Do you know coworking? Coworking as you may know it is changing. The fact is, it might have already changed! The reason is that more and more people are looking at shared office space as an alternative to other commercial office options. This means that coworking spaces are getting bigger with more people using them.
The other reason that coworking is growing is that more small business owners are seeing the cost savings of shared office space. They are seeing the benefits of the community involvement opportunities that come with the entire concept of coworking. The concept of coworking is entering a highly competitive phase, as more and more new spaces are opening up. But the fact that shared office space is being offered at lower rates than other office options is no longer enough to lure the smart small business owner. It is the sense of being part of a community that is making coworking more attractive to entrepreneurs.
Some coworking spaces are carving out their niches to particular political leanings and becoming more of an exclusive club; others are choosing to be exclusive to a gender or lifestyle. There are coworking spaces that are exclusive to women; there are also spaces that are building communities around people who are vegetarians (in other words, carnivores are not welcome).
It’s not merely a matter of gender or politics or lifestyle. Coworking by industry is gaining popularity as well. It is not uncommon to find coworking spaces that primarily cater to high-tech entrepreneurs working in the video game and app development communities. There are also groups who are interested in lowering their environmental footprint and seek out green-friendly coworking spaces that are also primarily shared with other companies who are working on greener initiatives.
The other not-so-new coworking/team space endeavour is enterprise coworking. This is where large companies are sending teams off-campus to work on projects in a coworking-like space for the collaborative experience – without the feeling of being under the corporate ‘thumb.’ In some cases, large companies are sending groups of employees off-campus to work at coworking spaces alongside people working for other companies in similar industries. This is almost like sending people to band camp to hone their skills and learn new things.