With a spike in the startup culture in India, coworking spaces have seen a similar boom. These spaces have been a blessing for companies, as they offer significant cost savings and convenience. There are many factors that one should consider before choosing a coworking space, such as location and price, but arguably the most critical among them is the ‘community factor’.
Humans, by nature, are social beings. Most people generally avoid being alone and work at their best when they are with others. This quality is often reflected at workplaces when some of the best ideas are generated during brainstorming sessions and collaborations. Coworkers are likely to get inspired and motivated by each other to work more creatively. Over the recent history of corporate culture, we’ve seen cubicles replaced by coffee tables in the young organisations, owing to a renewed understanding of the importance of interpersonal relationships among employees. It is this evolution of corporate culture that has given rise to the popularity and adoption of coworking spaces.
Coworking spaces go beyond providing space for work, it provides space for ideas, networking and collaborations. The community that a coworking space is offering should be one that you can easily feel comfortable with.
What is the community factor?
The community in a coworking space goes beyond the physical bounds of your neighbouring teams, or the people you work next to. It’s about the collaboration of like-minded people, who share one vision and continuously work hard to fulfil that. It is about networking with other teams, sharing contacts and helping each other in finding projects to work on.
Community building is an important aspect of coworking spaces because it is the most concrete step towards creating a vibrant coworking space.
Importance of community in coworking spaces
Why exactly does community matter and why should this be the factor that one considers while choosing a coworking space in Mumbai or some metropolitan areas alike across the globe? We shall discuss some reasons.
Networking
Through events and workshops organised by coworking spaces, the community gets a chance to interact with each other. The teams get to know about each other and their work and grow and learn together. The different teams connect and share contacts, which can prove beneficial to both of them.
Business advantages
Networking certainly proves beneficial for expanding businesses as well. It can help organisations snag new clients and build new connections. Often, the teams can also hire each other for their services! They can get to know about potential customers and projects, share their details and even, profit. This can only be possible if there exists a healthy community.
Support and Feedback
A good community often offers support to each other’s teams whenever needed. It is also a great way to solicit instant feedback and constructive criticism. Since a coworking space houses people from diverse backgrounds, you’re likely to be exposed to ideas that may have been hard to come by independently. In other words, it becomes one large family that gets better together.
Social benefits
A coworking community that functions well would make feel you like you belong. If you’re part of a community with great energy, enthusiasm and the same vision as yours, you’ve found the right place. A great community is the one that gives you a positive vibe and elevates your work. Fun social events help blow off steam and rejuvenate.
How to measure the community factor
Although there are no specific quantitative parameters for comparing the community factor across coworking spaces, one can easily understand it by observing the following points:
- Diverse people: Does the coworking space have diverse teams, from all kinds of backgrounds and streams?
- Events and workshops: Is the coworking space a fun environment? It should organise different kinds of workshops, mixers and programs for work-life balance and learning.
- Shared vision: Do your goals align with that of the people working with you? This way, collaborations and coworking become easier.
How to develop a community in coworking space
A coworking space can organise different events to increase the interaction between the teams. These events can be just general meet and greet, or something more elaborate like an open mic.
There can be broadly two types of events:
- One that includes some learning such as workshops and seminars and
- Second, social events such as mixers.
A healthy balance between the two is recommended. If there is a new team joining the workplace, it can be welcomed by holding a small ceremony. This will help them mingle easily. There are a thousand different options, one just has to think out of the box. For example, some coworking spaces like iKeva hosts regular member birthday celebrations, how cool is that?
The community factor is more crucial than you may think in coworking spaces, and there has to be continuous efforts made to ensure the community is healthy, positive and growing.