Walk into a co-working space and you’ll immediately notice that it feels different from a regular office. The smell of fresh coffee in the air is second only to the atmosphere that the energetic and excited occupants bring to the space.
The term ‘co-working’ was coined by Brad Neuberg, who had started the first official co-working space in San Francisco nearly fifteen years ago. Before the discovery of co-working, we had hackerspaces, which basically meant that there was a space for programmers to swap ideas and places. The concept of co-working might have been found in 2005, but was only properly brought into popularity after the 2008 fiscal crisis – where regular job workers were laid off, and office workers struggled to find a permanent job. Since then, the workers started to find consolation in temporary jobs, or as freelancers – but what they needed was a workspace, not just their homely abode.
Since then, there has been no looking back for the concept of co-working. From indie offices, to worldwide, major co-working companies, the co-working craze is being felt everywhere. The benefits are so diversified that they are not only felt by the freelancers, but also by business owners, start-ups et cetera – who find this to be a more easy and economical alternative compared to regular office rents. Startups and small businesses can rent out an office space that fits them, while being able to book a meeting room for when needed. It’s cheap and efficient, while still maintaining a degree of professionalism.
Co-working spaces are essentially shared spaces where co-works work together in any workplace environment. Co-working spaces are offered to anyone who is looking to escape the boredom of dreary home jobs, or coffee places. In fact, these shared co-working spaces offer a lot on the table – lavish in-office amenities such as a private meeting room, proper work desks, kitchens, coffee and refreshment stands et cetera. Often times, a co-working space offers a community as well and occupants of this space are generally freelancers, start-up owners, entrepreneurs or just small teams that are looking to take advantage of a flexible space.
In addition to these amenities, cost is another place where it wins. One of the advantages of these spaces is the ability to rent out only what you need vs an entire private office space, which can be costly. These include options for daily or monthly fees. Membership costs are also different based on whether you use a shared desk or want a dedicated one.
Importance & Benefit of Coworking Space Community
Co-working spaces offer a vibrant atmosphere where you can meet others, network, schedule meetings, and most importantly get your work done. They’re inherently social and community driven. It’s not uncommon for the larger, widespread companies to employ community managers to ensure that everything is ticking along nicely and getting people to network and become more involved.
Community is perhaps the largest driving force in any co-working spaces. It is a natural motivating factor. For example if you were to work from home, coffee shops or even host meetings privately on a screen, without physically interacting with anyone – surely your work tasks would be completed on time, and diligently but a lack of personal touch would be present. That being said, man is a social animal and the more he communicates, the more he evolves and thrives. Man craves for a personal, informal relation with his colleagues, partner, social circle et cetera. A co-working space community helps lift the barrier of formality and poor communication and in fact promotes public relations, personal relations and boosts the morale of the workers. It is predicted that by the end of this decade, there will be close a million co-working spaces – which in turn would lead to many more million communities built.
The benefits and importance of co-working space community go hand in hand, since both the aspects practically mean the same thing.
Also, unlike a traditional office, co-working spaces consist of members who work for a range of different companies, ventures, and projects. Because there is little to no direct competition or internal politics, they don’t feel they have to put on a work persona to fit in and they don’t have to show aggressiveness in the work space. Workers don’t hold personal grudges against eachother, something that is renowned to happen in any office job. Working amidst people doing different kinds of work can also make one’s own work identity stronger, and help in identifying one’s own strengths and weaknesses.
Working in a joined space community also brings meaning to the workers. This basically means that, social good may also come from working in a culture where it is the norm to help each other out, and there are many opportunities to do so; the variety of workers in the space means that coworkers have unique skill sets that they can provide to other community members.
Co-working communities also have more job control. Co-working spaces are normally accessible 24/7. People can decide whether to put in a long day when they have a deadline or want to show progress, or can decide to take a long break in the middle of the day to go to the gym. They can choose whether they want to work in a quiet space so they can focus, or in a more collaborative space with shared tables where interaction is encouraged. They may even decide to work from home, if some unavoidable issues prop up that require physical presence at home. So you see, it’s all very flexible and tailored as per the convenience of the workers.
Most importantly, in a shared community, co-workers feel the warm sense of belonging – that of a real community. Since man is a social animal and likes to socialise and communicate, it is but obvious that the co-workers will try to find minds that are like, socialise and build their own community – apart from the one relating to work. They are able to create their own world, their own niche and thus this helps in building their morale and hence improve their work efficiency.
Shared workplaces are a burgeoning pool of talent, making them the ideal place to find your next employee. Finding the right people to work for your company is never an easy task, sometimes it can feel like everyone who applies just isn't the right fit, until there's that one that jumps off the page in personality and experience. Co-working spaces have long been lauded as a great alternative to traditional offices when you're starting out a business. Why? They're cost-efficient, they're conveniently located, and they have flexible lease terms. But that's not all they have to offer: inherent in the ethos of co-working is the community. In other words, working in a co-working space means you'll be surrounding yourself with talented, creative, and motivated individuals just as driven as you are to achieve their goals.
As per some mutual perspectives, it is universally agreed upon that sometimes hidden talents are pulled out in a community. For example, amidst a group of averagely diligent workers a topic of fair confusion props up that requires skilled thinking, proper leadership or even problem solving skills. It is obviously not possible that each person will hold all the required skills but it is definitely possible for someone to recognize the more skilled worker amongst the others. Talent can be sought out during times of pressure and confusion – where the real worthy workers are given the opportunity to shine. This goes without saying, only a diamond is created in a heavily pressured environment and this is true for workers as well – only during a heavily pressurising environment filled with issues, politics, does a real gem of a worker come out in the limelight.