The Benefits Of Coworking

The traditional office setting is on its way out, gone are the days of cramped office cubicles where your only social interaction would be huddled around the office printer. There is a new kid on the block and it’s here to stay, coworking is a phenomenon that has been born from innovative, design-led operators who focus on combining communication, collaboration and brand. Coworking can benefit businesses of all shapes and sizes, we commonly see scaled businesses and scaling businesses working side by side. Collaborative working is a great way to bring like-minded people together in a flexible workspace. Below are our top three reasons as to why you should start implementing a coworking approach.

Time To Market – An interconnected team can communicate with one and other much easier, which significantly reduces the time it takes to bring ideas into fruition.

Innovation – Great ideas are brought to the surface when diverse strengths and perspectives work together.

Morale – In a coworking environment employees feel like their ideas and skills are highly valued which, in turn, leads to improved commitment and loyalty to the team and the company.

Below is a fantastic infographic created by Hubspot this illustrates the importance of creating a coworking workplace and the kind of results your business can expect to see.

Click To See Full Size Infographic

Now you know why you should implement a collaborative workplace environment you now need to know how to do so. The first step to coworking stardom is making sure each team member is fully equipped for complete participation. Below are five ways to initiate a collaborative workplace environment  

Company expectations – You must make it paramount that collaboration is the bare minimum. Make sure your team has a clear understanding of the required roles and responsibilities. Each team member will have a clear understanding of their position and what is required of them. In a collaborative workplace each team member needs to be aware that there is a joint responsibility for good outcomes.

Set team goals – Ensure succinct, measurable goals are set on a monthly basis. Getting your team to focus on goals will keep individual efforts coordinated with their desired outcomes. Remember you must be willing to re-evaluate and re-engineer goals when needed.

Encourage a creative atmosphere – Allow team members to ask questions and brainstorm in a non-judgemental framework. Encourage your team to look at any obstacles as being conquerable this will help in creating a “can do” company attitude.

Build cohesion – Make sure you include each person in the team in as many important decisions as possible. Create a way of communicating current workflows to avoid any duplication of effort. Encourage daily team meetings where each member will share what they are aiming to accomplish that day. This way everyone will be singing off the same hymn sheet and this therefore enables team members to re-direct their efforts as needed.

Know one another – Every team is built up of different personalities, skill sets and experiences, it is worth having each team member complete a simple personality profile. Then share the results with the team and openly discuss likes and dislikes on topics such as: communication, tasks and personal focus.

Establishing a collaborative workplace environment is just the beginning, coworking must be consistent and purposeful, with dedicated resources to enable its success. You may have many superstars in your office already but you can build your workplace productivity exponentially by getting them to work as a collaborative team.

Fusion Hive is the North East’s pioneer in collaborative working and work spaces, bringing together technology based businesses enabling collaboration and innovation between our tenants. Our tenants are supported by a number of innovation, graduate and training resources provided by Teesside University. The university boasts a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for enterprise and business engagement, and holding the Customer First quality standard. Teesside University is well placed to help make a bottom-line different to your business in today’s ever-changing technology landscapes and global markets

Source – http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/create-collaborative-workplace