Your Office Expectations Changed — Did your Company Follow?
It’s a story I hear more and more frequently as I work with employees in standard office environments: they enjoy their work, but they don’t like the way they are made to work.
This causes demotivation, disengagement, and eventual change of job environment.
How do we get them to stay? What are coworking spaces? Why are we suddenly hearing about them as an alternative?
Wikipedia says: “Coworking is a style of work that involves a shared workplace, often an office, and independent activity. Unlike in a typical office, those coworking are usually not employed by the same organization.”
Imagine freelancers and small startups paying a monthly fee to access a shared workspace. On the practical side, you have free coffee/tea, meetings rooms, flexible desks, and the opportunity to collaborate and feel inspired by other people you meet who use the space.
Was there some secret to coworking that most offices missed out on?
Why did everyone look so darn happy in coworking spaces?
I wanted to find out more about coworking. In the last year, I’ve consulted for over ten coworking spaces around the world. What I learned was amazing.
It came down to three reoccurring elements: optimized systems, continuing advanced education and thriving communities (the best is saved for last).
Systems
The systems in coworking spaces are inherently made to be flexible and efficient, from a framework perspective of what the coworking space provides and from an individual level of how everyone works (the tools we use).
I’ll give you an example of my day this morning in Chiang Mai, Thailand at Punspace:
I walk up to the door before the host gets to the space and use my phone to scan myself in, drop my computer off and say “Hello” to everyone who are working early hours to align with the United States and European time zones. They are Skype-ing, Slack-ing and watching the Crypto-currency markets like crazy.
Everything here is set up to be paperless and shareable internationally. People are translating documents from French to Japanese, while turning to me to speak in English, meanwhile we all live in Thailand.
My friend from London is sitting next to me, designing ads for Pinterest, on a remote work stint here to prove she can be productive while living and working abroad.
The room is literally buzzing with energy of people using the most optimized tools to get work done in the most efficient way. Because we have a real work/life balance. We get work done here so we can go play with elephants, or go swimming, or try the latest smoothie bowl shop (you think I’m joking — I’m not joking).
My point is, we are all hyper-focused on doing things in the most efficient way and with the best digital tools because our entire lifestyle depends on it. If they can’t hack it here, their jobs will call them back into the cubicle. Serious business.
That’s why entire high level corporate teams are sending batches of employees to learn through osmosis these tools, this energy, and this lifestyle. It’s working; it’s increasing innovation. It’s motivating employees to optimize systems and become more efficient.
Advanced Education
A survey by recruitment firm Robert Half found the proportion of people leaving because of boredom rose significantly in the past three years. A total of 42% HR directors described it as the main reason for staff turnover in their office.
People naturally want to continue to learn and grow. I was the same way.
I would have stayed in most jobs if I felt I could continue to learn in that role or in that company. Most employees I speak with say they moved “up and out”, not primarily for financial reasons; it was so they could keep building their skillsets.
Every coworking space that I’ve consulted for or visited has some form of continuing education; it’s built into the culture of their space. This comes in the form of skill-shares from members, experts from outside the community and programs the coworking space organizes that they feel will benefit their members.
For example, Daria is a successful online marketer and teaches a skill-share workshop on specific tips for members interested in using Facebook ads for their business. She’s a member of the coworking space and is volunteering her time to give back to the community.
Joe is an accountant and hears that most entrepreneurs have loads of questions while filing taxes their first year as a small business. He is not a member of the coworking space, but reaches out to give a talk on key points people need to know. This talk has people walking away with value and new knowledge; they don’t feel obligated or pressured to buy his services. But if they want an accountant, you know they are going to call Joe first.
Lastly, Raquel is an events coordinator for the coworking space and notices most of the members at the coworking space speak about having a hard time building a website for their business. Raquel reaches out to her network inside and outside the coworking space to find an expert on this subject and organizes a workshop to educate the community.
The point here is everyone is constantly learning, adding skills and giving back to their coworking community. The central stakeholder in all of this is the coworking space.
Imagine having a job where people are buzzing weekly about the new skills they are learning?
Thriving Community
I saved this one for last because I believe this is the true secret sauce to why people work from coworking spaces — the community. I cannot stress enough how important community is.
In this context, community means: when you’re missing from the space, people notice and care. You have a place there, you belong and people miss your absence.
Imagine walking into a space, saying “Hello” to people who are working on completely different things, but are supportive and interested in what you’re doing. They remember what you are working on and genuinely care enough to hear the latest updates.
You don’t have to be an entrepreneur for people to be interested; they are interested in your job because you are doing it, and they find you interesting.
Suddenly your job is innovative and cutting edge and you’re proud to talk about what you do. The community gives you support, a sounding-board for new ideas, and a fresh perspective on where you and your company are at in the world.
Innovation and collaboration are constantly occurring in this environment from members who are inspired by each other’s work, want to learn from each other and work on projects together.
It’s a big difference and I see it over and over again. Every team has a culture and the possibility for a supportive community. Are these unreachable goals for teams in traditional work environments?
You can have your cake and eat it too
You’re reading this and thinking, “That all sounds great, but there’s no way our entire team is going to just move to a coworking space.” My answer to that is: you can create this environment within your existing office.
I believe everyone deserves to have a workplace that supports them to learn, grow, have fun, innovate and produce their best work. Companies deserve to have employees that are passionate, inspired, and productive.
It doesn’t have to be that you’re either happy or profitable as a business. You can have both, and being happy-at-work leads to greater profitability.
A lot of employees I speak with say that it’s not that they don’t like their jobs, it’s that they don’t like the way they’re made to work.
To stay competitive, you need to attract and retain the best talent, and often the easiest and most affordable ways to do are to create a great company culture.
I encourage you to try implementing one or all three of these elements today — Systems, Education and Community. Start small, take baby steps. Know that it’s completely possible to create a thriving and happy team within your current office.
I’ve helped create this internally and externally, and believe me — the results are worth it.
