THE CO-WORKING SPACE CONCEPT
Anne Leforestier
THE CO-WORKING SPACE
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The co-working space is a “movement”
Concept: renting a desktop in an open space shared with
other independent workers for a very flexible period
Work community: rules to respect
Values: collaboration, openness, community and
sustainability
Co-workers: mainly web developers, freelancers,
entrepreneurs
The more you give the more you have in return
WHAT CO-WORKERS ARE LOOKING FOR?
Survey realized by the Wiki of Co-working on 120 co-workers.
Importance of expected features in a
co-working space (out of 5):
Atmosphere 1
Main benefits:
4,5
Community Feeling 2
4,3
Collaborative Environment 3
1. Community
4,1
Location 4
2. Advice
4
Networking Opportunities 5
3,9
Meeting Spaces 6
3,7
Excellent Coworkers 7
3,7
Quiet Spaces 8
3. Support
4. Promotion
3,4
Security 9
3,2
24 hr Access 10
3,1
0
5. Mentor
5
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Include a wide range of services:
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WIFI connection, power
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IT facilities
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Fax machines, projector, flipcharts,
printers, phones, scans, bookbinder
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Whiteboard, paper, furniture
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Conference rooms, lounge, recreation
rooms
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library
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Water, coffee and snacks
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Storage capacity
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Insurance
CO-WORKING SPACE
Pro
Cons
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Costs savings
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Lake of privacy
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Wide range of flexible services
proposed
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Intellectual property
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Lake of collaboration
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Adequacy of the space
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Lack of frequentation: because
it is not “their office”
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Hacking problems
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Interactions between coworkers
Friendly environment
Possibility to create co-working
spaces for specific sectors
Opportunity to diversify the
offered services
Creation of a worldwide
community of co-workers
Implementable to companies
who want to offer more friendly
environment to their innovators
to gain in efficiency
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The co-working spaces could
suffer the competition from
cafés that offer free wifi
Development of the 3G
technology
The credit crunch has
slowdown the creation of startup