Wow, thank you all for such thoughtful comments. and debate. And thanks Alex for the link to the essay. I'll have a look.
Marilee On Jul 10, 10:12 am, Alex Hillman <[email protected]> wrote: > I agree with David wholeheartedly. The power of coworking is not in the > facilities, because those elements are commodities and have forever > decreasing value. Scaling facility up is relatively easy...you can just > throw more money at it. And despite how you might feel about funding your > efforts, money is and will always be the easy part. > > Culture, on the other hand - which is the glue of what holds a strong > coworking community together - is difficult. Especially through fast growth, > which is often desired to help achieve an end like scaling the space and the > facility. > > Culture is composed of norms, which can be established by anyone within that > culture. They can be dictated - which tends to be the way offices are run. > One of the things that fascinates me about coworking spaces is that we have > the ability to provide a workspace, something that most people are > relatively familiar with, and actually REMOVE the rules for how it is > "supposed" to work. > > Ask yourself, "What happens in an office where nobody tells the workers how > to act? How to interact? What to do? Where to go?". At first, there's some > chaos. That's good. I learned to Embrace the > Chaos<http://www.flickr.com/photos/missrogue/2611607790/> from > early coworking founders like Chris Messina and Tara Hunt. Our tendencies > are to control chaos, and put things in order. By avoiding that, and > allowing order to emerge a bit more organically, new behavioral patterns > emerge. These patterns, in the context of coworking, are the things that the > press likes to write about: Collaboration & work exchange. Increased charity > and giving. Better support for local industries. Happier people. Increased > business foundation. Camaraderie and friendship. We're building blank > canvases for work patterns to emerge from, and I think that the work > patterns that exist when nobody told them to are the most interesting and > the most sustainable to practice. > > Those elements don't truly emerge until someone gets out of their way and > simply lets them. Telling people to collaborate is a lousy way to have it > happen, because it's always dependent on you telling them. Creating > opportunities for people to discover collaboration on their own creates a > rolling effect that's difficult if not impossible to stop once it starts. > > I like to look at coworking and ask: Are you contributing to the development > of an ecosystem - one dependent on the health of its host - or a community - > a self sustaining organism that while it may have a figurehead, could live > on in other capacities without you? > > All of that said...the question was what are the challenges to > growing/scaling? > > These same elements that provide a very strong cultural base for a coworking > community also pose a challenge as you grow. Consider this > essay<http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2010/06/08/pick-up.html>by > Michale Lopp (of Rands in Repose). In it, he talks about a pickup > hockey > game played by Netscape employees every weekend for 14 years. A game with > only 3 simple rules. Unwritten rules, but understood rules. > > Rather than referee every game and start by reminding everyone of the rules, > they just played. If someone new joined the game, and disobeyed one of the > rules, it was up to one of the other players to let them know the rules, and > then they could play on. > > That is, until, a larger group with its own critical mass came in all at > once. In one game, more arguments and fights, occurred than ever had in the > history of the game. > > Its not because that group was unnecessarily feisty, but because it's much > harder to grow a group that's built on cultural norms - like the rules of > the pickup game or the interactions of a coworking space - when lots of new > people show up at once. > > So what do we have at our disposal within our various coworking communities? > > First, we have our membership. *Existing membership is the foundation of > your culture, not you.* If they want something to change, its best to > embrace the chaos and let it change, for the better. Making sure that > existing members are having opportunities to build strong relationships is > key, because they'll be there to defend the cultural norms important to > them. > > On the list, some people have made recent mention of "Town Hall" meetings > and members lunches. These are *excellent* for building relationships > because they allow coworkers to interact with each other with the context of > membership but without the context of work. That means they are not worried > about interrupting or otherwise inconveniencing each other. > > Every time Indy Hall has deviated from a focus on heling create these > contexts, and at the same time experienced a growth spurt in membership, we > have had issues. Some can be small, like a noticeable increase in people who > come in, put on their headphones, work all day without talking to anyone, > and then going home. Others can be large, like the introduction of a > disruptive member. Truly toxic things, like poorly ending collaborations and > even theft, are more likely to occur when people aren't on the same page > with what to expect from one another. > > If you don't know what "normal" looks like in a given culture, how are you > supposed to know if something is wrong? > > When the community grows quickly but nobody is there to introduce the newbs > to the cultural norms, the "hum" of a coworking space - the thing that gets > most people excited but they can't quite put their finger on - tends to > decrease in volume. I've seen it repeatedly times, and not just at Indy > Hall. I've seen it happen on this e-mail list as it has grown from less than > 100 people to over 2500. > > Consider your coworking efforts like mini-societies, and consider the > challenges of scaling ANY society. They're universal, they're interesting, > and the solutions we're all coming up with are insanely cool and powerful. > > -Alex > > /ah > indyhall.org > coworking in philadelphia > > On Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 5:12 AM, Dave Ruzius <[email protected]> wrote: > > This may be the case if the business case solely relies on these > > facilities offered... > > > In my opinion (and my favorite topic) the true value is not created by > > the facility, the fax machine or the wifi connection... It's about the > > people in the coworking community, the value of being part of that > > community and what a Coworker together with bunch of smart people is > > capable of. The collborative environment with its facilities are mere > > enablers for good stuff to be able to happen. > > These facilities should be offered in a sustainable way and should be > > made scalable to grow (unlimited....) with the seize of the community. > > > A coworking project should be able to prove that the true value comes > > from "working better, together" and the new social and business > > benefits Coworking brings. > > Also I believe there is no threat from public meetups, seminars etc... > > We've seen a huge difference between the value coming from and > > experiencing 'public' meetups versus knowledge sharing sessions among > > members of TheWorks community during Jellies. As members are getting > > to know eachother there are no or at least way less barriers for > > discussion, participation. I'd like to see these sessions organized > > for and by the TheWorks community as "mini barcamps on steroids" > > > So... imho... there are no barriers for growth if you can scale the > > enabling facilities together with the growth of the community and are > > able to prove that the value is not delivered by the facilities but by > > the community and the opportunities that will arise by being part of > > that community... > > > my 2 czech crowns > > > TheWorks > > Dave Ruzius > >http://www.theworks.cz > > > On Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 1:21 AM, Kent Lockart <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > I think one of the key barriers to coworking's growth in fee based sites > > is > > > being able to show added value for the price of membership/usage. > > > > WiFi, public desktops, and Meetups are free and abundant. I can locate > > > like-minded people (or help) geographically anywhere I am in real time > > with > > > my mobile. I don't print or fax. Clients are accepting of private > > > conversations in public spaces. > > > > These things make the business case harder but not impossible. After > > all, > > > vending machines selling bottled water still make money even when they > > are > > > located next to a free water fountain or sink-tap. > > > > Cheers, > > > > Kent > > > > PS - I'm assuming the next question is going to be how to overcome the > > > barriers.... I'm not sure but I believe it will need to be a blended > > > solution of many creative things. > > > > On Jul 9, 2010, at 3:50 PM, marileebowlescarey wrote: > > > >> What do people think are the key barriers to growth in coworking? > > > >> Marilee > > > >> -- > > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups > > >> "Coworking" group. > > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > >> [email protected]<coworking%[email protected]> > > . > > >> For more options, visit this group at > > >>http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > > "Coworking" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > [email protected]<coworking%[email protected]> > > . > > > For more options, visit this group at > > >http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > > -- > > Dave Ruzius > >http://www.theworks.cz > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Coworking" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]<coworking%[email protected]> > > . > > For more options, visit this group at > > ... > > read more » -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
