Mr. Green reimagines shared workspaces with ChromeOS

Editor’s note: Today’s post is by Pim Jeursen, CTO of Mr. Green, a fast-growing shared office space company with six locations across the Netherlands. Mr. Green chose ChromeOS devices to provide customized digital workspaces to its members.

Our world class shared office locations in the Netherlands offer state-of-the-art and stylish working spaces equipped with all the details necessary to make the most of the workday, like ergonomic desks and chairs, easy tools for connecting peripheral devices, and the latest technology. Above all, the workspaces are equipped with ChromeOS to maximize productivity for Mr. Green members, as well as the IT team.

As we scale and add new Mr. Green locations around the country, we’re supported by ChromeOS, a platform that can be easily, centrally managed and is adaptable to individual worker’s needs. ChromeOS and Google Workspace are present in every Mr. Green office so users can begin work as soon as they arrive. Thanks to ChromeOS device management and the easy-to-use operating system work is streamlined for Mr. Green members, and for us supporting behind the scenes. With the Google Admin console, Mr. Green IT experts can add, remove, and manage hundreds of ChromeOS devices with just a few clicks.

Offices that are more than just square footage
We use smart tech to create vibrant shared spaces. Traditional offices are empty. To combat this, we’re using technology to fill in the empty spaces and create customized experiences for each member. In addition to the shared working environment, companies can choose to reserve workstations or meeting rooms for a specific period of time. Upon booking, your workspace transforms with your branding and preferences, creating a personalized experience from the moment you arrive. From the earliest days of Mr. Green, we wanted to go beyond just space and offer a full workplace experience: customized stations, affordable lunches, a full gym, great coffee and tea, and a collaborative environment. Our goal is to build an office that is better than your current one, better than your home office, and overall make the experience more enjoyable. ChromeOS, and Google, have been a big part of making this a reality.

In every office, custom-designed workstations include Acer Chromeboxes that are paired with high-quality 38 inch Dell monitors. Workers can simply sign in to the devices at their desks, and they’ll see an online environment that looks, feels, and operates like their company home page.

Using managed guest sessions through ChromeOS, members can choose to sign in to their own Citrix environment, or use the Chromebox as a full cloud-native workstation for their own Google Workspace, Office365 work suite, or any other cloud environment. If members need a custom solution to help people access the apps they need, we’ll develop it for them.

ChromeOS scales as we grow

We launched Mr. Green to maximize productivity: workers at our member companies, as well as our IT staff—making daily work easier for everyone. ChromeOS makes IT projects easier and faster. For example, one of our ongoing challenges is provisioning technology for new Mr. Green locations. Thanks to zero-touch enrollment, we reduced device deployment time from 45 minutes to just 10 minutes per device.

This time savings helps us to grow quickly and allows our 5 person IT team to be more efficient, so they can focus on improving networks and the member technology experience.

Providing flexibility and customization was surprisingly simple. We use managed guest sessions in ChromeOS, which allows people to sign in to their own cloud productivity solutions such as Google Workspace and Citrix. Workers are seamlessly connected to the same environment and experience they would have in a traditional office. ChromeOS even plays a part in welcoming our members to the Mr. Green offices. Chrome Sign Builder lets us schedule and display content across managed ChromeOS devices to show the names of businesses in Mr. Green offices.

Employees are ready to work in seconds with Chromeboxes

At Mr. Green, our members have the opportunity to reduce their office and IT management costs since they have access to 550 ChromeOS devices across our six locations, with more locations opening soon. Each workstation is equipped with an Acer Chromebook and we have Lenovo Chromebox Micros across each location to power the digital signage.

In this way, employees whose companies choose Mr. Green don’t even need to carry laptops back and forth to the workplace. If people do want to bring in their own devices, they can do so, but we believe our unique value is in providing full workstation solutions for maximum flexibility.

Without the worry of supplying workers with computers, networks, and software, Mr. Green members can focus on increasing their productivity and efficiency. Some of our member companies don’t buy any computer hardware at all, which is a significant cost saving—this works especially well for new businesses that need to conserve capital.

We want our members to feel inspired and supported during their business journey. The fully managed devices are just as important to the experience as the boutique furniture. We couldn’t have built out the Mr. Green brand without ChromeOS.