Yes, Marissa hit the panic button, and Yahoo’s new ban on “working from home” has ignited a huge firestorm from a long-smoldering debate over how to manage worklife balance and workplace productivity. However, pitting working from home against working from a central headquarters office misses the point. Neither the home office nor the centralized HQ is the complete answer anymore. Worklife, has become infinitely more interesting and requires a more thoughtful approach, since knowledge workers now choose how, when and… Read More »
Corporate leaders have started to pay attention to the buzz and research around culture and employee engagement, as they are seeing that these are critical to attracting and retaining talent, and they have a direct connection to their bottom line. The realization is that the sea of cubicles is not quite conducive to deep employee engagement and it’s time to evolve the open office space concept to fit a more dynamic digital economy. Most research happening around workspace design, collaboration… Read More »
Posted on February 27, 2013 by Liz Elam in Community
Once upon a time break rooms were the place to go and eat lunch but in our ever changing digital age they lack appeal for employees in many fields who’d rather take a walk with one of their digital devices grabbing a snack from a local coffee shop. As a result there’s a lack of camaraderie in a lot of companies, especially the mid size to larger ones. People are still team players but there’s less intermingling, which can really… Read More »
ONE of the most crucial elements of a successful co-working space is the design. Like the people who use the environment, it needs to be flexible, fluid and creative. Still, it is a constant work in progress as the community moulds the physical surroundings from the inside out and it can be rearranged as needs change. Seven years’ experience has proven there are some key ideas that enhance the collaborative environment. This video, created by head architects of The Hub… Read More »
WHAT if you could be a co-worker and creative social innovator outside of the usual metropolitan mould? By taking the spirit of collaboration and the principal of co-working to regional communities, opportunities are injected into the equation, not removed. Traditionally the progressive business and entrepreneurial world has considered cities as meccas for the birth and development of new projects. Yet taking these people, ideas, attitudes and concepts to a country environment can be twice as beneficial. First by providing a… Read More »
I grew up in Western civilization, raised on Darwin’s, survival of the fittest worldview. No matter where you are on the evolution/creation theories, his competition, bloody tooth and claw perspective has become a pillar of our cultural heritage. It has been the prevailing influence in how we’ve run our businesses. “Eat or be eaten” and “It’s a jungle out there.” Yes, it is a jungle out there. And until very recently we’ve been making the nearly fatal mistake of following… Read More »
The coworking movement has survived it's infancy, learned to walk and talk, enjoyed the freedom of childhood, and now sits somewhere in its young adult phase. The individualism of childhood fades as teens begin to run in packs, so excited to have found others like themselves. At that stage, you bond by defining what you are not, i.e. "we are not a typical office", and rebelling against difference in others, I.e. "that place is not a 'real' coworking space". At… Read More »
There are a lot of different reasons to open a coworking space, some are closer to business considerations while others are more on an idea, on the way you see the world. No matter why you decide to open a coworking space, the key to its survival is profit. We are not only talking about money when we talk about profit. Without building a community, a good product, and using marketing skills to bring clients in you will not be… Read More »
Coworking breaks down the emotional barriers (and sometimes the physical ones too) that the traditional business world put up to keep us each in our place. Isolated. After working in this vacuum for a few years, its no wonder some of the best and brightest are striking out on their own, trading a little financial security for a lot of professional freedom. Coworking provides solopreneurs with exactly what they’re looking for: a place where collaboration and community are highly valued,… Read More »
It all started as a meet-up of people coming to SXSW with an interest in Coworking. The meet-ups were held in Austin in 2008 and 2009 and organized by a local Coworking enthusiast. In 2010 Loosecubes decided to turn it into an actual event—the first ever Coworking Unconference. Liz Elam of Link Coworking helped the Loosecubes team with logistics and finding sponsors. The half-day Unconference was a huge success and drew about 120 Coworking enthusiasts from around the world. In… Read More »
