Tag: future of work

As Impact Hub demonstrates, building an international coworking brand is not reserved to highly-funded companies taking up hundreds of thousands of square meters in the world’s best city location. Impact Hub is the world’s largest independent coworking spaces network, all supporting the development of entrepreneurial communities looking for a “societal impact”. As of today, Impact Hub is an umbrella supervizing more than 100 locations spread over 50+ countries, hosting close to 16.000 members. Each hub offers support in fields such as entrepreneurship, idea incubation and business development on top of the coworking service.

We have interviewed Flora Rosenow, Global Brand & Communications Director at Impact Hub Network, to learn about the secrets of their success, the challenges they faced and the vision and mission all hubs have in common.

Hello. After more than a decade of operation and so many locations now opened on the planet, what are the ingredients of Impact Hub’s success?

Our Impact Hubs are always driven by a local founding team, who not just understands the local context but also deeply cares about it, as most Impact Hub founders come from the area where they want to open an Impact Hub. They found independent businesses that are united by our vision to create a more just and sustainable world in a global network structure.

You need a solid business model and culture, which needs to be rigid enough to unite everyone but flexible enough to be adapted to the respective local context. The market in Bamako, Mali looks really different to the one in Stockholm, Sweden, so you need to be able to cater for that and this is what our local founders ensure.

Our Impact Hubs are always driven by a local founding team, who not just understands the local context but also deeply cares about it.

Impact Hub is about societal impact. Why are coworking spaces the way to deliver or to help with achieving the mission?

We want to inspire, connect and enable people around the globe to create a more just and sustainable world. We believe that this can be achieved through the collective effort of many compassionate individuals and through working together. To facilitate this belief, we need to create places, where we can intentionally build this community.

Birmingham Impact Hub

So it’s about giving a home to the entrepreneurs who want to become part of a like-minded and intentional community. Solely having coworkers in a space won’t create societal impact – it’s about intentionally building this community, connecting people and engaging them. To drive systemic change, though, we need to include all parties around the table, that’s why we engage with our cities and governments and we also talk to the big organisations and support them in their goal to become more socially and environmentally conscious.

Solely having coworkers in a space won’t create societal impact – it’s about intentionally building this community, connecting people and engaging with them.

How does the franchise model work? 

Impact Hub Bamako

As a network, we are locally rooted, whilst globally connected in a democratic model. Every Impact Hub operates independently and then pays 2.5% of their revenues to the network association, which is collectively owned. This means that every Impact Hub has one representative who has one vote. They execute their voting right for every strategic decision that we as a network take. The Association is overseen by a Board that gets elected by majority voting as well. The 2.5% then pays a global team that executes the decisions on their behalf, provides strategy and cares for the network as a whole, as Impact Hub teams already have their hands full with their local operations.

Every Impact Hub operates independently and then pays 2.5% of their revenues to the network association, which is collectively owned.

What is the added value of operating under the name, Impact Hub, globally, for the spaces managers? 

Brand awareness and recognition is really important. Impact Hubs also do a lot of business together and knowledge exchange on key impact topics within the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a big advantage as well. Moreover, our communities are virtually globally connected to facilitate that exchange. After all you can only drive systemic change and create impact at scale if you are doing so in an integrated manner.

Our communities are virtually globally connected to facilitate that exchange. After all you can only drive systemic change and create impact at scale if you are doing so in an integrated manner.

What are the main challenges regarding the global coordination? How do you make sure all locations are aligned with the way to operate and values? 

Madrid Impact Hub

Quality control and mission alignment, but over the years we have sophisticated our onboarding process to ensure this well. When a team wants to create an Impact Hub in their city, they come to us when they are at least three members in the team and together they then embark on an onboarding journey, which is a tailored process, that we update on a regular basis, based on our experiences. Every team gets paired with an onboarding coach and has a number of steps they need to do, which are natural in the founding process anyways, like creating a business plan and a financial model as well as developing an impact logic based on the global one that we co-created as a network. The beauty is that every onboarding coach has founded an Impact Hub themselves, so they know about the pain points as well as the key drivers of success. This supports the teams in the best way, whilst ensuring that new teams are mission-aligned and come with the right motivation.

Every onboarding coach has founded an Impact Hub themselves, so they know about the pain points as well as the key drivers of success.

Is there or what kind of support program/projects are you dispatching or providing through the network of Impact Hub spaces?

We run over 200 incubation and acceleration programs annually, many of them together with partners and always on impact-related topics in line with the SDGs. A good example of an accelerator program focused on the SDGs would be Accelerate 2030, with more than 15 Impact Hubs participating or our global partnership with the WWF, which has already led to a number of impact-driven programs with a focus on the environment, like the Plastic Free Ocean Accelerator of Impact Hub Amsterdam and WWF. On a day-to-day basis, we e.g. have a partnership with the Boston Consulting Group who provide our startups with free business clinics. Furthermore, our startups get a lot of exposure through the 11,000+ events that are annually happening in our spaces, where they can participate, pitch, or get connected.

How impactful are Impact Hub locations for the respective ecosystem they operate within and in which fields, would you say?

Impact Hubs are supporting the development of their local ecosystems. Depending on the socio-economic context they are in, this means more educational work to show an alternative to the existing economic system by promoting entrepreneurship, social business models, and the importance of intentional communities with purpose. In more advanced ecosystems, we become players that focus on promoting intentional community building and collaboration – all with a focus on the SDGs. In each ecosystem, we work a lot with different partners, from private to public sector and academia, because you can only really achieve progress towards the SDGs and drive positive change if you work together with all sectors and also involve those unlikely allies that might generally not sit around the same table. Facilitating and driving this exchange and joint initiatives is key to us as well as supporting our entrepreneurs on their journey from idea to scale. You can find a lot of examples of stories in our Impact Report and our latest impact figures in our Community Impact Report. For instance, our Swiss Impact Hubs have teamed up with the MAVA Foundation and are jointly working on the Circular Economy Transition of Switzerland.

Circular Economy Transition, in close collaboration with Impact Hub Switzerland, sanu durabilitas and with the support of the MAVA foundation, contributes to drive the new paradigm for the future of business, policy making and society through this 4 main pillars.

In general, we work a lot with different partners, from private to public sector and academia, because you can only really achieve progress towards the SDGs and drive positive change if you work together with all sectors and also involve those unlikely allies that might generally not sit around the same table.

In the beginning of Impact Hub, coworking was still a marginal activity. Today, coworking is becoming a true industry. How does Impact Hub finds it place?

It is true, back in 2005 when the first Impact Hub opened, coworking was still a very unknown concept that was very innovative and we were one of the early players in the field. These days, coworking is a big industry and we continue to offer coworking services, but with a focus on intentional community building. We build communities for impact at scale, using the SDGs as a lens through which we view the impact we create in the world. For that, we have surveyed our community and their impact as well as the entrepreneurial needs for a long time and have learned that there are certain key success factors that make entrepreneurs thrive. Embedding these key factors and principles into our approach ensures that the Impact Hub experience is valuable, meaningful, as well as impactful. We believe that entrepreneurial networks of communities can be a strong driver for positive change and that is what we want to continue to drive in this world.

Stéphane Bensimon, CEO of Wojo

In 2019 Nextdoor became Wojo, accelerating its development and creating the ambition to become the leading European coworking network. Two years before, Accor Group, one of the biggest international hotel companies on the planet (operating brands such as Ibis, Mercure, Sofitel, etc.) had taken a 50% share in Nextdoor, by then 100% owned by the real estate company Bouygues Immobilier. We have interviewed Stéphane Bensimon, CEO of Wojo, in order to find out more about the project Wojo and its present and future plans in Europe. Wojo’s CEO will be a speaker at the upcoming Coworking Europe conference taking take place in Warsaw on November 13-15, 2019.

Hello Yoann. A few years ago Accor Group joined Bouygues in the Nextdoor network to develop coworking offerings. Why was this move needed for both players at the time?

A 50/50 joint venture was signed in July 2017. Insofar as Accor hotels were already endowed with shared spaces conducive to meetings and interaction, the idea of offering a place to work (as well as to network) dedicated to clients and local entrepreneurs came to mind naturally. Bouygues Immobilier aims at offering its clients an opportunity to plan shared workspaces (bars, coworking spaces, lounge areas, meeting rooms, carparks) from its design stage and hence help them optimize their business costs. So the fit between both companies was clear.

Nextdoor has become Wojo. Why was a change of brand needed? Is Accor more in the driving seat now?

Accor Group meeting

Nextdoor became Wojo to help its international roll out. Wojo is a spirit – the combination of Work and Mojo. Once Accor took shares in the company’s capital we truly worked hand in hand with Accor’s Innovation Lab’ to define together the future of coworking; true teamwork followed. When the idea of a typology of spaces (“Spots” and “Corners” linked to Nextdoor sites) came about, it seemed clear that we had to reinvent ourselves in order to fulfill  peoples new ambition of working internationally, of working at most ten minutes from where one is living, etc. And no, Accor is not specifically the one in charge. We designed Wojo together and since then we have been standing on our own two feet with its support.

You want to become one of the biggest coworking providers in Europe by 2022. Why are hotel professionals well positioned to serve the flexible workplace industry would you say?

This is because the Accor staff is unrivalled in terms of reception and hospitality and we feel those to be key elements. A friendly dimension is at the core of Wojo’s offering. We welcome our new members through a shared moment, making sure that their days go by perfectly well. Accor has already got hotels ready to welcome clients all over Europe. This makes things easier for us in terms of networking. In the long run, we would like everyone to find a place to work less than 10 minutes from where he/she is located (whether a nomad or sedentary worker).

Wojo space

Workers are forever expecting more services (catering, fitness rooms, concierge services) at their workplace with which hotels are already endowed. According to an Inkidata study conducted in February 2019 for Wojo (results of the study, in french), 48% of French workers would like to benefit from spaces linked to sport or relaxation at the workplace. This is because it is the best way to offer business travellers an opportunity to make up a local network by offering a service that facilitates networking.

48% of French workers would like to benefit from spaces linked to sport or relaxation at the workplace.

Will Wojo’s expansion occur only through the Accor Group properties and hotels network or could we see Wojo spaces in third-party buildings?

By the year 2022 we expect to open 1.200 locations all over France and Europe within Accor hotels. Yet, Wojo Spots and Wojo Corners have been designed to be set up in any third-party location so long as it fulfils a certain number of requirements (high-quality and safe Wi-Fi, furniture quality, acoustics, good working conditions, etc.). In the long run they will be made available in train stations, airports, shopping centres, cafés, etc.

La Salle De Sport

Today, for example, there is a Wojo Spot in LA.SALLE.DE.SPORT with a Reebok concept store and a social club in the very heart of Paris. Not to miss out on anything, the locations that are already open can be viewed on our web app.

Nowadays hotel chains are entering the coworking field in bigger numbers. What does it tell us about the changes in the hotel business on the one hand and the evolving coworking market on the other hand?

Demand, which is directly linked to the revolution coming about in working conditions, is huge and the offerings are equally so. However, quantity does not rhyme with quality. It may appear to be easy to open up a coworking space. Yet in reality one must be in a position to offer a true experience including reception, a secure wi-fi connection, a quiet location, networking possibilities, the right atmosphere, services, etc. Small things (in reality not that small) make the difference. As for hotels: they have been disrupted by Airbnb. They are now in search of something new. By definition, a hotel is equipped as a minimum with a lobby, breakfast room, etc. in which it is tempting to improvise a coworking experience. In the long run we can imagine a client choosing a hotel no longer by pictures of the room or by how clean the spa is, but by the quality of its coworking facility.

As for hotels, they have been disrupted by Airbnb. They are now in search of something new. By definition, a hotel is equipped with a lobby, breakfast room, etc. in which it is tempting to improvise a coworking experience.

Seen from the outside, Nextdoor has positioned itself more in the corporate segment of demand for coworking with spaces located in higher-end business districts. Will Wojo keep positioning itself in that slice of the market?

We understand your interpretation, as Wojos origin comes from an intrapreneurial project on the part of Bouygues Immobilier. The first buildings meeting the conditions for such projects were naturally found in Greater Paris. Yet, from the outset, Nextdoor has had a true willingness to bring together companies of different sizes at one location to encourage open innovation. As a result of its positioning and more concretely speaking its price policy, its community has always been comprised of a host of different profiles. Wojo follows along these lines with its Wojo Spot offer of 9,90 Euros per month with no commitment. We are open to students as well as key accounts. Remote work now concerns all of us and we have at heart to see different sectors of activity, ages, trades come together, truly valuable.

Wojo Paris

Remote work now concerns all of us, and we have at heart to see different sectors of activity, ages, trades come together, truly valuable.

Wojo Spots, Wojo Corners… Is the Wojo offering targeting only nomad workers or longer-term resident workers? How different will Wojos be in Ibis or Mercure from Wojos in Sofitel for instance? What is your approach to segmentation?

There must be no ambiguousness here. Wojos are open to all those who wish to work. It is neither a service reserved for hotel clients nor a service delivered exceptionally to nomad workers. Our aim is to enable travellers and/or nomad workers to meet “locals” and be given an opportunity to network. We are therefore addressing the district’s inhabitants or professionals who are invited to come there to work, near to where they are situated! Nearly all brands are eligible, except for ultra-economical ranges such as Ibis Budget or Hotel F1 or ultra-luxurious ones (such as Orient Express Raffles). The criteria imposed, such as a secure wi-fi connection, reception, reduction on beverages and snacks… are the same for everyone. At this stage we have begun to roll out Spots in France in an economy/mid-range: Ibis Styles, Ibis, Mercure, Novotel, etc. and some are about to open in the high-end/luxury range within Pullman, MGallery and Sofitel. As for Corners, this concerns the same range of brands as Spots.

Hospitality is the number one value proposition offered by hotels. How comfortable are you with the notion of community  as an important factor in the coworking experience?

As mentioned above, one of our strengths lies in the conviviality and good atmosphere that reigns in all Wojos. Furthermore, Wojo does not exist without its community! In addition to shared office spaces Wojo stands on a team of passionate people.

Wojo at Issy-Les-Moulineaux

We thus offer a wide range of business and festive activities in each space throughout the month so as to enable each person to meet others, exchange and learn as well as relax. Community Days for example are held every week in a different space. They enable members to pitch their propositions,  propose a workshop, meet our partners invited for the occasion, invite their clients, attend a conference, etc. Our community also interacts on our digital platform. Discussion and support groups are set up where a program of physical activities is available.

Some experts predict that coworking will represent 20 to 30% of the whole office market by the end of the coming decade. Would you agree with that prediction?

Yes, I believe that is correct. It is more than just a trend. It answers to a need on the part of employees and companies alike, even if for different reasons. Of course we would like to keep up the pace. We plan to open 50 Wojo buildings, 100 Corners and 1 000+ Spots in France and Europe so that members never have to worry about where to set up to work again, hence giving them a guarantee to stay forever connected with their community via our digital platform.

What are Europe’s specific challenges in the field of workplace expectations as opposed to other parts of the world?

There is no specific challenge in Europe compared to other continents. New ways of working are growing everywhere. For example, we see the same trend in Asia with coworking representing more than 3% of office stock in Hong Kong or Singapore. I’m personally convinced that Africa could be a strong coworking market in the coming years. We decided to start Wojo within Europe because of our field knowledge and needs expressed by our current members.

Josh Fine is the COO of Focus Property Group, a real estate operator that not only builds and owns their buildings but operate the businesses that are contained within the building as well, including coworking. We have interviewed Josh Fine to learn more about his experience and knowledge on real estate and his way to understand the coworking and hospitality sector. An interview full of insights and vision on #futureofwork! Josh will also be a speaker at Coworking Europe 2019 this fall.

Hi Josh. Can you introduce the Focus Property Group?

Josh Fine

Focus Property Group has been investing in commercial real estate, primarily in downtown Denver, Colorado (USA), for the past three decades. We acquire, assemble and entitle development parcels, and we develop a wide variety of commercial real estate asset types, including office and coworking, retail centers, hotels, senior housing communities, industrial buildings, and self-storage facilities.

We are long term holders of real estate, meaning that once we develop and lease out our real estate, we continue to manage and own the assets. One unique aspect of our business model is our willingness to create, own and manage operating businesses within our real estate.

In other words, most real estate companies will build and own the buildings but not operate the businesses that are contained within the building. However, we enjoy the entrepreneurial aspect of operating companies. Therefore, rather than build, for example, a self storage facility and then hire a self storage management company to run the business, we created our own self storage brand, hire our own employees and run that business ourselves. It is the same with coworking. We created the Enterprise Coworking brand and all of the Enterprise Coworking employees are on our payroll.

You have been involved pretty early in the coworking wave while investing in hotel industry as well. To what extend are the lines between those “hospitality” driven activities blurring?

Enterprise Coworking, Denver

I am constantly telling our coworking staff that we are in the hospitality business. It has become a mantra of our company. Office space is not new. The innovation of coworking is that it introduces a hospitality or guest services aspect to office space. Our members don’t just want a convenient space to work. They want experiences that will enrich their lives and careers. They want concierge services to help them with all of the challenges that arise during the day so they can focus on what it is they came into the office to do. When a member approaches one of our community managers with an issue, I tell our team to imagine you are at the front desk of the Four Seasons Hotel. Hotel guests are often in disorienting, foreign environments and the hotels that truly shine are the ones where the team makes the guests feel welcome, at ease, and excited to dive in to all of the great things that brought the guest to that city in the first place. It is the same with coworking.

The hotels that truly shine are the ones where the team makes the guests feel welcome, at ease, and excited to dive in to all of the great things that brought the guest to that city in the first place. It is the same with coworking

The spaces that will separate themselves from the competition will have a guest services oriented staff that makes members feel welcome, well cared for, and excited to dive into the projects that brought them into their workspace. Because the service offering is so similar, it is true that lines are blurring between hospitality and coworking. For one, the skill sets overlap so much that many of our best hires come from hospitality. And you see hotels are increasingly getting into the coworking space. Pioneering hotels like the Ace Hotel in New York City, the Hotel Eaton in Washington DC, the Zoku Hotel in Amsterdam, and many others have full fledged coworking spaces and welcome the coworking public to consider the hotel as their living room or office, with free wifi, free-flowing (if not free) coffee and beer and other coworking-like amenities. Business is becoming increasingly nomadic and I predict that we will see more and more joint hotels & coworking spaces that co-locate, share amenities and staff, and synergistically energize each other’s vibes.

The spaces that will separate themselves from the competition will have a guest services oriented staff that makes members feel welcome, well cared for, and excited to dive into the projects that brought them into their workspace

Why does it make sense for a buildings owner company to operate coworking space itself ? Why not partner up with third parties operators?

It certainly doesn’t make sense for every building owner. Coworking is a complex operating business and many landlords simply don’t have the bandwidth or aptitude to run such an intensive operating business. However, the explosive growth of coworking has resulted in a spillover effect where traditional office tenants have come to expect more coworking-like amenities in their office buildings, and office building owners will need to more and more inch toward the type of offering that users can find in coworking spaces. Since office building owners will need to increase service offerings anyway to stay competitive, those who can figure out how to jump into the coworking business will be at an advantage and will also be able to benefit from two profit centers: the rent that the coworking operator pays to the landlord and the operating profit that the coworking operator earns from the members.

Those who can figure out how to jump into the coworking business will be at an advantage and will also be able to benefit from two profit centers: the rent that the coworking operator pays to the landlord and the operating profit that the coworking operator earns from the members.

Enterprise Coworking, Denver

A building owner who reserves part of their building for coworking will likely also benefit from higher overall occupancy. Companies in the building who “graduate” from coworking and want their own space may be able to rent another office space in the same building. And when tenants leave the building, the landlord always has the possibility of expanding the coworking space into the former tenant’s space and thereby gobble up any vacancy immediately. Once a landlord has a successful track record as a coworking operator, it makes it easier for a landlord to acquire or develop additional buildings, because the landlord will have a tenant in their “back pocket” (the coworking space) that can immediately occupy part of a new building.

From the operator’s side, the reason to own rather then rent space is very compelling. In traditional office leasing, there is generally an equilibrium of power between landlord and tenant. Office leases tend to be for shorter periods than retail leases. When it comes time for renewal, the landlord will need to be reasonable and will have to closely reflect market conditions because the tenant can move to a new office building if the landlord tries to increase rent too dramatically. It is certainly a hassle for a company to move, but a CEO can decide to do it and all of the employees will have to follow suit.

But coworking spaces are more like retail users – they are much more tied to their buildings. Just as it is difficult and much more risky for a retailer to move (because there is no guarantee that its customers will all move with it to the new location) so too it is extremely risky for a coworking space to move. The coworking operator can sign a new lease in a new building, but there is no guarantee that the members will follow suit. If the members do not follow, the operator will be starting to build the business all over again. Therefore while building ownership certainly comes with significant risks of its own, it mitigates a major risk of the coworking model.

Coworking spaces are more like retail users – they are much more tied to their buildings. Just as it is difficult and much more risky for a retailer to move, so too it is extremely risky for a coworking space to move.

Do you see a difference in the way coworking spaces are operated between the stand-alone supported-by-a-property-owner-company and franchised/brand coworking spaces? 

We compete head-on with franchised coworking spaces and large brands and I do not believe that members in our space are looking for anything dramatically different. Most members are looking for a vibe that meshes well with their personality and work style, for a convenient location, for robust amenities and for a welcoming and engaging community. One difference I have noticed is that when you own your building there is no passing the buck. Any issue with the building becomes your issue. You cannot blame the building management, for example, if the temperature is too cold or if an elevator is out-of-service.

However, an advantage we have is that when you own the building, anything is possible in terms of dealing with a member issue. Sometimes a member complains about something that the coworking operator cannot control because it is the purview of the building owner and manager. For example, many office buildings have communal restrooms that are maintained by the building management. They may have a snack bar or coffee shop in the lobby. They may have a parking facility used by the tenants. If a member has an issue with any of these things, all the coworking operator can do is complain to their landlord to fix the problem. When you own the building, the buck stops with you. This is both a blessing and a curse. We have the power to fix any problem and can control more completely how our members experience our space. On the other hand, when there is a difficult issue we cannot look to others to address it.

If a member has an issue with any of these things, all the coworking operator can do is complain to their landlord to fix the problem. When you own the building, the buck stops with you. This is both a blessing and a curse.

In the short future, coworking growth is expected to be fueled by Small and Medium size businesses, not only by freelancers and startups. Do you see this evolution coming in Denver? 

Absolutely. The bulk of our membership is small companies with teams of 4-12 people. Freelancers are increasingly becoming a smaller and smaller minority of our membership base. There has been talk for the last several years of enterprise-level companies (with much larger teams of 50+ people) abandoning traditional office leases and moving into coworking. I don’t think we are there quite yet, although there have been some notable examples of large companies moving into coworking spaces in Denver. At our space, we do have some large companies, with our largest company topping out at about 80 employees. However, we have also seen companies move out of our space when they get to 20 or 25 people.

The bulk of our membership is small companies with teams of 4-12 people.

I think it very much depends on the personality of the company. Some companies will always want their own space and will move out of coworking once they reach a certain size. So I think there will always be a market for traditional office space and the obituaries of traditional office space are a bit premature. However, a few companies have grown to love coworking and will stay in a coworking space for as long as they can be accommodated. Spaces like ours that can accommodate large teams will be able to find companies that want to move in. Nonetheless, I think the bulk of the demand comes from small companies, and we are building out new spaces with a heavy emphasis on private suites for teams of 4-12 people.

Companies have grown to love coworking and will stay in a coworking space for as long as they can be accommodated.

In-house Gym, cafés,… We see a race to provide the most exciting, robust and unique amenities in order to distinguish from the competition. How far will it go?

Our flagship location in the RiNo neighborhood of Denver has both an in-house café and espresso bar as well as a fitness center. The types of amenities you need can depend largely on your location. If you have a trendy espresso bar next door, you may not need to offer one in your coworking space. I think the best way to choose which amenities to offer is to make sure there is a diversity of “types” of spaces.

There should be a quiet space for heads-down work where you won’t be disturbed. There should be a buzzing, social space. There should be a networking space that is conducive to impromptu meetings and making connections. In our flagship space, these needs are filled, respectively, by our library, our pub and game room (that we call the “rathskeller”), and our espresso shop. However, other coworking spaces can fulfill these needs with amenities that may be less space- and operationally-intensive.

Shall all those amenities be provided by the same operators? 

I mentioned earlier how coworking spaces and hotels are beginning to “blur” their boundaries and I think that coworking operators to remain competitive will need to learn to operate the same type of amenities as hotels. Just as a hotel doesn’t just need to know how to rent out hotel rooms, but also how to operate a restaurant, coffee shop, gym, pool, event space or conference center, so too will coworking operators needs to establish these competencies. I think that co-locating – especially hotels and coworking – could be a great solution to this operational challenge.

There is a huge overlap between the type of amenities that hotel guests and coworking members want. Shrewd coworking operators will partner with hotels – or join forces and completely merge their businesses – and thus have the scale to offer more robust amenities than either could on their own. Regarding the price, I think a hotel analogy is apt here as well. There is a huge diversity in hotels. You can stay at a one- or two-star motel that gives you very little other than a place to sleep, or a five-star resort that provides a slew of services, like multiple dining venues and bars, a spa and pool, and dramatic public spaces. Of course a guest will expect to pay a lot more for the latter. There will need to be similar differentiation in coworking spaces. However, an operator who wants to charge top-of-the-market pricing will need to offer five-star amenities to retain members.

Just as a hotel doesn’t just need to know how to rent out hotel rooms, but also how to operate a restaurant, coffee shop, gym, pool, event space or conference center, so too will coworking operators needs to establish these competencies.

Would you say it is US specific or are those trends reaching all continents from what you see?

We live in a global village and I am not even sure the trends I described originated in the United States. I just stayed at a hotel in Herzliya, Israel, which was connected to a vibrant coworking space. In the basement was a huge fitness center (much bigger and more elaborate than you would typically find in a small hotel) complete with a dry sauna and steam room. I went down to the fitness center in the morning and it was packed in equal parts by hotel guests and coworking members (as well as people in the community who simply bought a gym membership). This is the type of co-locating and amenity sharing concept that I think will become more commonplace as all of these businesses try to supersize their amenities in an increasingly competitive market.

Working from satellite offices can help employers, employees and the world in general in many ways. We have interviewed Jenny Schäpper-Uster, co-founder at VillageOffice in Switzerland, to find out more about her story, the principals behind the platform and the vision and mission it represents. VillageOffice has been a long time contributor to the Coworking Europe conference.

Hi Jenny. Can you introduce us to VillageOffice?

Jenny Schäpper-Uster

VillageOffice was founded in early 2016 with the intention to help catalyze the development and expansion of coworking offerings outside of the cities (i.e in the suburbs and rural regions of the country).

In theory, the greater the offering of “community based coworking spaces” in the periphery, the less the workers have to commute. This reduces transport needs to the already over-populated city centres (and thus also CO2). It saves everyone, employers and employees, time and money on a daily basis. It also saves millions (if not billions) of investments in capacity extension of today’s roads and railways. Additionally, people will be back working close to where they live. It will re-boot the local economy. The available time can be reinvested in family, local community work, politics, sports and free-time in general.

Today our main focus is coaching municipalities and local citizens on their way to establishing locally embedded coworking spaces. To drive the visibility and accessibility to our partner coworking spaces around the country, we offer coworkers (corporates or individuals) an national membership which is valid in all of our partner spaces – 60 to date.

Our digitally remote, self-organized and holacracy-based cooperative has grown to a team of 24 (7 core and 17 extended) and looks forward to many fascinating, agile years to come.

People will be back working close to where they live. It will re-boot the local economy. The available time can be reinvested in family, local community work, politics, sports and free-time in general.

You choose to incorporate as a cooperative. Why did you need to put a legal structure in place to connect all these independent spaces?

It was important for us to signalize from the get go that our main priority is not to build quickly and exit rich with a stock corporation. As a cooperative our intention is to become and make profits but all profits are per se reinvested into the cooperative. Additionally, everyone’s investment is equally weighted. Regardless if you invest CHF 50.000 or CHF 10 each cooperative member’s voice carries the same weight. It was extremely important for us to signal to everyone that we are serious about us wanting help you help yourself. Plus the cooperatives are deeply embedded and appreciated in Switzerland which itself is federal cooperative of states.

Why not simply use one of these many online booking platforms available around?

First of all we’re not just an online booking platform for the reasons previously mentioned. Secondly, most platforms offer a multitude of international options for the freelancing digital nomad but none have achieved wide popularity among the Swiss coworking spaces, coworkers or corporates. As a result, you may find a handful of options in Switzerland compared to hundreds in the US. Thirdly, none of the platforms are localized i.e available in German and French which is important if you wish to reach all Swiss and not just the English speakers. We wanted a Swiss solution for the Swiss market.

Most of the international online platforms offer a multitude of international options for the freelancing digital nomad but none have achieved wide popularity among the Swiss coworking spaces, coworkers or corporates.

How do you make the clearance between the different spaces, money wise? Is it a package or do each space report about tenant checkouts in their respective spaces?

We have a simple check-in system where coworker visits per space are tallied. Our partner spaces are reinbursed for these visits on a quarterly basis.

After 3 years, what are the first takeaways? What went well and what needed some adjustment?

We are still very early in a developing market. As a result, our offerings, particularly in the first two years, had to be explained in detail over and over again. Many corporations and towns were not ready to be the first movers and waited until others went through “beta testing”. We have readjusted and sharpened our focus multiple times in the past years in order to accommodate those market segments that were ready to move. To our great surprise municipalities are quicker to enter into discussions and start projects with us than corporates. Who would have thought!

To our great surprise municipalities are quicker to enter into discussions and start projects with us than corporates. Who would have thought!

What are their main friction points?

Corporations get the idea and know that this is they way of the future but are reluctant to accept that they could profit from these models today instead of in 5 years from now. I strongly believe that the lack of trust in employees is the main barrier coupled with the need for new management styles. Those managers in “power” today would prefer to continue on as they always have and let the next generation deal with the future of work. As a result, many companies may miss the boat with regards to employer attractiveness when the younger generations (a much smaller population) chose for whom they wish to work.

Corporations get the idea and know that this is they way of the future but are reluctant to accept that they could profit from these models today instead of in 5 years from now. I strongly believe that the lack of trust in employees is the main barrier.

Did you collect data about employees commuting time decrease and well-being increase?

Yes, during our coworking experience last year, we collected such data together with the University of St. Gallen. Our sample was small but we were able to confirm many of our hypotheses. We also have a formula on our website which calculates potential time, km and co2 savings of every town in the country if their citizens commuted less because they had a local coworking space.

We have a formula on our website which calculates potential time, km and co2 savings of every town in the country if their citizens commuted less because they had a local coworking space.

How do you market VillageOffice as a product? Have you sales people visiting companies? Are their some profiles more represented than others?

Many of the requests for coaching come through our website and the public awareness we have created by participating and presenting the VillageOffice case at conferences and through word of mouth recommendations from other affiliated organisations for instance Smart Cities or RegioMove. We do not currently focus on corporates (for lack of resources, we’re still a startup) and thus have not sales force for this market.

What are the conditions to join the network and is there some minimum standard level to be delivered by each member space?

To become a VillageOffice partner space, we have a list of criteria which have to be met in order to ensure that the quality of the location and community is as high as possible. We also try to visit each space and know the people running them personally.

According to your website, by 2030, every person in Switzerland will reach the next coworking space within 15 minutes. Is there a plan for it? 

Our goal is to have 1000 VillageOffice Partner spaces by 2030 which would mean that every Swiss would have a space within 15 minutes of their home. We are on our way in that we are helping to develop many new communities and connect existing ones. We still have a lot of work ahead of us but we also still have 11 years and definitely expect the market to mature and take off in the next few years. The Swiss department of economic affairs (SECO) has identified coworking as an official means to help promote regional economies. This helps us tremendously when entering into negotiations. The goal is much more though a commitment of ours, that we will stay at it until we have activated the necessary momentum to make this happen.

The Swiss department of economic affairs (SECO) has identified coworking as an official means to help promote regional economies. This helps us tremendously when entering into negotiations.

The percentage of teleworkers has been gradually increasing over the past 20 years in the US. Modern employees demand home-working options but what about teleworking in coworking spaces? How do coworking and teleworking work hand in hand, nowadays, in Europe? We asked Xavier de Mazenod, one of the most famous teleworking and coworking expert in France.

Hi Xavier. Can you introduce yourself as well as Zevillage?

Xavier de Mazenod

Being a former journalist, I created the company Adverbe in 2004: A consulting and training company regarding new forms of work. Since then, we have been publishing the Zevillage website, a site specialized in the transformation of work, organizations and workspaces. We try to convey to companies all the practices and changes we observe.  

How would you depict the acceptance of teleworking in France, in 2019, and what still keeps companies from embracing it fully?

Teleworking is an old idea in France that goes back to the 90s. But in reality, it has long progressed underground and informally in companies. Few had formalized it and incorporated it into a human resources strategy.

For the last 3-4 years, we have witnessed a rapid change. Teleworking has become part of HR policies for quality of work life balance. Perhaps because companies are realizing that millennials are demanding flexibility in the organization of their work and a greater harmony between their personal time and their time at work. This is important for the image of the company, its “employer brand”. We even have testimonials from young candidates refusing job offers from companies that did not set up teleworking.

The anti-teleworking blockade is still coming from the same cultural cause as 20 years ago: a presidential view of management, a too hierarchical organization and management methods that rely on control and not on trust.

This is not to blame on managers, they do as they can and as they have learned. It’s just a statement.

For what you know, do you see a wide difference between countries in Europe with respect to the teleworking acceptance rate and practices?

Less than ten years ago, in 2009, there were two distinct blocks: Northern Europe (32.4% of the employed population in Finland, 26.8%, 22.3% in the UK) who already had a high rate of teleworkers, and southern countries (France 8.4%, Italy 5%) at the back of the pack. Since then, France has come back quickly. In fact, teleworking works as a indicator of the degree of trust between managers and employees.

The French utility group EDF announced the creation of internal coworking all over their locations spread out across France. Is this a new step in teleworking policies by French companies, would you say?

I will not say that corpoworking (“Corpoworking” is a word used in France in the corporate world to refer to a coworking model designed for a specific corporate audience which has no equivalent anywhere else) is a mutation of teleworking – but rather a complementary offer. An offer that also reassures companies, since their employees remain in a controlled environment.

Until about 5 years ago, in France, teleworking was practiced in 80 or 90% from home. Since then, employees have greater access to “corpoworking” mainly because professional-level offers have appeared with “industrial” players such as Bouygues Immobilier and Accor or the evolution of former business centers like Regus or the emergence of operators like WeWork (although they claim to not be coworking anymore).

These offers have reassured businesses, even if we do not necessarily find the spirit of historic coworking spaces there anymore. On the other hand, we have to understand that when one teleworks only one day a week, he/she will prefer teleworking from home. Once weekly duration increases, the need to leave one’s home or not to be isolated, often manifests.

Can you mention some other examples of companies doing the same or dealing with another approach?

Corpoworking is not a very massive phenomenon. In France, we can mention SNCF or Orange, among the most famous companies to have adopted it. In Switzerland, I would mention examples such as SIG, BrainGym or Swisscom. In Germany, Modul57, TUI, AppHaus or SAP.

It seems companies are still reluctant to let their employees work out of third parties coworking spaces. Is this the case? Why?

That’s true, indeed, for France. Some companies fear that giving their employees space in coworking spaces creates a double cost: one for the office and another for the coworking space. However, the right solution would be to think about the flexibility of the company in a global way by integrating telecommuting, improving office spaces and using coworking spaces. One only has to look at the dramatic transformation of the Belgian social security, for instance, which introduced flex-office and teleworking in order to increase people’s productivity, motivation and quality of life… And it ultimately worked.

Does it start because of a change in companies’ culture or because of the growth of the coworking offering?

I would say both. Without understanding the coworking phenomenon, a company is unlikely to let its employees work outside their offices. But coworking is becoming more and more successful, probably because it gives real estate businesses flexibility. And without sufficient supply of space, no access to coworking is possible.

Do you see the coworking offering in France improving to host companies’ employees, fitting needs in size, locations and amenities?

Nowadays, yes. In bigger cities, at least, all coworking spaces are well attended, and there are also spaces in more rural areas. In France there are 1,800 spaces (all types of third-places included). That’s a very fast progression. And the quality improves. We see that companies are using them more and more. It’s no longer about flexible workstation rentals, only. Coworking also becomes a natural solution to host temporary project teams for example. In that case, the objective is to put them calmly outside the company environment and confront them with diversity. For that reason, you see more and more tools coming up, such as creativity rooms, within coworking spaces.

What is missing?

Time to convert companies to this mode of management.

Speaking about geography, do you notice big differences in terms of behavior between Paris, on the on hand and the rest of France on the other hand?

Image source: Mutinerie Village, Coworking in the French Countryside. Copass SAS

The difference in behavior is more between the city and the countryside than between Paris and other cities in the province. The economic model of the urban spaces is viable because one can reach the minimum size for a correct profitability, around 1500/2000 m2. In rural areas, the smaller size of spaces, linked to a lower population density, makes breaking even difficult.

Who are the drivers of change (players) in France in the new ways of work? What excites you? What disappoints you?

There are many innovators in the new forms of work. One could even say that this innovation is a characteristic of third places. To name a few, I will mention Neo-Nomade, a platform that connects researchers and the suppliers of workspaces. They have a very fine knowledge of the market and are one of the important players who have changed the clientele of coworking spaces to a professional audience. I also want to mention Bureaux à partager, which is growing strongly in major French cities. Among other things, they have acquired a good know-how to install pop-up coworkings. We can also mention Now coworking who chose a high-end positioning with lots of activities offered – similar to the WeWork model but maintaining a stronger culture of community.

Their ambition is to open at least a dozen places in major French cities, outside Paris, in mythical places. Startway’s strategy is also interesting. It is that their spaces have a strong “entrepreneurship” orientation, with a lot of activities for the members. La Poste has entered into their capital and accelerated their development.

Finally, on the side of the spaces that are more “third-places” than coworking we can say that each large or medium city has one. I will mention Darwin in Bordeaux, the WIP being developed in Caen or The Station in the old station of Saint-Omer (14000 inhabitants).

How far do you see the workforce to be physically distributed in the coming 5 years time?

Difficult to know but if we look at strong trends, in France or elsewhere, it is likely that freelancers will be much more numerous than today. We are talking about 50% of the active population in the United States by 2030. It means a lot of flexibility, freedom in the choice of places to live and a greater need to freely recreate collective work in coworking spaces.

Some international studies claim flexible workplace will represent 30+% of the whole office market. Are we heading toward that direction?

In addition to the rise of freelancers phenomenon, we must add the demand for real estate flexibility from major rental companies. They no longer want the rigidity of conventional leases of 3-6-9 years and negotiate to get about 20% of space in flexibility. And who can better offer that than a coworking space?

Like many coworking projects, Copass was created out of necessity. Three years ago the coworking membership program, that now has a network of 700 plus individuals and companies around the globe, was born. Since the majority of Copass founders have been involved in the coworking movement since its very beginning, creating a network came naturally. With friends and fellow coworking space owners all over the world, it seemed natural to develop a way for people, not just digital nomads, to easily work from any of the numerous unique spaces around the world.

Sophie Ozdzinski, one of the four Copass founders, spoke with us about what it means to be professional in a time where we can work from anywhere.

Hi, Sophie. Can you please tell us a bit more about what Copass offers to coworkers? 

Today we are capable of working from anywhere.  Our platform offers freelancers, independents, digital nomads and remote workers the ability to work everywhere. This is the freedom to work across the street, across town, across the country or across an ocean, today. For companies, this flexibility means to go global. We offer startups and firms an elegant solution to their low-overhead, high-flexibility workplace needs. This is the simplicity of one worldwide membership to hundreds of spaces, today.

We still have a lot to achieve and a lot of exciting features to develop – with our recurrent question: Does it make the access to coworking communities easier for our members?

How did you realize that there was real digital nomad community developing that would allow for a platform like Copass to be successful?

Well, when we started Copass we didn’t even focus on the digital nomad community. There actually wasn’t even a name for this community. We’ve developed Copass to answer a need we already had ourselves, and we guessed that there would be more and more people willing to travel and work at the same time. We were right on this prediction!

Copass Camp

Our focus is on everyone who needs flexible and enjoyable places to work from. The majority of our users actually use different spaces in the same city and aren’t digital nomads per say. Some do use it in many countries, but this is just a part of our users. We want to facilitate mobility at work and this is not limited to digital nomads.

That being said, the digital nomad community definitely exists today and it keeps on growing at an impressive rate. As a team, are part of this amazing community. We’ve met many people from this movement during the camps we’ve been organizing around the globe. Our camps act as temporary coliving/coworking communities based out of cool places like Lisbon, the Canary Islands, San Francisco, Bali and more…

Copass has been active long enough to see the coworking community grow and change. What are some of the major changes that have taken place?  

Soon after we launched Copass, we took part in the Digital Nomad (DNX) Conference in Berlin. Since then, we’ve attended the event multiple times. The last one for us was in Bangkok. The kind of people attending those events has clearly changed a lot over the years. We went from a vast majority of people dreaming of being digital nomads to a vast majority of people actually living the digital nomad lifestyle. We went from an idea to a reality.

That being said, there are different breeds of digital nomads. Some stay more than 6 months in each place and some only stay for a few days or weeks. Some travel full time, others only travel 3 months or less a year. Some have a place they call home, some don’t. What they all share is a desire to explore new places while getting some work done and having the flexibility to work anywhere.

Sophie Ozdzinski

As for statistics, it’s hard to find to find concrete ones concerning the movement. Digital Nomads are hard to define, as they are scattered over the globe and they are pretty independent people who aren’t in a permanent state. I am convinced the vast majority of digital nomads will only be full-time nomads for a small time in their lives. Probably somewhere between 1 and 5 years. At some point, people can get a bit tired of the loneliness or might want to settle down and have a family. Right now, it’s still pretty complicated to combine family and nomadism, although some people do it, it’s still very niche.

Overall, growth in the digital nomad movement is mainly something we all feel and experience, not something that produces concrete numbers. It’s definitely something that would help the movement.

In your opinion, why are coworking spaces so important to the development of remote professional communities?

When you work remotely, you can quickly suffer from loneliness and procrastination. In fact, loneliness and isolation are by far the number 1 problem that digital nomads report. That explains why camps like Copass have been so successful. It’s the best of both worlds.

Working from a coworking space helps remote workers to meet new people, and get their work done in a stimulating environment. Coworking spaces are fantastic gateways to new places where you can quickly meet like-minded people from around the world speaking several languages.

What are some of the current demands of digital nomads today?  

The digital nomad movement is at a stage where the term is now being taken seriously. It is intriguing to a lot of people. Some are in a more traditional job and dream of becoming nomads, some run large companies and can see the trend of nomadism and remote work.

How have they created a standard for remote work?

I believe digital nomadism and remote work can be a real chance for companies, especially those who struggle to recruit and retain talents in the younger generation, to grow. From our experience, and for many millennials, being offered the opportunity to work anywhere, at least part time, is a huge advantage. Some say it also is a good way to cut real estate costs for companies, but most of the time new types of expenses like company retreats will diminish this advantage.

What do you see as the potential workplace norm for the majority of employees in the future?

The problem with the word Digital Nomad is that it doesn’t reflect the big trends behind this movement. Not everybody can / wants to / will be a digital nomad. The big trend is that today a lot of work can be done from anywhere on a laptop as efficiently if not more than in a traditional office. This is the real new thing.

Whether people choose to travel the world, settle in the countryside, work from the local café, keep on going to the office is another story. We simply cannot ignore this new fact and organization and individuals can choose to redefine the way they work with this in mind. Offices will stay, but their form will change to match this new reality. Digital Nomadism is simply an extreme and very visible part of this massive change.

The digital nomad community has been criticized as only catering to a more elite class of workers. Do you think that there is a way that remote work could be available to more people? 

Becoming a remote worker is not so much a question of prices or revenues, it’s more a question of mindset and opportunities. All professions can’t be done abroad and some never will be. For example, the fact that being a digital nomad is expensive is a total myth. In fact, most nomads are nomads because the money they earn can afford them a much better lifestyle in Bali than in Paris or NYC. With 1500€ in Bali, you can live a very comfortable life, whereas you’ll struggle in Paris.

The limiting factor for digital nomadism is more about who CAN be a nomad, meaning who has the profession and freedom that allows it, and who WANTS to be a nomad. Not everybody wants this lifestyle.

Last Friday saw the inaugural Social Workplace Conference, an event that aims to create content and bring insight based on “strong models taking root in community managed workplaces to a wider audience of professionals from the real estate industry and corporate world”. Experts from the fields of design, coworking, finance, and corporate innovation all gathered in London’s design-centric shared office space, The Office Group, for a productive day of talks and workshops.

The Social Workplace is shifting the way we view physical space

Presentations addressed topics such as a non-traditional user-centric approach to architectural design, which Oliver Marlow from Studio Tilt, a design and architecture studio known for its unique codesign methodology, explored in relation to the current systemic changes taking place in the workplace.

Attendees at a Workshop, Social Workplace, 2015

Despina Katsikakis, of Barclays Corporate Real Estate, brought to light some important statistics taken from a recent Gallup study, which states that 80 percent of office space still hasn’t changed over the past 10 years, thus continually limiting choice and control.

Despina’s presentation offered alternatives to addressing how to deal with these setbacks, by comparing contemporary office space to cities. Like the urban environment, “the office of the future should act as a social condenser that is exciting, spontaneous, and non-linear”, she explained.

Social capital matters more than monetary gain in today’s work culture 

The general feedback from most participants was focused on an interest in the developing relationship between the corporate and coworking world. Alex Hillman, founder of Indy Hall, a successful coworking space based in Philadelphia, brought home the point that the Social Workplace Conference is a chance for people working in various industries to hear each other out and work towards actual change, not only in their offices, but also in their communities.

Edu Forte, founder of Betahaus Barcelona, discussed the process of cocreation. Through this process, the coworking model allows room for the community to develop the physical space as well as programs that meet their needs.

Stefan Kiss, who has been working in the office furniture industry for over 25 years, and Séverine Blanchard-Jazdzewski , executive of the Orange Digital Transformation program, brought up several point as to why corporations today might be struggling. Stefan discussed the relationship between design and the “human factor”, which he believes once more harmonious, will help transform the current workplace. As for Séverine, she talked about the ways in which companies can meet the need of their employees and their ultimate goal of transforming Orange into an incubator for new collaborative workspaces.

What does the future hold?

Nathan Waterhouse, OI Engine

The Social Workplace wrapped up the day by giving attendees that chance to interact and participate with the speakers. Several workshops were given, tackling topics such as “How to create value from the social workplace model: Programming, events and cross-fertilisation to ignite culture”, led by Simon Pitkeathley of Camden Town BID.

The Final panel, which was led by Kursty Groves Knight, featured Tom Day, from Travel Tech Lab, Steve Pette of Central Working and founder of London’s Bow Arts, Marcel Baettig. As Kursty is an expert in helping organizations to cultivate progressive cultural and physical environments, the panel reflected on the day’s events, discussing everything from catalyzing a community, to monetizing the workspace through partnerships that work with one’s personal philosophy.

Overall, attendees expressed their excitement in regards to future events. As conference goers headed down the bar for a bit of wine and networking, Alex Hillman of Indy Hall, reflecting on the conference, remarked: “The Social Workplace conference marks the beginning of a conversion that needed to be had, but the most exciting part is what comes next”.

Presentations from the conference are available on Slideshare and also Linkedin.

Amanda Gray

Steve King, partner at Emergent Research, is an expert in the changing workplace. Emergent, is a “boutique research and consulting firm focused on the intersection of small business and the future of work”. Recently, Steve wrote an article for Small Business Labs, exploring the rise of social offices, so we caught up with him to learn more about the future of the social workplace.

Hi, Steve. Why did you decide to look at the Social Workplace as an example to highlight the changing nature of work?

For several years we’ve been exploring the increasing integration between work and life. We’ve also been trying to better understand the linkages between the social side of work and how it relates to productivity, work engagement, and worker wellbeing. Our interest in the Social Workplace is a natural outgrowth of this.

How would you define the “Social Workplace” and how is it representative a new model of work?

Our work in this area is focused on coworking spaces, which are definitely a form of social workplaces. Our most recent survey research shows that the social side of coworking spaces is a key reason people are members. Key findings on this topic from our survey include:

• 87% of members report they meet other members for social reasons
• 54% after work and on weekends
• 33% during work hours
• 89% reported they are happier being a coworking member
• 83% reported they are less lonely since becoming a coworking member
• 78% reported that coworking helps keep them sane

11% even reported they had dated someone the met at coworking facility. This is not to say that work isn’t getting done:

• 84% said they were more engaged and motivated when coworking
• 67% said coworking improved their professional success
• 69% said they feel more successful since joining a coworking space
• 64% of the respondents said their coworking networking was a very important (26%) or an important source of work (38%)

Our definition of the Social Workplace is that it is a place where the boundaries between work lives and personal lives are permeable and blending. As this data shows, coworking spaces fit this definition.

We study coworking spaces because we see them as a leading indicator of where work is going – and because of this we believe the social/work blending at coworking spaces is a strong signal that this trend will continue to grow.

How has the development of the social workplace influenced the culture of work? And what does social work environment offer that a traditional one does not?

Steve King

We think the culture of work is slowly changing in ways that allow more workers increased levels of work autonomy, control and flexibility.

You’ll see these same words in other answers. This is because our research pretty much always comes back to these 3 attributes. If a worker has them, he/she is much more likely to be engaged, productive and happy at work than those who do not.

We think Social Workplaces tend to be places where people have these work attributes, and we believe as the benefits of the Social Workspace becomes better known they will spread.

A good metaphor is “casual dress”. The technology industry moved to much a more casual dress codes starting in the 1970s. Over a period of a decade or so it became clear that workers liked this change and productivity was likely increased. Over time – a long time – casual dress (at least part of the time) spread to pretty much all industries (at least in the U.S.).

We see the same thing happening with social workspaces.

Has your research shown that the social workplace becoming more widely accepted? 

As mentioned above, we see coworking spaces as a leading indicator of general work change. This means it’s likely the type of work/life blending we’re seeing at coworking spaces will become more common in all types of work environments.

How are the expectations of the modern workforce different from previous models? What has changed in the workforce over the last 5 years? What are the current expectations?

We’re seeing a shift towards more emphasis on working to live over living to work. Millennials are talked about a lot when it comes to this shift, but all generations are showing more interest in better work/life balance. Pretty much everyone is also looking for more work autonomy, control and flexibility.

Some people think that happiness in the workplace isn’t really important, but recent studies are showing it actually does improve productivity, would you agree? Do you have any examples to back this up?

It’s easy to dismiss happiness in the workplace as not being important, but too many studies show happiness and productivity is tightly linked. It’s also self-evident – who doesn’t think they are better at work when they are happy?

Our research on independent workers (the self-employed, freelancers, independent contractors, etc.) shows a strong correlation between productivity, worker views of their professional success and happiness.

Put more simply, those that are happy at work do a better job and consider themselves more successful.

Coworking has been a solid example of changes in attitude towards workplace culture, do you think it will continue to grow and improve? Do you think it is possible for larger corporate entities to integrate coworking into their business model?

There are no signs coworking is slowing down – if anything on a global level the growth is accelerating. Our forecast is for rapid continued growth out to 2020 and beyond.

Corporations are already integrating coworking into their business models. This is especially true when it comes to close partners and suppliers. We expect this to continue, to expand and to become more common in the early 2020s. Remember, workforce shifts tend to happen relatively slowly.

Do you think that changes in the workplace will also affect various business platforms, such as real estate?

We do. In particular the long term lease (10 years or more) doesn’t really work given the amount economic volatility, uncertainty and change that exist today. We think more firms will choose “workplace as a service” models that provide more business flexibility and agility. This will lead to major changes in commercial real estate. Again, these changes will not happen quickly – but they will happen. The rapid growth of firms like WeWork and Industrious are examples of this shift.

Amanda Gray