This article originally appeared on catjohnson.co.
In the early days of coworking, spaces were small, communities were close-knit, and the vibe was scrappy. Fast-forward a decade or two and coworking has grown, matured, evolved, and gone mainstream.
The best coworking spaces, regardless of size, still have close-knit communities. These spaces are leading the way and showing us all how it’s done.
And …
I recognize that asking a space operator with hundreds (or a thousand-plus) members to wrangle everyone into a community is simply not happening across the industry as a whole. When staff turnover is high, the focus is on wooing corporate teams and filling large offices, churn is real, and you can’t keep up with what your members do, creating community becomes a nice-to-have that a lot of spaces and brands simply don’t have.
Ouch.
Create a Sense of Belonging in Your Space
But here’s what we’re going to do about it.
Let’s prioritize creating a sense of belonging in your space. The shift between community and belonging is subtle, but significant. Community provides a framework for belonging. Without something to belong to, you can’t have belonging.
But a sense of belonging is what allows someone to bring their whole self into a community without fear of judgement or rejection. Belonging means we don’t have to change who we are when we walk through the door to fit in, which is an essential part of creating a great coworking space.
As Brene Brown says, fitting in is the opposite of belonging.
If members feel a sense of belonging, they are more likely to engage and participate in your coworking community. If they don’t, they won’t. If members don’t feel a sense of belonging, they’ll keep to themselves and as soon as something better comes along, they’ll leave.
The Precursor to Community
Belonging is the precursor to community because a true, sustainable community is built by people who can bring their best, whole selves to the community. If I fear judgement, ridicule, or rejection, I am masking, holding back, and uncomfortable.
And when that’s happening at scale, when lots of people are masking, holding back, and uncomfortable, it becomes impossible to build anything meaningful, let alone a resilient, supportive community.
A lack of belonging in a coworking space looks a lot like a transactional workspace where you’re just swapping dollars for deskspace and square feet. Except in this situation, you have no idea if the person would love to be more engaged but they can’t because they don’t know anyone, they don’t feel comfortable, they’re doing their best to fit in, they’re not sure how they’ll be received, etc. etc. etc.
Missed Opportunity
I’ve seen it play out so many times (and experienced it myself in the first coworking space I joined in 2012): Someone joins a coworking space, they sit quietly at their desk for a few months, they never connect with anyone, then they leave and you never see them again.
This is all too common and it’s a huge missed opportunity to connect and grow the circle.
Building community can feel overwhelming and theoretical. But creating a sense of belonging in members who then feed into the community feels more human-scale.
So introduce new members around until they’re comfortable; ask members what they’re working on; connect them with each other; create visual cues that reflect your values and vision; invite members to share their genius with the community. This is the work that can’t be systematized, it can’t be automated, and it doesn’t scale. It’s the human work.
Taking Big Swings
“Building community” has become almost cliche for coworking, and a lot of spaces that think they have community actually have spaces where strangers are milling around each other doing polite nods in the hallway, which signals a lack of belonging. Community is not a physical thing that exists; it’s a way of being; a feeling; a sense of shared space, vision, and purpose.
So swing big, work to create spaces of belonging, and see what kind of coworking magic is created.
