roaming, opening hours (Mon – Fri | 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.) and a 10% discount on drinks at the bar. Next is the Professional membership with Flexdesk Open Space, Community Events, Global Roaming, 24/7 access, 5 conference room hours per month, locker, mailbox, premium space and community rates at events.

The Fixed Desk Membership includes a dedicated, fixed workspace, community events, global roaming, 24/7 access, 5 conference room hours per month, locker, mailbox, community kitchen, and community pricing at events. And last but not least, Team Office Membership: self-contained office with 4 to 8 workstations, fully furnished, community events, global roaming, 24/7 access, conference room hours, mailbox, premium space, community pricing at events.

For us, this working environment is just perfect, as we have the advantages of our own office with a few fixed desks, postal address, kitchen and conference room. But it’s a smaller office, because that’s all we need, since most of the time we work in our home office. And when we are all on site at the same time, which happens twice a month, we enjoy the conference in the large arena, the cozy get-together in the café and the concentrated work in the well-equipped flex areas, where we can sit together as we wish.

As Betahaus says so well? You’ll never work alone!