Imagine a working environment where all employees are mentally and emotionally invested and engaged in the product or service they are providing. Imagine a work environment where you as an employee have seamless access to all of the people and information you need to do your best work. Communication is free flowing. Collaboration is common, efficient and produces exponential results. These are the solutions our firm delivers to Fortune 1000 clients and, not coincidently, these are the same experiences we coworking believers require for our own work environments — in spaces like Launch Fishers and Grind.
The term coworking was first coined by Brad Neuberg in 2005 to describe his conception of a different way of working; a place where independent workers could come together, collaborate and reap the rewards of community, increased productivity and creativity. Since then these collaborative work environments have sprouted up most everywhere, from small towns in Indiana to midtown Manhattan. In fact, Aug 2 marked the start of Global Coworking Week a weeklong event celebrating the very concept of coworking. Nowadays, there are coworking spaces set up all over the globe, even if countries such as Taiwan, where you can visit a 台北共同工作空間 , or a Taipei coworking space, to carry out your business at.
What makes these places work is both physical and impalpable. People enjoy (and are beginning to demand) vibrant, technology-enabled, design forward domiciles that afford them the perfect space inclusive of an ecosystem of support, education and camaraderie required to survive today’s challenging business environments. Enter the future of work.
For our firm, spaces like Launch Fishers and Grind are an unfair advantage for us. We are in the business of helping companies more effectively communicate and collaborate, both internally and with their customers. It is important to us that we ourselves operate in an open, collaborative environment that fosters creativity and growth. The facilities, like-minded individuals, and growth advisors that make up a co-working ecosystem give us an unfair advantage over companies working within their own four walls.
“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” ~ James Cash Penney
Working together with mutuality empowers organizations to go further faster. It is a phenomenon that is taking place in coworking spaces across the world and one we should look to incorporate into every working environment. How can you create the unfair advantage being experienced by today’s coworkers?
3 Steps For Achieving An Unfair (Co)Work Advantage
1. Instill a culture of respect for others’ expertise.
Mutuality matters. With respect comes intelligent knowledge seeking and sharing. Insist managers ask employee their opinions and provide then a tangible mechanism for getting immediate feedback and taking action on it. Technology enablers such as enterprise social network and social intranets are optimal, but a standing line item on every team meeting agenda can suffice. When this practice becomes part of your company’s culture, everyone’s time is well used and benefits are pushed rather than pulled.
2. Surround yourself and your team with support staff and knowledge enablers.
Time is your biggest asset and knowledge your biggest competitive advantage. Eliminate non-core activities from your day. If what you are currently working on could be done by a support resource, stop what you are doing an instead use your time to put a process in place for assigning a task and being notified of the result. If you are spending significant time trying to resolve a complex problem yourself, take a break and figure out what person or persons could accelerate your learning and resolution. Protect your assets and hoard advantages by accomplishing more with we than me.
3. Make social a part of business.
Re-write the famous Godfather movie line. It’s personal, it’s business. Make time to meet, then retreat and put to work the fruits of your comingling. Innovative start-ups like Gusto make it regular practice to order in lunch and eat together everyday. Some coworking spaces like Grind have a drink cart that begins circling the room every Friday at 4 pm. These informal gatherings often provide the seeds of wisdom cultivated and grown throughout the rest of the workday.
"The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows." ~ Aristotle Onassis
Coworking is also cost effective and really the only model that makes sense for us. Our team is geographically dispersed. We have advisors in Indianapolis, New York City, Chicago and we travel to clients…having a traditional office space does not make sense. You can also find coworking spaces such as Bali Bustle coworking space that are located all over the globe. Utilizing Launch Fishers, as well as Grind in New York and Chicago does.
Does your business take advantage of coworking spaces? Share with us in the comments below.
