This article originally appeared on catjohnson.co.
When I started writing about coworking in 2012, it was a small, scrappy movement of people around the world who had realized that, since everyone now had laptops and could work from anywhere, working together was far better than working alone.
I loved coworking from the start, and later decided to make it my job.
In those early days, coworking was all about connection and community. The spaces were not super fancy, the amenities included coffee, the occasional event, and different areas to work, and the general vibe was deeply human.
The model took off immediately and it wasn’t long before big money, big spaces, big coworking, and commercial real estate joined the party. And for quite a few years, the conversations were dominated by the “bigger is better” crowd. Indie spaces were written off as unprofitable, community-focused spaces were considered unserious, and it felt like a race to the top, full of white sofas and chandeliers.
But through it all, connection and community remained the heart and soul of great coworking spaces and brands.
Reclaiming the word coworking
Earlier this year, I made a bold proclamation that it was time to reclaim the word coworking, and I set out to re-align the industry around the human aspects of coworking. Apparently I’m not the only one feeling that it’s time for a shift, because this year has been a swing back to things I love most about coworking: connection, belonging, community, and a sense of mutual support.
I’ve seen a growing number of conversations about connection on LinkedIn, and I felt absolutely validated at the recent GCUC in New York City where the tone was that space alone is not enough, we’re collectively lonelier than ever, and, to paraphrase the president of one of the major coworking brands, “It’s not about the space, it’s about what happens in the space.”
It was never about the space
This growing, industry-wide realization that coworking was never about the space, is music to the ears to those of us who have championed community-focused coworking for many years.
It’s also a call to action for all of us to keep going, to dig deeper, and to move courageously into the future of coworking, taking everything we’ve learned from its evolution from scrappy movement into global industry.
We’re not going back and the future is waiting for our collective coworking vision, impact, and community to usher in something we’ve not yet seen but desperately need.
Coworking is not about dividing up real estate for a profit. It’s about creating the world we want to live in, one person, one connection, at a time. It’s about a return to our humanness as we go boldly into a future we’re creating.
As one space operator put it, “Relationships over transactions. Forever.”
