What comes to our mind when we say the word ‘workplace’ ?
It depends on our profession , company and other factors, but most of us think about sitting in an office from 9 AM to 5 PM.
Usually, we work in a modern office building, located in one of business districts in a city.
Another way of working, which is rapidly gaining popularity especially on the IT and startup markets, is of course remote work
which is often connected with working from home.
Let’s ask ourselves a question if our home is the best option for getting our work done ? It definitely has advantages:
- it is cost-efficient - you don’t need to pay rent for an office
- it is as near as possible to your home, you don’t waste your time commuting back and forth to the office
However, from my own experience I can see some cons of working from home:
- you quickly start to feel isolated and lonely at your work
- you are prone to distractions like your family members, pets, flatmates, couriers, etc.
- you lack real relationships with people around you (e.g.: coffee chats) and creative environment they build
These and other reasons pushed Brad Neuberg - a software engineer with strong open-source projects background who was living
in California - to launch first coworking space [1] in San Francisco in 2005. Here you can view the original website advertising his coworking space [2]
Brad’s idea worked out and coworking movement has started to spread all over USA and the rest of the world.
According to Wikipedia [3] first coworking space in Europe was opened in 2007 in Marseille, France, while In Poland first coworking space
called “CoworkingClub” was opened in Warsaw in 2008. [4]
Currently coworking spaces and virtual offices are perfect alternatives for renting traditional office spaces.
They offer great flexibility and cost-effectiveness as there are many pricing models including hourly, daily and monthly rates,
which is one of the main advantages compared to legacy offices, which are very inflexible in rental terms & conditions.
These features are highly desirable by individual freelancers, startups and other entrepreneurs, who often work for clients in different countries or cities and are not based in one place.
Those people also do not want to be isolated working from home, they rather look for inspiration, synergy and creative environment which coworking spaces offer.
It can be also a great place to find investors or co-founders for new startups and other business initiatives. There are two basic types of such shared offices (which can also be mixed):
virtual office: basic feature is that a virtual office provider gives you a business address, often in a prestigious neighborhood, which can be used to register your company.
Additional services can also include: phone answering or mail forwarding
coworking spaces: shared office spaces which offer basic resources required in an office environment like: the Internet connection, different types of desks
( hot desks, fixed desks , cabin desks), conference rooms, kitchen, toilets, parking spaces, printing services etc.
Another interesting phenomena related to coworking is coworking travelling [5]. It is a concept of travelling around the world and working remotely by using
coworking spaces. Some of the biggest advantages are: building your network and meeting new people from different cultures, visiting beautiful and
interesting places in exotic countries [6] or just taking a break from boring and routine work at the office
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Questions:
1. Have you ever worked in a coworking space ?
2. Would you consider coworking space or virtual office as your potential startup’s headquarters ?
3. Do you think that big companies will switch from regular offices and use coworking spaces for their small project teams ?
Links:
Comments
Yes,I worked in a coworking space. I didn't like it, I don't like when they look at the monitor.
2. Would you consider coworking space or virtual office as your potential startup’s headquarters ?I think it depends on the type of start up. Now practice such offices. I'm generally a supporter of remote work.
3. Do you think that big companies will switch from regular offices and use coworking spaces for their small project teams ?
I think that they switch but in order to bring people closer, respectively, and the productivity of work will be more.
Of course, if I did not have a job, I think I would visit such a place. But I do not belong to those people who can not work at home. I am quite satisfied with my workplace at home, since it is equipped with everything necessary and I do not switch to "household chores", since that is what I usually do much more interesting.
I think not, big companies hire people to work and provide jobs, pay tax, I think big companies earn enough to equip their office better than the one provided by the "coworking club".
In my office, every project has its own place, and everyone who works on this project is in this sector, which is very helpful.
No, I’d prefer personal office neither coworking.
I don’t think so. Big companies has many secret information, which can’t be shared(source code, information about new products etc.)
Well it depends what budget I would have. If i would be able to rent an office i would definitely do it. People feel much safer if they know that they have their own desk. That they can keep it clean or be messy.
No I think big companies would rather swing to more open space than coworking spaces
Yes. I'm working on open office but due to the fact that most of employees work from home it is quietly there.
2. Would you consider coworking space or virtual office as your potential startup’s headquarters ?
That sound awesome. It depends from size of that startup but first I would just use my own home
3. Do you think that big companies will switch from regular offices and use coworking spaces for their small project teams ?
I'm not sure about it. It would need to be more cost saving. And with current home prices and economy it doesn't sound possible
Yes, I have been working in one of the well-known coworking spaces in Warsaw and I really enjoyed it. I gives opportunity to meet new people from different positions and maybe even start a business together.
2. Would you consider coworking space or virtual office as your potential startup’s headquarters ?
I would use coworking space but it depends on number of members and costs.
3. Do you think that big companies will switch from regular offices and use coworking spaces for their small project teams ?
I don't think so. Having a dedicated space for your team creates proffesional company look but also gives a feeling of commitment to employees to such place. In my opinion it wouldn't be cost saving as well so I think companies won't changeto coworking spaces.
I would consider both options. Depending on the type of the startup. Different organizations need different work environments. For some having only remote workes is possible, for others they need to have all employees in the office.
I think there is a possibility for that scenario. I think we will see more and more coworking areas so the prices will have to decrease in the long run. I have nothing against working in coworking spaces, so I cross my fingers to see such opportunities in the future.
I would absolutely not consider coworking office as a potential startup's headquarters unless it had a dedicated, completely isolated place in it (which would make it no different from an actual office). When creating a company, one of the most important things (just after making profit) is to establish a company culture. You can’t do that in a place where the majority of people are complete strangers.
I also absolutely don’t agree that companies will switch from regular offices to coworking spaces. Not to mention privacy reasons, running own office is actually more viable in the long term.
What's about second question? It depends on budget and number of people in my startup. I think that own house can be used as office but only for a few months.
I can't agree that big companies will switch types of their offices. I think that actual situation can be cheaper and as long as people aren't evidence that productivity in coworking spaces is more productivity everything will be okay.
I don’t think that I would ever start a startup. But if I do, probably yes.
I think for a small team, coworking spaces is really a great idea. It is really a convenient option.
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Good article post thanks for sharing.