I’ve been interviewing lots of coworking space managers, and am noticing some common challenges: (1) attracting and retaining members, (2) maintaining a strong culture and avoiding the “everyone just walks in and puts on their headphones” phenomenon, and (3) lessening the load on the founders and decreasing burnout. I believe I have a solution that addresses all of those … Read More
Recently, in the Coworking Google Group (you’re on that, right?), Trevor Twining from Cowork Niagra started a conversation about the difficulty (or relative lack thereof) in establishing a coworking space as a co-op. Many other founders, including me, looked at the possibility of doing this, but judged it too complicated/scary/confusing to dive into. Trevor, thankfully, not just powered through such resistance, he … Read More
There are over 12,000 coworking spaces in the world now, with another 5,000 or so joining the ranks in 2016 alone. Nobody owns coworking. Nobody controls it, nobody licenses it. So where’s the manual? How are so many people around the world building what are, in many ways, the same thing? The answer is, there is no manual. Coworking is a natural, … Read More
Firstly, congrats on deciding to start a coworking community! Every year, thousands of new spaces open around the world. That means coworking is continuing to grow… fast. What does that mean for you? It means you’re riding the crest of a big wave–a wave that’s transforming our world’s relationship with work for the better. It also means you’re going to have to … Read More
Having had a chance to take a step back and really look at what’s happening with the coworking world for some time now, I’ve noticed some alarming trends: Alarming Trend #1: All but a relative handful of spaces, it seems, are facing the same issue: trouble attracting and retaining members. This is largely due to their struggles to build (or … Read More
When you look at it objectively, we had no business getting a physical space of our own. We were small, we were broke, and we barely knew what we were doing. That anyone ever took a chance on us and let us have a lease in the heart of Manhattan is hard to understand. It’s as if, from the very first … Read More
412 Broadway has been the home to our community for five years now. During that time, thousands of people have passed through the doors for coworking, Meetups, classes, parties, and… in a lot of cases, just to check it out. When we got started, we were on a shoestring budget. It was only thanks to gracious loans from some of … Read More
Two friends and fellow New Work City coworkers, Natasha and Lorenz, are building a platform that gives people simple ways to form sub-communities around specific shared intentions. It’s called Heartbeat, and I’m excited to be working with them on implementing it at New Work City. The premise is simple: take something that you’d rather do alongside others than on your own, and … Read More
One of the biggest weaknesses of coworking in its current form is its propensity for letting work become too big a part of the experience. It’s so easy for people in a coworking space, even one with a great community, to arrive at the office, put on headphones, work all day, then go straight home without really talking to anyone. While this might … Read More
When two people I trust deeply (Eric and Amy) nearly simultaneously introduced me to The Alliance, I knew I had to read it. Among other things, it advocates for a new employer-employee dynamic that emphasizes specific, finite, mission-based efforts that are designed to benefit both employee and employer. Toward the end these “Tours of Duty,” both parties meet to review and … Read More