A coworking space is generally designed to create a community of individuals who wish to be part of a stimulating environment. Coworking is not a system for individuals who wish to rent an office! Making the coworking space lively will encourage exchanges between co-workers and federate the community. How can one liven up a coworking space? Cowork.io shares its tips!
A coworking center has to be animated!
A coworking space needs to be animated at the right times and in a proper way. The more your animations are varied and adapted to the spirit of your community, the better! There is one crucial aspect to keep in mind: those activities must suit your community of coworkers. You should also identify the moments of the day which correspond best to your members for these moments of sharing (breakfast, lunch, afterwork).
Provide the community with useful activities!
Those animations can be anything from coaching sessions to conferences, and workshops! You should find out the subjects that match your coworkers interests. The majority of your members are entrepreneurs? Then you could hold conferences on fund raising or business planning, you can invite legal or accounting contributors. If your coworkers have a more artistic fiber (or if they work in new technologies sectors) then you can hold conferences on digital communication or copyrights.
Involve your members within the animation process.
Each coworker within your community is possibly an expert in his field. It would be a pity not to benefit from his experience and that he shouldn’t share his talent with others. You should invite coworkers to introduce the others to their field of expertise with workshops. It is a simple and effective way to put forward each individual of your coworking space. You can suggest holding a session for breakfast once in a while so that everyone shares a meal and benefits from an entertaining presentation. This will further help the new comers’ integration within the coworking community.
Encourage your members to go beyond their professional environment.
Sometimes, you should organize events which go beyond the community. For example, you could host an afterwork with members of the coworking community and invite labor associations, members of the Chamber of Commerce, entrepreneurs, and managing directors of corporations… Such an event will give the coworkers an opportunity to create a network and will also be a way to promote you coworking space.
Don’t fear getting caught in the web!
Your coworkers will generally be ‘professional’ Internet users, make the most of it! There should be a strong sense of networking within the community. You can put in place a dedicated communication system which will facilitate discussion between coworkers. You can also suggest themes (of discussion) to encourage dialogue.
Use your walls !
Identify the place where most people pass (your coworking’s kitchen for example) by and make it the information center of your coworking spaces. You can place a mood board for your coworkers so that they can share what they are doing at the moment or their achievement after a lot of hard work!
Another (tiny) detail…
You should definitely learn all of your coworkers’ names. Your co-working space should be a place where your members feel at ease, where they feel they are backed! Knowing their names is a sign of interest on your behalf, the proof they are not only “another tenant”.
Keep in mind that word of mouth is key to you coworking center’s success. Do not neglect the animation part if you wish to attract new coworkers and turn your coworking space into a profitable business!
