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According to Statista.com, by the end of 2018, it has been predicted that there will be over 18,900 coworking spaces worldwide. With the number growing exponentially year by year, it is important to know what drives growth in this industry. As with every industry, there are several reasons for the advancement, but there is one seemingly universal trait in every coworking space that has undoubtedly aided in the rise of the industry: the common values they hold.
In today’s world of business, it is essential for every company to have a mission statement. Acting as a formal representation of their goals and values, it gives employees and consumers an idea of how a company sees oneself and what they are focused on achieving. Every business prides themselves on their unique mission statement with the goal of separating away from their competitors. On the contrary, almost all coworking companies share very similar “statements” in the form of shared values. Simply put, five core principles, that of collaboration, openness, sustainability, accessibility, and community, have been a key propellant to why coworking has become a global trend in business. Below, we have outlined for you in detail why these values hold such great status within coworking culture.
Collaboration: With coworking being predominantly focused on startups and freelancers, it is essential to encourage high rates of collaboration within the space. The task of creating a business is no easy job and with it comes its fair share of struggles and confusion. That is why collaboration is key. It is necessary that each coworker feels like they have the ability to reach out to other fellow coworkers and ask for guidance on specific topics. For this reason, collaboration is why coworking spaces have rapidly expanded globally. Freelancers/startups see the benefits of coworking and are incentivized to work at these spaces because they know that they will be able to give and receive help on a mutual level. This exchange further provides them opportunities to learnfrom other coworkers, which is highly valued information.
Openness: Every business culture, regardless of the industry, needs to have an atmosphere of openness in the office. This is imperative because it provides people with the ability to be themselves and not worry about anything else other than achieving their goals. This is what coworking does best. Coworking culture focuses heavily on creating an open atmosphere within their space, which in turn allows coworkers to develop trustworthy relationships with each other which also aids in further collaboration.
Sustainability: One of the reasons coworking is such a successful idea is because of the common mission to remain sustainable. In short, this word is used in reference to the goal of holding an unbreakable balance between giving and receiving with fellow coworkers. This idea has proved useful as coworkers realize that what they put in is what they get out in return. Coworking spaces pride themselves on providing their coworkers with assets to help them grow their business and also instill a culture of equally giving back what you receive. This idea of mutually sharing information and skills with each other has been a key reason why coworking is so popular for freelancers or startups.
Accessibility: Coworking spaces are highly focused on both locational and educational accessibility. It is important to have the fixed location of the space in a good area for daily activities, such as food options, cafés, gyms, libraries, etc. Regarding educational accessibility, they provide opportunities for their coworkers to grow their knowledge if they desire too. This can happen in the form of speakers, workshops, events and more. Coworking spaces focus heavily on accessibility because it provides their coworkers with an even greater chance of growth and success.
Community: Put in a nutshell, the value of community is all about accommodating to fellow coworkers and creating friendly bonds between each other. This value has proven to be incredibly useful as a huge testament to the success of coworking is because of the focus on relationship building and fostering interactions between coworkers. Putting strong emphasis on community is very important because as members of the coworking community become close, the friendships will then allow further collaboration and mutual benefits to all coworkers.
Article updated on: 09 August 2023
Written by
Talent Garden, Digital Skills Academy
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