Is the term “coworking” a buzzword?
The term “coworking,” like “millennials” is often reconstructed and misused. True coworking spaces proudly fly their “coworking” flag as they should, and then there are spaces that are throwing some desks together and trying to create an alternative revenue stream and call it coworking.
In order for it to truly be a coworking space, there has to be one very important variable at play: “community.” There may be many naysayers on this opinion, but that is the difference between a library and a coworking space: the community that’s been created.
Once big businesses catch on to a concept there is the potential for diluting the once cool and hip term.
This year, the Financial Times wrote an article about how big businesses are moving into coworking spaces to gain the “cool factor” from clients and to attract the new generation of workers. To me, this is like a very familiar scenario we have all encountered before.
Remember when Facebook was the coolest thing ever…that is up until our aunts and uncles starting joining the platform and the whole idea of Facebook became ‘less cool’?
I believe that since modern day coworking is still in its early stages as an industry, there is going to be lots of volatility with the term and concept until we as a society stop viewing it as a fad and instead see it as what it truly is, a revolutionary concept that is fused on the way we work now and the ways we will work in the future.
What does the future look like for coworking?
The future of coworking will be defined by the hyperlocal areas in which they are created. There will always be the traditional coworking space, but there will be a larger rise in more niche/ industry specific makerspaces.
We are already seeing a rise in industry specific spaces like brewery spaces, artist studios, hackerspaces, coworking for moms, dog friendly spaces, etc. The takeaway here is that we are in control of where the industry goes and the demand that it can potentially generate.
About Work Better
Work Better, formerly Office Links, is a leading shared workplace and coworking provider with five locations in New York City, and one in the Willis Tower in Chicago. Servicing over 200 companies, Work Better’s mission is to enable businesses to serve their clients, and quite simply work better. With top amenities including industry-leading technology, Work Better boasts all-inclusive packaging with the customer’s experience in mind.
