Analysing User Preferences for Co-working Space Characteristics

It’s 2019 and we can assume that everyone is aware of coworking/shared office spaces. The risk taking attitude, entrepreneurial ideas, collaboration and millennial workforce has given rise to the coworking spaces.  You think of networking and collaboration, you think of shared spaces. When people from varied backgrounds and works come together to work on their respective projects but under the same roof, it will encourage the growth of everyone together. If there is a freelancer, he can bag a good project by the startups and companies in the same space. If any company is looking to hire a talented individual and finds a freelancer in the same office then nothing can be better. The best coworking office spaces make sure their coworkers are happy and able to better focus on their work. These offices spaces are very cool. They give you the best of the office environment where you not just work but get better with every passing day. You get to make more connections, be socially active, engage into community events, bag projects, join together and do business and do all that you wish to do in a place that is very beautifully made. The walls are inspiring, the décor is refreshing, the plans are flexible, the coffee is amazing and the vibe is so positive!

Why coworking spaces over traditional offices?

Buying or renting a traditional office space is no longer affordable and easy, thanks to the shooting property rates. The real estate market has taken a big flight and even those who can afford don’t feel like spending a fortune on a regular office. You have just office space with the basic floor layout. All the fittings, décor, water/tea/coffee, internet and other basic things you have to arrange for yourself. Even the furniture. Then if anything breaks down or you have to fix something, again a problem. Contrary to that, the modern offices (coworking) are managed and flexible. You get electricity, internet, water, beverages, housekeeping, front desk, IT service and everything that you would have otherwise been taking care of by yourself. All you have to do it just bring your stuff and get started. All the other things are in-house so you can focus on something you should be focusing on, the work! This generation is lucky enough to behaving such friendly, convenient, collaborative and inspiring places to work at where everyone is sharing space, cost and business. For a creative workforce, these inspiring workplaces will provide a great support.

Who are the users of a coworking space?

For a long while it was believed that the best target group for a shared office space could either be a startup/small venture or freelancers. The reason is the budget. From a couple of years, we have seen a major addition to the target group here. The coworking spaces come at a lesser cost, easily accessible and have a heterogeneous mix of coworkers. The events that are organized and arranged in a coworking space are wonderful and helpful enough to build a better business network. Those who are hosting an event have seen how helpful the in-house audience has been in business and marketing. With so many benefits present, how can the others miss out their chance of these amazing offices? The big corporates and MNCs are also willing to bring their team to the shared spaces. The best coworking office spaces are a great place to work for any kind and size of business. Apart from economic efficiency, they back the work-life balance, foster motivation & inspiration and is basically has an interesting environment to work in. people feel happier and more productive in a coworking space (especially after shifting from a traditional office).

Features of a coworking space

• Coworking spaces are built on the grounds of flexibility.  There is flexibility in time (you can come late and go early, come early and go early or any way), flexibility in plans (various membership plans to suit different business needs) and flexibility in space (don’t worry about up-scaling or downsizing your team size).

• The values of coworking are the community, collaboration, sustainability and availability. If the coworking doesn’t revolve around these values, it is lacking something that can take them ahead in the long run. People in a coworking space join together and exchange business opportunities or share projects and thrive together.

• There have to be all the services (meeting room, private cabin, virtual office, hot desk, cafeteria, event space etc) in the same place so the clients don’t have to go anywhere else in finding services and waste time.

• It supports entrepreneurial dreams and ambitions. From a single person to a big team, anyone can use a coworking space and its services. It’s open to all age groups, sexuality, race, income and educational levels. Coworking is all about having more in lesser cost.

• All the good shared office spaces arrange events for their coworkers. These events are engaging, informative and encourage business networking. Professionals come together in workshops, art, product launch, special program or promotions and this leads to the exchange of information and work.

Mergers and acquisitions in a coworking industry

Just like any other established industry, coworking is also expanding and flourishing. Many major players are proving their worth and a lot of new and small players are also emerging. This industry too has free entry and people seeing the profits are lured to enter in the market. You see a plethora of coworking spaces mushrooming up. The demand is high and so everyone gets a chance to bag a few clients. But the problems happen in the long run. Small shared space providers, with all their passion and efforts, do start a business of providing office but fail to manage the business. Maintaining a managed office is not an easy task, taking care of the clients’ need is not a cakewalk, arranging engaging an event becomes tricky and making profits is a task.

Big fish eat the small fish, yes. But the big players, to support the economy, have taken this step to acquire/take over the smaller players who couldn’t manage to manage their workspaces. Since the passionately constructed and organized spaces shouldn’t just be gone or shut down, the best coworking office spaces (big players) took the smaller ones in exchange of a decided amount to improve them and keep them running. This way, no spaces were shut down and no business with a lot of hard work invested would go in vain. The smaller ones have their money, the bigger ones have more centres and t users have more options to choose from. This interesting thing can be witnessed in the coworking economy more these days.

Custom made office spaces

So, there are cases when your office space is good enough to accommodate even a huge team size (even the entire floor dedicated to them) with all the services and other tailor-made plans and facilities but they would still insist you on a custom made office for them. The layout, the desks, décor and design have to be as per the request of the client (sometimes to match their business theme, sometimes for the vaastu or sometimes for other reasons). In that case, apart from the existing centres, the service providers also make available to their clients the personalized workspaces. This is largely the case with the huge companies that can afford to pay the coworking companies the price for their requirements. Even after making the desired layout they manage space for their clients so they can just focus on their work. This is only the special request that only the best coworking office spaces take.

More about shared office spaces

How do we tell what our members want? We put ourselves in their shoes. What would you like to have in your office? Location access, internet, housekeeping, washroom, electricity, coffee, charging ports, comfortable foot space, good furniture, telecom etc. when you have all these small things (that actually matter a lot than the bigger ones), you are a happy client. Yes, coworking spaces are meant to be ‘cool’ yet comfortable. A comfort comes in the place with the availability of the facilities only.

Now here are some tips:

As been jokes, coworking is not about a couple of bean bags, rustic walls and beers in the fridge. It’s much more than that. It includes community, services and hospitality.

The furniture is important, the color scheme is important and the internet is most important. The quality of the place is seen in the first glance as your enter and you see the things around. As they say, the first impression is generally the last one.

You have to focus on building a community, a group of ‘like-minded’ people who would collaborate, exchange opportunities and thrive together. You have to notice their collective interests and build & organize around that.

Over the past years, the technology and new ways of working have increased the approach towards working.  The technical advancements have made it possible to work from anywhere, literally. Today, people look for a professional environment that supports work and life balance, provide new business networks, collaboration opportunities and growth possibilities. The coworkers in these shared spaces have different preferences and requirements (and you can’t categorize them). We hope this article was useful in knowing what all does the sphere of coworking includes.