THE CO-WORKING SPACE CONCEPT

Anne Leforestier

THE CO-WORKING SPACE 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?

Main benefits:

1.Community

2.Advice

3.Support

4.Promotion

5.Mentor3,1

3,2

3,4

3,7

3,7

3,9

4

4,1

4,3

4,5

0 5

24 hr Access 10

Security 9

Quiet Spaces 8

Excellent Coworkers 7

Meeting Spaces 6

Networking Opportunities 5

Location 4

Collaborative Environment 3

Community Feeling 2

Atmosphere 1

Importance of expected features in a co-working space (out of 5):

Survey realized by the Wiki of Co-working on 120 co-workers.

Include a wide range of services: WIFI connection, power IT facilities Fax machines, projector, flipcharts,

printers, phones, scans, bookbinder

Whiteboard, paper, furniture Conference rooms, lounge,

recreation rooms library Water, coffee and snacks Storage capacity Insurance

CO-WORKING SPACEPro

Costs savings Wide range of flexible

services proposed 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

Cons Lake of privacy Intellectual property Lake of collaboration Adequacy of the space Lack of frequentation:

because it is not “their office”

Hacking problems 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 start-up