Coworking and the Disruption of Work at Large — A Research Study on the Theory of Coworking and How we Feel About it Here at Inspire9.
Julian Maurice Waters-Lynch conducted an ethnographic study on a pioneering coworking community in Melbourne. The term co working presented in his research study refers to the response to a disruption, or trends affecting work at large. Such trends he defined as:
In order to understand these changing conditions surrounding work Waters-Lynch ethnographic study focuses on three fundamental questions:
I. Why People Cowork?
Based on the community Waters-Lynch observed, he found that people cowork because; they view coworking as a portal to new worlds of work, are searching for more meaning through work, left standard employment arrangements or because of problems with standard work norms.
II. How They Cowork
Six social practices that gave early coworking culture much of its distinct character:
welcoming introducing, connecting and establishing shared heuristics, declaring purpose over profit, blending the personal and professional, sharing and working out loud, shaping the institutional logic
III. How Their Experiences Change Over Time?
Some enterprises outgrew the physical office environment; others selected an alternative Coworking space that better suited their needs; some returned to standard organisation employment; others combined travel and work as digital nomads.
We went ahead and decided to test this ourselves and ask our own community members here at inspire9, why do they cowork?
Here’s what they said………
According to Waters-Lynch’s study, coworking has “provided an alternative solution and has allowed a new workspace to emerge.” WE AGREE.
Which brings us to the benefits of a coworking space, according to this study. Coworking spaces share a business model based on flexible, low commitment, rental access to office space and amenities. A combination of services are exchanged for a single, all-inclusive fee, covering the range of expenses associated with office set up and maintenance — such as rent, printing, copying, kitchen equipment, cleaning, maintenance and ongoing utilities.
In more elaborate terms, Dunstan (2015) notes how “Coworking is like a halfway house for the corporate delinquent. It’s a place and a style of working that combines independence and co-dependency. To be social when you need to be and to hold you accountable for delivering the things you say are important.”
Photo by Gades Photography on Unsplash
Photo by Júnior Ferreira on Unsplash
In conclusion, the idea noted in this study is pretty simple: independent professionals and those with workplace flexibility work better TOGETHER than they do alone. As mentioned by our very own residents, the reason they cowork is to be around other like-minded individuals in a collaborative setting, to grow and build together.
Synonymous with this study and here at Inspire 9 coworking spaces are about community building and sustainability. The Coworking movement espouses five core values: Community, Openness, Collaboration, Sustainability, and Accessibility (Waters-Lynch 2018). These 5 values are one’s that we firmly believe and promote among our community. There is no one size fits all strategy when beginning your own business venture. There will be a lot of trial and error, learning and discovery, but the most important thing, is you don’t have to do it alone. SO if you’re tired of the mundane corporate life and ready to start something new and exciting? Are yearning for a more autonomous work-life balance and want to kickstart that business idea? Or an entrepreneur that just wants to interact and CONNECT with other like-minded people? Stop waiting and come book your tour and be apart of our community here at Inspire 9
Check out the full research study HERE
