Whilst I’ve been critical of co-working spaces in the past, it’s hard to dispute their growing popularity.  My main beef with them is their apparent focus on superficial things such as furniture or brand of coffee rather than things that really help a startup to grow.

Of course, growing ones start-up may not be the sole reason people frequent co-working spaces, and a recent study explored some of the more communal aspects of co-working that members enjoy.

Social working

The study finds that co-working spaces are increasingly popular amongst freelancers who might not neccessarily wish to expand their workforce, but do require the social elements of work that they miss by not being in an office.

“We became interested in co-working spaces after an early exploration of the context revealed that people were spending money to work in these spaces less for the workplace itself and more to be part of a community,” the authors say.

The researchers analyzed how members behave in co-working spaces, and the kind of work they engage in.  They found that the sense of community was much stronger in a co-working space than it was in a traditional office environment.

Interestingly, this community would largely happen spontaneously rather than any conscious effort on behalf of the space managers themselves.  The research found that a number of practices can help a community to emerge however, including:

• Ensuring that the purpose of the workspace is explicit, and that employees of the space share that goal.
• Provide ample opportunities for members to create relationships and shared routines with peers.
• Provide ample opportunity for employees to over-reach their formal job description to enable them to take ownership of the space and the community.

“The goal should be to create an arena where employees can access the resources they need to build for themselves a sense of community and a climate where they would feel empowered to do so,” the researchers conclude. “Autonomy over how, where and when to work as well as democratic decision processes will aid in the creation of a community feel in a traditional workspace.”

Of course, not all co-working members are freelancers, and the study doesn’t delve into the tangible benefits having a sense of community brings to members and their business/life, but it does nonetheless provide another insight into this rapidly growing sector.