WLP279: Coworking Spaces: The Missing Piece in the Hybrid Conversation
Today’s episode is dedicated to coworking spaces, because at Virtual Not Distant we’re all about choice and office-optionality - so we need to remember that remote work does not always mean working from home.
Coworking centres have always offered quality purpose-built work environments, company and networking, and a sense of community - and they are now redefining themselves in the post-pandemic world. Some of them operate a fixed desk rental model, some accommodate teams or small businesses much like an office within an office, while others are more fluid and flexible so people can use them on an ad-hoc basis.
Coworking spaces have been around a long time of course, and this first conversational snippet is drawn from the interviews for special podcast series we created with Shield GEO on connection and disconnection, back in 2019/20 - in which BreeCaggiati interviewed her colleague Asia:
3.18 Asia Hundley and Bree Caggiati, Shield GEO
Asia Hundley, Shield GEO
When Asia Hundley, Customer Success Manager, joined Shield GEO, she didn’t want to work in her hot attic apartment through the summer, and she had no colleagues in the same organisation nearby. So she rented a desk at her local WeWork - temporarily at first, but it later became a lifeline.
Bree Caggiati, Shield GEO
She found that lots of other people there worked in company groups and teams while she was still a solo worker, but for Asia it was the professional environment and consistency which generated the sense of community for her (though there were lots of events and socials going on there too for those who wanted more).
She found it helped her to switch into a professional mindset and routine and keep regular working hours, in a way that working from home did not facilitate.
At the time of recording they noted a growth in people around the world at Shield GEO using local coworking spaces, by personal choice, in different ways and for different reasons - Bree used hers on an occasional basis, enjoying saying hello to people regularly, which didn’t always happen in her working role within the online team. So this was a great pre-pandemic snapshot of the role coworking hubs could play, in the lives of different remote workers.
8:21 Bernie J Mitchell
Our second interview today is with Bernie J Mitchell, who has worked in the coworking industry for years, and is known for his involvement with collaboration technologies and apps and facilities - including advocacy for collaboration and future of work models.
He introduced Pilar to the coworking community originally, and wants everyone to understand that there are options between the office or WFH. He’s part of the self-organised European Coworking Assembly, mostly comprising smaller/independent coworking spaces. The membership is diverse, encompassing tech hubs, rural centres, and ‘15 minute cities’ where everything is intentionally accessible via short walks or cycling.
Bernie J Mitchell
They’re significant promotors of diversity and inclusion, as well as local economic development and sustainability - because coworking on a local basis keeps everyday spending and big investment alike flowing into communities where people live. In London, this means offering options to people in their own outer-city suburbs, instead of the central commute, and finding ways to bring people together where they already are.
Right now he is involved in Townsquare, which is all about the 15 minute city idea - what if everyone could walk to work? Bernie used to travel to a coworking further from home, but then he found Workhive on his doorstep, a coworking now expanding to accommodate increased demand.
So today he walks everywhere, does the school run, and enjoys the permanent shift in the pace and rhythm of life that living this way has brought him. He feels part of his local community, and his local authority area, in ways that didn’t happen before. He is enjoying all the connection and potential this has unlocked.
For all these reasons, Bernie wants to help change the stereotypes of coworking as a privileged playground for young white tech startup types, and to help them create real community spaces where anyone can work and connect and seek out tribes of interest. Already there is growing differentiation, between the high-end slick incubator-like environments, to more flexible and humble setups (like Pilar’s flexible desk at The Workary). And people might need to check out a few options, before finding the combination of benefits and facilities which suits their needs best.
The pandemic hit the industry hard of course, because lots of those shared facilities and additional social events could not be sustained. But the smaller community coworkings did their best to unite people online, while loyal customers helped them maintain a minimum income until normal service could be resumed.
Others are emerging from newly vacant spaces, while now large corporations are eyeing coworking options for local collaborations as they seek to downgrade central office accommodations. And just as many people never needed to videoconference 18 months ago, coworking simply wasn’t on the radar for many who had always commuted to those downtown HQs - people who are now open to exploring third spaces, as the world unlocks.
Conversational themes between Bernie and his coworking networks right now are varied. The focus on ‘back to the office’ is old already, and people are starting to catch up to the idea of working from different places, collaborating in new ways. But what they really want is autonomy, and choice - the ability to plan time and activities for optimal productivity and practicality, and coworking can fill this gap admirably.
The best coworking centres are diverse and interesting places, attracting lots of different industries and people, drawn from a local area but multiple disciplines. They don’t welcome only cool startup types, but experienced employees and part-time consultants and everything in between. Bernie likens it to a really good local café, where you build unique human relationships with the baristas and fellow diners, in ways you cannot get with a global chain. People just need to be aware that there are alternatives on offer, to the Starbucks and WeWorks of this world, for those who prefer them.
This is all part of the bigger conversation about what offices are for, what work is - what we want it to be. The conversation is continual, there’s no pre or post pandemic world with clear boundaries. What matters are the choices we make now.
Bernie recommends the new book by Scott Calloway Post-Corona: From Crisis To Opportunity, which points out that most high earning jobs can definitely be done from anywhere now - it's the lower earners who are being devastatingly impacted by the changes in ways they cannot control, and even having a choice about where and how to work is a huge privilege. Those of us lucky enough to have choices need to exercise them wisely and consciously, as well as seeking ways to trickle down as much autonomy and flexibility to people in other roles as possible.
Do connect with Bernie at Berniejmitchell.com, and sign up for his newsletter there too, for things coworking and the future of work.
Remember that we always love to hear from you, as part of this evolving conversation about the future of work - wherever you do it, and whatever it looks and feels like. We’re continuing to find new ways of helping you connect with your teams and collaborate effectively, from our newsletter (sign up below), to our brand-new podcasting for connection service - so please contact us, or you can tweet Virtual Not Distant, or Pilar and Maya directly, with your thoughts and ideas, and do let us know if coworking spaces are part of your future-of-work plan.
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