coworking

The Potential Energy in Coworking

Community Manager collaboration, coworking, innovation , ,
When I look at a coworking space I see potential energy. Remember that concept from middle school science class? Kinetic energy is what you have when things are in motion. However, potential energy is invisible. It’s just sitting inside an object waiting to be released into kinetic energy. A tennis ball sitting on a table has potential energy, a tennis ball bouncing around a room has kinetic energy.
Don’t get me wrong, there is certainly a lot of kinetic energy in a coworking space. The conversations, the typing, the laughing and all the work that happens day-in-and-day-out. Some days are quieter than others, the kinetic energy is a little bit lower, while other days it seems like the space isn’t enough to hold all the action happening inside its walls.
Kinetic energy is great, but it’s not what gets me excited about coworking. I’m interested in all the potential energy that is just waiting to be released. What does potential energy look like in a coworking space?
  1. The serendipitous connections just waiting to be made: You’re struggling with a coding problem that has you absolutely stumped. You haven’t met the guy next to you, yet, but little do you know he just responded to a question on Quora that precisely relates to what’s driving you crazy. Or, as you hold the door open for someone as you enter the space you realize she’s wearing the t-shirt of the start-up your buddy just started and they’re looking for a consultant. The opportunities are nearly endless for all of these connections to happen in a coworking space.
  2. The member-led workshop that changes your business: You decide to sit in on a workshop that your coworking buddy is giving. Not because you’re super interested in the topic, but more of a show of support. Little do you know he ends up saying something that solves a very specific, yet annoying problem, in your own business and/or life. Boom, potential energy turns into kinetic.
  3. The beer with a coworker that solidifies a business deal: You head to happy hour with a friend you made at your local coworking space. You’ve built up a friendship over the past couple of months, have bounced ideas around with each other, and have landed on something you’re both excited to pursue. What was once a small nibble of an idea in the back of your head has become an actual project.

 

You get the idea. A coworking space is as ripe a place as any you’ll find to change potential energy into kinetic. What does it take, though? A tennis ball won’t fall of the table by itself. It needs something; it needs a nudge.

Have You Answered The Nudge?

Your coworking space owner or manager may be the one who lands that successful nudge. I’m sure they’re emailing you with announcements and opportunities all the time. Have you tuned them out or do you still read every email? Have you considered going to the after-hours get together or the lunch-hour brainstorm session — just to see what it’s like?
Maybe the nudge takes the form of one your coworkers convincing you to go to a workshop with them. Or maybe you convince someone to go with you. Maybe you can nudge yourself with the thought that with nothing ventured, nothing gained. The nice thing about stepping out of your comfort zone once (and potential energy IS comfortable, there’s no doubt about it) is that it ends up taking much less effort the next time you want to do it. One small success acts as a catalyst for the next time you want to change some potential energy into kinetic. It’s cumulative and exponential and you can act as the nudge to get the newest member involved in the process.
Potential energy has never changed the world. It’s only when we release that potential that we begin making connections, making changes, and seeing positive change in ourselves, our spaces, and if I may be so bold, the world.
Sam Spurlin is an American graduate student studying the intersection between developmental and organizational psychology. He writes and coaches at SamSpurlin.com and is spending the summer in Prague working in Locus Workspace. He’ll be sharing his thoughts and observations about coworking here for the next couple of months. You can follow him on Twitter (@samspurlin) or send him an email (samspurlin AT gmail DOT com).

Research to Be Done

Community Manager coworking, psychology, research ,
All of us in the coworking movement realize this is still a very young phenomenon. As we continue to grow it will be important to have justification for the decisions made about how we run our spaces. A base of research can be very helpful in making those decisions as well as convincing a sometimes skeptical public about the benefits of this movement. Deskmag has kicked off the effort in the right direction with two Global Coworking Surveys. These surveys have collected a myriad of demographic and descriptive data that has helped us better understand what coworking spaces are like, who coworkers tend to be, and some of the habits and characteristics of both spaces and people. As we move forward as an industry, though, more nuanced research will have to be undertaken. As I see it, here are some of the main areas where future researchers will make major contributions to coworking.

Characteristics of Spaces

What characterizes a great space from a mediocre one? Are there physical characteristics of a space that makes it more conducive to work? More conducive to community building? What is the optimal density of workers? What amenities have measurable impacts on the well-being of the people who work in the space? Are there certain aesthetic choices that are important in designing a space? Where should spaces be located? What are the differences between urban and suburban spaces? Are these important differences? 
There are answers to the questions I just posed (and by no means is this an exhaustive list). There are “rules of thumb” and “hunches” that guide many space owners but very little actual research addresses any of these questions. With good research into the characteristics of spaces perhaps certain amenities, design decisions, and physical characteristics of the space will emerge as the most important. When dealing with a limited budget this information will be very helpful to the space owner who wants to have the largest positive impact on his or her coworkers as possible. What if specific characteristics of coworking spaces can be identified as vital to worker well-being and then transplanted into corporate entities? While this could be viewed as cutting the pool of possible coworkers I prefer to see it as improving the lives of our fellow human beings that are not in a position to take advantage of a coworking space. Regardless, better understanding of the characteristics of coworking spaces can only lead to better spaces.

Characteristics of Workers

Are there certain personality types that benefit more from coworking? Do personality types and coworking space types effect each other? Are there certain types of work that will benefit from coworking spaces more than others? What style of productivity is best suited for coworking spaces? Is it possible to pre-screen prospective coworkers and make helpful suggestions about the type of coworking space they should seek out? How can the dynamics within a coworking space be improved? How can positive interpersonal relationships and a sense of community be stimulated within a space? Do certain types of spaces fit a certain type of worker better?
Better understanding the people who utilize coworking spaces will give owners and managers the information they need to improve their experience. This is the area that I think the Global Coworking Survey (especially the first one) really helped to shed light on. What else can we learn from and about the people in coworking spaces, though?

The Psychological Experience of Coworking

Does coworking increase well-being? Are coworkers happier than their counterparts in more traditional work environments? What aspects of coworking do coworkers like? Dislike? Is motivation affected by coworking? In what way? Does working in the vicinity of other people working on their own projects affect passion, motivation, well-being, happiness, etc.? What do coworkers tend to think about while they are in coworking spaces? Is that different for people that work in office buildings or coffee shops? Is it more or less focused?
These are the types of questions that really fascinate me as a positive psychology student. The psychological make ramifications of coworking seem to hold the most promise for expanding coworking to more people. If coworking is shown to have a net positive impact on people psychologically then there is more of a reason for people to investigate it. If coworking has measurable effects on happiness or well-being then we should strive to better understand why.
Obviously, there are lots of other types of non-psychology research questions that are relevant to coworking as well. Work needs to be done on the economic impact of coworking on the communities in which it is situated. Does coworking positive impact the surrounding community? How? Does coworking effect the productivity of workers? Does it have positive economic outcomes for workers? Where does coworking thrive and where does it struggle? Can we predict where successful coworking spaces should be established?
There’s a whole lot of questions that should be answered about coworking. I don’t see it as a daunting list of incompletes, but as an opportunity to better understand this thing we all love and to provide the information and facts to relay that information to the public.

Have you done or are you doing any research into some component of coworking? I’d love to hear more about it.

Sam Spurlin is an American graduate student studying the intersection between developmental and organizational psychology. He writes and coaches at SamSpurlin.com and is spending the summer in Prague working in Locus Workspace. He’ll be sharing his thoughts and observations about coworking here for the next couple of months. You can follow him on Twitter (@samspurlin) or send him an email (samspurlin AT gmail DOT com).

Coworking, Positive Psychology, and a Better Way to Work

Community Manager coworking, happiness, positive psychology, productivity, psychology ,
My name is Sam and I’m obsessed with coworking. It’s a strange thing, really, to be obsessed with a concept like sitting in a room and working together. I view it as a little more complex than that, so let’s see if i can shed some light on why I keep telling people about it, why I’m currently living in Prague, why I’m sitting in Locus Workspace as i write this, and why I’m in graduate school (they’re all related, I promise). 
During my time as a substitute high school teacher I had a 4 month block where I was writing full-time. Each morning I would wake up in the complete joy of having control over my work schedule and would happily skip to the local Starbucks. At least, for the first week or so. Then, I noticed myself thinking in the morning, “Crap. Where am I going to work today? The library is too quiet and the wi-fi sucks. I don’t feel like buying coffee all day to justify the 8 hours I’m likely to spend in Starbucks. And the last thing I want to do is sit in my crappy apartment by myself.” There had to be a place where I could go where other people would be working on interesting projects, where I could feel free to talk to other people and not receive the death glare of a librarian. Free coffee wouldn’t hurt, either. I eventually realized that such a concept existed and it was called coworking.
Fast forward a couple months and I’m going to graduate school to study positive developmental psychology. My focus is on understanding what it means to optimally develop. How can people fulfill their potential, utilize their strengths, learn to be engaged with what they’re doing, etc. I want to figure out ways for people to achieve high levels of well-being and psychological health. A huge part of that psychological well-being is determined by our work. The work we do, the way we do it, the people we do it with, the meaning we place on it — it’s all incredibly important. To that end, coworking as a concept fascinates me because it can be so much more than just a place to rent a desk and crank out some work. Getting passionate, intelligent, and motivated people together and then not doing anything with that human potential seems like a missed opportunity. How can coworking and coworking spaces help their members become healthier? How can it help them feel better about their work? How can it affect the way they think about and approach their work? On an even grander scale, what effect might coworking spaces have in the communities in which they’re situated? Can coworking spaces become hubs of something greater than just a shared workspace? Big, but exciting, questions.
I think coworking is the beginning of something big in terms of how people work and how we can work better. It has ramifications far beyond shared desks and an Internet connection. For that reason, I jumped at the opportunity when Will invited me to Locus Workspace this summer. I have the opportunity to spend a few months in a top-notch coworking space learning how it’s run, observing, bouncing ideas off of people, and developing my own plans and thoughts. This blog will serve as an outlet for this experience as I share my thoughts, observations, and general musings about coworking as viewed through the lens of a positive psychologist in training.
Feel free to share your thoughts and impressions — I’d certainly love the feedback and conversation. How can we make coworking better, together?
Sam Spurlin is an American graduate student studying the intersection between developmental and organizational psychology. He writes and coaches at SamSpurlin.com and is spending the summer in Prague working in Locus Workspace. He’ll be sharing his thoughts and observations about coworking here for the next couple of months. You can follow him on Twitter (@samspurlin) or send him an email (samspurlin AT gmail DOT com).

Coworking in Prague | Coworking v Praze

Will Bennis community, coworking, events, jelly, Locus Workspace, Prague ,

Recently Locus Workspace has teamed up with a group of other coworking spaces in Prague to see how we can work together to do things we can’t do as individual spaces.

The project was largely inspired by Coworking Seattle‘s collaboration, so we owe a big thanks to their positive example.

Central to the collaboration is a recognition from all of us that there are many ways in which we all gain by focusing on how we can collaborate as well as on how we can co-promote the idea of coworking, coming together as coworking spaces much as individual space members might come together to facilitate something greater than the collection of individuals. We all believe the potential future size of the coworking community in Prague is much larger than the capacity of our combined spaces, and that at least for now the more options out there the better for the success of coworking more genreally. For now–I think–the biggest barrier to our collective success is not one another, but the extent to which the public and media are unaware of the coworking option, and how valuable it can be.

We do things such as:

  • Co-sponsor a Jelly (free, informal coworking open to the public) that meets every two weeks and rotates across 7 different coworking spaces in Prague.
  • Participate in a “Coworking in Prague visa program” (inspired by the international Coworking Visa) that allows members of any one of 5 coworking spaces in Prague use the other spaces for free for up to 25% of one’s membership time.
  • Share a common website and Facebook page (please join it, we just started up) for promoting the idea of coworking and communicating options for coworking in Prague to the public and to the media.
  • Help organize cross-space events that can bring our members together as well as bring awareness about coworking and what it has to offer to the public.

I’m really excited about the collaboration and the support for it that has come from the other participants in the Coworking in Prague program!

Today, August 9th, “Interational Coworking Day”

Will Bennis coworking, events, Locus Workspace , , ,

Five years ago today Brad Neuberg publicly blogged about “coworking”–a term he coined–for the first time, announcing the first regular “coworking” get together: http://bit.ly/6LacQX. As of this weekend, with some great footwork by Rio de Janeiro coworking space owner Cadu de Castro Alves (www.beesoffice.com), August 9th has been marked International Coworking Day.

Though there wasn’t much advanced notice this time around, spread the word if you can!

Tara Hunt, one of coworking’s original advocates and a master or making movements happen, made some suggestions for what to post about coworking today, using the #coworkingday tag:

1. how you first heard about the movement
2. why you decided to get involved
3. when your space opened up or you started working out of a coworking
space
4. why coworking is better than working alone (or in another situation,
like a coffee shop)
5. etc.

Hopefully with some advanced planning for 2011, International Coworking Day will be a more raucous event. 🙂