Today, we are now seeing more coworking office spaces mushrooming in every corner of the business district. Even finding a coworking office franchise within our block is nothing new. There is indeed something going on with this new work concept.
The coworking office craze is actually a natural shift to what is considered as a “livable” working environment, to what is deemed as an adaptable and flexible space where anyone can flourish. True, the coworking office concept is an attractant for collaborative activities and creative ideas, but there is more than meets the eye.
According to a Harvard Business Review survey, coworking spaces allow people to see work as more meaningful, to control their job, and to have a feeling of a sense of community. But apart from those findings, coworking spaces allude to the new generation of workers where technology and opportunity dictate the way we value work and social interaction.
Redefining Work
The traditional approach of doing work is often square and strict. The last decades of the last century bore witness to such a highly controlled environment. But by the time the 90s came, some changes began to shape up. People are loosening up more.
Then came the coworking office concept. Researchers from Harvard Business Review identified why this concept is working. First, they found out that those who use coworking spaces find their work as more meaningful. They can bring their “whole selves” to work.
Why? Because there is no competition, the norm is to help each other, and everyone follows the Coworking Manifesto, which values community, collaboration, learning, and sustainability.
Second, the researchers find these workers to have more job control. People are provided with work autonomy, permitting them to control time and space at work. One can choose to work overtime, take a longer break, work at home, work by themselves, or work with other people.
Lastly, coworking people feel they are part of a community. Of course, a communal setting creates connections. More so, the researchers found that even though socialization is not forced, people who choose every now and then to be left alone still find that sense of community in the workplace.
A Natural Shift
Indeed, the coworking office concept is redefining how work is done today. But beyond the desire to find community in a work environment, the shift is a natural outcome of a time when technology and opportunity are paving the way a new breed of professionals that value teamwork in finding more efficient solutions too many societal problems.
The internet can be very well considered as a major impetus to such a shift. The World Wide Web heightened globalization. With everybody’s needs and wants to be more interconnected with how a good or service is produced and distributed, humanity grows ever closer with finding answers to his problems.
Take for instance the invention of a transportation app to ease travel. People had to work together to produce such an app because they should. And because they can. Thanks to the power of computing technologies.
Coworking offices are redefining the way we view and do work. It is effectively institutionalizing an approach that is more conducive to what people desire when it comes to working. As such, it is an outcome of a natural shift to how technology can create a closer and more communal world.
