4 Myths About Coworking

2023 Author: Amber Richards | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-22 00:24

Myth 1: coworking "office" is for loafers

Maria Uvarova, general director of the popular Moscow coworking DI Telegraph: “Oleg Tinkov had a hand in the creation of this myth, who in March 2015 said in an interview:“Startups attract investments, rent a new office, drink smoothies in a coworking space, poke their tablets into their tablets. Nobody thinks about profit and economic viability. Investment money corrupts. " This is a common misconception about coworking spaces in Russia - supposedly people gather there, pay their 14,500 rubles per month for a workplace and imitate hectic activity, brainstorming, and the result is zero. In reality, there are studies that prove the effectiveness of working outside the home and outside other places like cafes. Even taking into account the openness of the space in the coworking space, the degree of inner concentration is higher. We also have a high concentration of people who may be interested in each other from the point of view of common business tasks. If there is not enough designer, editor or SMM specialist for a project, they do not have to be recruited into the team on an ongoing basis.

You will always find them in the coworking space. If you are a freelancer, coworking gives you the opportunity to express yourself most vividly, quickly get the necessary contacts - working from home, all this is impossible. Moreover, contacts are established not only with the help of the administration, but also at lunch-breakfast-dinner. In a cafe, you are unlikely to allow yourself to approach people at the next table and ask: "What are you doing here, what are you discussing?" And in a coworking space, such questions are in the order of things. Everyone here is ready to cooperate.

In addition, we hold uniting events, parties where our former residents and their friends come, they all communicate and will definitely find something useful for themselves. Every month we host Moscow Tech Meetup - meetings for everyone interested: startups, entrepreneurs, employees, students, investors and experts. There are a lot of collaborations inside our coworking space. Another funny example: our administrators and communication managers regularly leave us for promotion to those companies that are located on our site - and for me this is an indicator of the effectiveness of her work. I am glad that we give people the opportunity to grow."

Myth 2: coworking is a trend that will soon die

Maria Filatova: Marketing Director of DI Telegraph: “People are often skeptical about ideas that break the usual foundations. Change is always an unknown, and it causes fear and self-doubt in many. I don’t think so, for me any changes are always good, they are a challenge and motivation to develop further, reach new levels and try to look at everything “out of the box”.

In 1995, an iconic place for developers was founded in Berlin - c-base, one of the first examples of an effective coworking + community algorithm. It was there that in 2002 they worked on Wi-Fi networks to make them publicly available. 23 years have passed since then. 23 years is significant! Therefore, the myth that “coworking is just a fashion trend” is untenable. Over the 12 years of the official existence of coworking spaces, their number has increased 5000 times and is 15,000 locations, of which 350 are in Russia. 1.2 million people work in coworking spaces all over the world, and 32,000 in our country.

Numerous functional areas coexist in the coworking space: fixed and non-fixed workplaces, open spaces, mini-offices, recreation areas, sleep capsules, meeting booths and rooms, event areas, a cafe, a gym. The range of services available for residents is also wide: legal and accounting advice, foreign language courses, food delivery, dry cleaning, beauty salons, ticket booking, the opportunity to receive additional education and much more.

Great, isn't it? Everything in one place. You work, develop, meet new people and constantly find yourself in a space with the highest concentration of the latest world trends and trends."

Myth 3: coworking space is noisy, impossible to work

Evgeniya Sorokina: Development Director of DI Telegraph: “To begin with, the nature of the impact of noise on a person is diverse. There is a so-called "motivating noise". According to the annual survey of the specialized online publication Deskmag, 71% of participants believe that it is in coworking that they feel creativity, self-confidence and inspiration. 62% said they were more productive in coworking.

Here, issues are resolved much faster, because you are surrounded by professionals from different fields and you can always get an expert opinion. But if you want some privacy with your team, the coworking spaces have mini-offices. In general, there are a number of rules in coworking spaces that make it possible to work comfortably, for example, it is not allowed to speak loudly, laugh. Meeting rooms are used for meetings and phone calls.

Freelancers and startups often work from home as they see this as an alternative to the office. However, households require attention, neighbors are doing repairs, a vacuum cleaner and a dishwasher are calling for exploits, favorite books and TV shows constantly remind of themselves. Let's add urgent purchases in online stores to the list, and there is almost no time left for work …

Myth 4: it's expensive. For that kind of money, you can rent an office

Coworking space is on average 50% cheaper than a traditional office. The annual rent of three unsecured workplaces in the DI Telegraph coworking space is 522 thousand rubles per year. The cost of an office, even at a distance from the center, is much higher. Plus, you will have to pay for Wi-Fi, cleaning, security, stationery and take an administrator on the staff. And in the coworking space, all of the above is included in the price. A bonus is the opportunity to communicate with new people, and this is inspiration, contacts, ideas, collaborations and investors.

Author: Ekaterina Pryannik

Photo: archives of press services