Never heard of Coworking before?
Great question. In the text below, we will explain some of the key facts and definitions of what coworking is.
Coworking is the new solution to combine life and work in an easy way. It is a social development and a modern way of working between technology, community and innovation, which will form the way we work in our future. Coworking means many different things to many different people all around the world and every coworking space is unique, so LOVE WHERE YOU WORK!
What is Coworking?
Working in Coworking offices or spaces is the new way of working together with other people and sharing knowledge. It is even more than just sharing infrastructure, space and cost, it gives you a sense of belonging to a community, to a accessibility and to a sustainability. The concepts of Coworking spaces are designed to offer a productive, collaborative and flexible environment for all visitors, workers and users. As soon as you step into a coworking space, you feel the difference to a ‘normal’ office. There is a smell of fresh coffee in the air and the atmosphere is more like you stepped into a hip bar.
What are the goals of Coworking?
‘Coworking without community is just working’. This is more or less the slogan, that every coworking space supports. And it really is a fact that community and communication are indeed the foundation of every coworking space. The goal is to bring together as many different characters as possible so they can exchange ideas, talk about their jobs or even find new business partner or clients. Inspiring each other is also a goal. Everyone knows how input from various sides can bring out the best in your project. But this is not the only thing which makes coworking so special. The idea to be free in your work and work from wherever you are, is the most attractive thing about coworking. It combines the atmosphere you have at a cafe and hang out with your friends and colleges and your own goals to work efficient.
The ingredients to the perfect Coworking Space
There are some points you need to observe. First you need to check if your potential space meets all requirements, that are important for work – like high speed internet. If it doesn’t, you already have lost. We all know that internet is THE THING, when it comes to work. A second important point is the connectivity of your space. There is no need for a coworking space in a suburban area, it has to be reachable with a lot of public transports, you should also find some cafés or restaurants or other shopping facilities nearby. Freelancers and creative minds need the flexibility to work whenever they want to: some are more productive at night, some need the social atmosphere at noon. A table tennis match during the lunch break? No problem. Conduct an inspirational conversation with a potential client or business partner on a large, cosy sofa? Also no problem.
A good coworking space should offer you a lot of different work environments, so you can find a place appropriate to your mood. Referring to the interior of your space, you have some entrepreneurial freedom, but you can’t go wrong with a timeless, Scandinavian design. An open space always creates the feeling of connectivity in between the different characters, but there should also be the possibility to create private areas, for example by adding movable walls with a blackboard on them is a easy but effective way. For more people and even more privcy, you can find a isolated meeting room, for the ‘normal-office’-feeling, equipped with a projector, connections for multiple laptops, whiteboards etc
Where can you find Coworking Spaces?
Coworking spaces can be found all around the world, but obviously the lergest spaces are usually housed in bigger or capital cities such as New York, Berlin, Milan, Paris etc. But even in smaller cities coworkings spaces aren’t rarities anymore. Creative minds live everywhere, and thousands of startups are founded everyday, so the target group is massive and it keeps on growing. There are big providers of spaces such as betahaus, mostly known in Berlin, orr, to include more international providers, Talent Garden or WeWork, with locations in New York, Washington, Miami, London, Tel Aviv or Amsterdam, offering space for teams of different sizes. Even ‘special’ coworking spaces are nothing new. The Surf Office has spaces explicitly located in bay area, such as San Francisco or the Canary Islands. But the list isn’t finished yet: in 2019 there are listed MORE than 20.000 coworking spaces in the world, and the number keeps growing.
Will Coworking make its way to all companies?
The increasing numbers are speaking all for itself – YES. By 2020, we are expected to have about 26.000 coworking spaces in the world. This is a really good number and shows how important and innovative this kind of working for the future is. Despite the fact that there are still many employers out there who are traditional and don’t believe in other systems, many studies have already shown that the employees are more efficient and they’re more motivated about their own work. The future will tell us what kind of work will prevail.
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A text by Stefanie Klein, Laura Samardzija, Jessika Hädecke