For 15 years, coworking spaces have been growing in all the largest cities in the world. But what makes them so popular? Why and when did they seem? Who are their members?
New technologies reminiscent of artificial intelligence and robots are forcing employers to rethink the way they work. At the same time, employees want more autonomy and flexibility. Many people have chosen self-employment to avoid organizational constraints and determine where and when they may work.
The worker aspirations and employers’ expectations due to this fact, they have modified significantly in recent years. Many employees wish to work from home; others wish to work offsite, but with other people.
As a specialist in human resources management and sociology of work, I have been researching coworking spaces for five years and identifying the fundamental sources of interest and success in these places.
A neutral and open place
They are also called coworking areas, fab labs and Living Labs third places. American sociologist Ray Oldenburg defines them as places of work outside the office or regular workplace, but also outside the home, as is often the case with telework.
The third place is neutral (neither at home nor in the employer’s office), open to everyone, with free and unrestricted access (especially when it involves activities). It should facilitate conversations and meetings, in addition to provide conference rooms and space for coffee breaks, lunch and dinner. Ideally, the space could be used by the same users on a regular basis.
Spaces for co-creation
The first coworking space was established in 2005 in San Francisco to enable users to develop creativity, innovation and ideas. Total number of coworking spaces currently exceeds 14 thousand. Some spaces disappear, others emerge.
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A coworking space allows users to share the same space with the same types of devices found in the office (copier, printer, scanner). Employees can use this equipment and share expenses in exchange for weekly or monthly rental fees.
Offices could also be positioned in an open area to facilitate probability encounters. This is preferred by many self-employed people, but small corporations or start-ups often prefer closed offices for greater confidentiality. Both types of offices could be positioned in a coworking space, which helps reduce isolation through the presence of a kitchen or coffee corner where employees meet.
In this fashion, the coworking space has turn into an revolutionary solution to the desire to work outside the central office, without having to be alone at home. It is also attractive to self-employed individuals who prefer to work in a space where there are other employees.
Making networking easier
Ideally, a coworking space should go beyond sharing costs and offering services. It also needs to be a place for exchanging ideas and networking, and enabling members to develop skilled collaborations.
Some coworking spaces bring together certain categories of employees from the same sector or with skilled connections. The principle of a coworking space is to rent space for work, which helps reduce costs, but also encourages networking and the exchange of ideas.
To develop this cooperation, people need to seek out a common interest that may encourage exchange. Some spaces emphasize proximity to mission or vocation (for example, all social economy enterprises), which may increase members’ interest and willingness to cooperate with each other.
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By working together in the same space, users can find common solutions to assist share knowledge and face an increasingly competitive environment. Even though some self-employed people prefer to work alone, they still have people with whom they will share coffee and lunch breaks, and sometimes additionally they have ideas and contacts that support their activities and exchanges.
There is not at all times a clear technique to encourage interaction, but in many spaces there is a coordinator whose role is to make sure that people get to know each other and cooperate on projects.
Our research highlights the importance of available financial, material and human resources, particularly in terms of enabling resources. An area created without these resources will probably be less encouraging to share knowledge, cooperation and may even have some difficulties in survival.
Diverse realities
Coworking has turn into popular throughout the world, but it refers to different realities. Indeed, depending on the city or region in which it appears, we are going to find more individuals, self-employed people or, conversely, small corporations or start-ups, with different goals, starting a business there.
Coworking spaces could be used by individuals who want a more skilled address to run their business than a home to host clients. In addition, they will often have a large conference room, providing a more formal setting for meetings.
Some may use the space primarily for advantages reminiscent of cost reduction, sharing of human resources (administrative support) or equipment (printer, copier, conference rooms), or simply for convenience and services (communal kitchen, good coffee machine). coffee, comfortable sofas and chairs).
Fear of competition
Sometimes it may well be difficult to interact with colleagues in the same field. Some people may view these people as competitors who may steal their customers. Some coworking spaces do not accept individuals who may very well be perceived as competition for other members.
Collaboration doesn’t at all times happen in a coworking space. Indeed, while this has often been presented as an advantage, no study has yet clearly demonstrated the advantages of coworking spaces in fostering greater collaboration. It stays to be documented.
Indeed, physical closeness does not necessarily result in skilled closeness, as some people prefer to work in isolation. For example, we observed spaces that desired to specialize in a particular sector, reminiscent of the cultural sector or the social economy, but in fact had very few or no employees in this field.
Even if the discourse or goal is sometimes different, most coworking space managers ultimately welcome all categories of employees. Recent research has shown that without this inclusive vision, there will not be enough customers to maintain the space lively, especially in small towns or outside the city.
A coworking space can encourage creativity, innovation, initiative and a sense of belonging to the same community, but this is not at all times the case. In fact, exchange and collaboration are inclined to be easier between self-employed people than with employees of the same company, who sometimes are inclined to hang around with each other in a coworking space. On the other hand, the exchange can often be facilitated by the presence of a coordinator.
Therefore, coworking spaces are diverse and create opportunities for cooperation, but also certain challenges (profitability, development of stock exchanges). In fact, interest in this kind of space is visible in all major cities in the world, in addition to in many small regional cities. This is clearly a recent way of working, enabling exchange, collaboration and networking to be fostered.