TRENDSopedia Africa

Co-working is the new Office.

WHAT IF IN FIFTY YEARS TIME THE WORD ‘OFFICE’ BECOMES OUTDATED AND IS REPLACED BY TWO WORDS CO-WORKING?

For decades you were accorded real respect when you woke up in the morning with one destination in mind – the office. Other professionals who did not call their work space an office were not treated with awe as the man who walked, neatly pressed shirt and tie into a building he called an office.

Today the scenario has entirely changed. You hear professionals say I’m going to the studio, I’m off to my showroom, workshop, stand and now hub, also referred to as membership-based workspaces or co-working spaces.

A co-working space is a style of working environment that houses diverse group of freelancers, remote workers, and other independent professionals work together in a shared communal setting.

Coffee shops and hangout locations are fast becoming working spaces for startups. You see millennials sipping coffee and typing away on their laptops.

Silicon Valley has proven status quo wrong by setting up and establishing corporations that are world contenders today which began from co-working spaces like a garage.

The garage where Silicon Valley started - Hewlett Packard Garage

According to Harvard Business Review people who belong to co-working spaces report levels of thriving that approach an average of 6 on a 7-point scale. This is at least a point higher than the average for employees who do their jobs in regular offices.

The acclaimed first co-working space ever by Brad Neuberg

Startups know better than to go looking for expensive office space in a commercial lit area of the city where they can be vulnerable to the whims and caprices of the big guns in their industries.

There are benefits that comes to those who take advantage of the co-working space.

Work is less competitive and more meaningful: Because a co-working space consists of people who work for a range of different projects for different companies, competition, and internal politics is minimal.

The help Culture: Working in such an environment fosters help and in such an environment makes it undeniable; the unique skill of one co-worker will be a solution to another’s problem.

Flexibility and more control of one’s work: This issue of lights out after 5pm internet downtime after work hours is not an excuse in a co-working space because these spaces and its assets are usually available 24/7. Millennials who are the bulk beneficiaries can choose to work in a less crowded place to aid focus or in a more collaborative space with shared resources where connection and interaction is encouraged.

Connection, collaboration and co-creation: This births a powerful working community. This is one strong advantage of the co-working space. In so many cases, it becomes not about a person going to the office; it makes that person feel like he’s part of a social movement.

Spending some hours at a co-working space can cause a spark of new ideas.

Should the traditional offices glean lessons from co-working spaces?

Of course yes?

The first thing traditional offices should learn to apply is flexibility. This is because the larger population of employees are mobile therefore, it is important to create such flexibility within the work environment which is beyond an open/large workstation and a coffee machine. Employees that fall within this category should be allowed to work in ways that make them feel in control of their projects. Offer networking events, training programs and social events that foster connection and collaboration within and outside the work environment because these soft skills play a seventy percent role in accomplishing projects.

Disruption is the game of the day.

Some co-working centres in Africa.