Is your understanding of a managed workspace shaped by what you read in the headlines? If so, you might think that managed spaces are noisy and full of start-ups and tech bros working in massive shared buildings.

This is simply not true.

Coworking is appealing not just to freelancers but also to start-ups, SME’s and surprisingly large corporations too. While start-ups and SME’s vouch for coworking to meet their goals of cost-effectiveness, access to amenities, networking with the best minds, all under one roof, corporates too have realized manifold gains.

What Do the Trends Say?

Across the US alone, nearly 27million sq. feet of area is dedicated to co-working spaces. Statistics peg the number of managed workspaces at a whopping 14,411 across the world.

But Asia is not far behind.

According to CBRE research, the APAC region has had a staggering investment of $3 billion in managed spaces. As the start-up community in India keeps burgeoning, the demand for managed workspaces continues to rise with approximately 13 million individuals estimated to opt for managed spaces by 2020.

In fact, you’d be surprised to know that India is only second to China when it comes to flexible working spaces in the Asia Pacific.

Managed Workspaces Are Rewriting Conventional Rules

Before the concept of managed workspaces came into being, entrepreneurs had to turn to executive suites, business centers and telecentres for accessing office facilities in key locations.

For those of you not quite familiar with the ‘managed workspace’ concept, it is primarily a social assemblage of a group of people working independently but under the same roof. This group of people derives their efficiency and optimum deliverance of their talent from working together with like-minded people but is involved in diverse projects.

At present, managed spaces are combining collaborative or social aspects with material design and general aesthetic of the spaces, along with function and purpose.

A far cry from working in isolation, yet not committed together to a similar organization, co-workers are emerging as an emotionally and socially healthier lot of this century.

But, do you know what the greatest benefit of all is? It is the ability of professionals with independent knowledge and complementary skills to be able to connect with one another and help each other’s business grow.

Worried That Someone Might Steal Your Ideas?

Meeting people with similar ambitions and interests is one of the perks of working in managed spaces. You’ll meet entrepreneurs like you who are working hard to get their business off the ground. As you see them every day, it is common to discuss ideas with each other.

The majority of professionals that work in these environments are well aware of the potential of collaboration, cooperation, mutual support, and social connection. They experience it every single day at these managed workspaces which in turn unlocks the power of community at these coworking spaces.

This is emphasized further by studies at Harvard University, the London School of Economics, and other subsequent research that has recognized the root cause of happiness in developing socially rich relationships and meaningful bonds.

Take a look at these tips to build and create stronger managed workspace communities.

1. Shared Purpose & Values: There is a sentiment of shared or common purpose in all good communities. Harness the power of buy-in or common values at your managed workspace. Discussing your ideas and getting perspectives from other entrepreneurs will only help you in expanding your vision.
2. Create Rituals: Being professional settings, managed workspaces will provide you with everything you need to make your productivity and creativity flow. Along with that, your goal should be to entrench values and develop culture through a process of shared rituals at the shared space.
3. Use Storytelling to Reinforce Culture: Embedding culture in a coworking community can be beautifully done by storytelling. Stories can reinforce the culture of space that can turn into a denigrating ground for a community.
4. Drive Connections: You have to invest some time to find the right managed space for you. Once you have found the one for you, the significant benefits that coworking offers are too much to overlook. It is a socially and professionally rewarding way of getting your work done because good communities thrive on connectedness inside groups of any size.
5. Facilitate the Building of Trust: Theoretically, there is a risk of someone stealing your idea in a managed space. But people who come to managed workspaces already have their plates full. When they show interest in your project, it does not mean that they wish to steal it. Facilitating trust, communication, and sharing is all part of the community building process.
6. Maximize Engagement: Managed workspaces are not all the same. They vary quite a bit. The levels of social interaction, vibes, and levels of the community can differ from one space to the other. But what remains constant along with connectivity and trust is the need to maximize engagements between members.
7. Instill Identity Through Branding: To instill the communal feeling, you need to give people a space that reflects a common symbol or name. Associating a brand identity with the managed workspace can help in binding members together which then transforms into a vessel for a common identity.
8. Create and Encourage Shared Experiences: Co-working spaces will bring you face-to-face with so many entrepreneurs, small business owners and work-from-home professionals from various industries. Networking and business collaborations and sharing experiences come into the picture automatically that help in building powerful bonds. That’s why business owners and freelancers prefer co-working spaces.

Peers Help Shorten the Learning Curve

Even though the traditional adopters of this concept have been start-ups, the big-wigs are also catching up. The likes of Amazon and Starbucks are the frontrunners in this trend. And it is not just about cost-savings alone. Working next to young, energetic and like-minded individuals goes a long way in upping the productivity quotient and overall employee satisfaction.

What is in a name, one might ask! Catchy terminology that instantly conveys collaborative working will hold sway. Notwithstanding, the managed workspace will seek to be all that it epitomizes, enabling total freedom in every sense.

Managed workspaces emphasize establishing a community-based environment and that is why the start-ups and companies are making it their first choice.