8 Usual Mistakes to Avoid When Designing a Collaborative Working Space
It’s important to take certain things into consideration when designing a coworking space.
Collaborative working spaces are becoming increasingly popular — it is estimated that by 2024, there will be over 41,000 coworking spaces around the world.
There are good reasons for that - positioning different business profiles under one roof, with reduced costs for everyone, has numerous benefits.
However, people who create a collaborative working space can make some common mistakes, that are affecting the engagement and productivity of the individuals who use them. Some of those mistakes are poor location, bad interior design, questionable hygiene, and so on
Today, we discuss the most common mistakes that are typically made unknowingly when designing collaborative working spaces.
What are collaborative working spaces?
The idea of collaborative workspaces originated in the 1950s Germany. The purpose of an open workspace is to improve the connection, communication, and teamwork of employees
Given the extremely high rental prices of office spaces, the concept of collaborative working spaces, shared by freelancers and entrepreneurs, has come to life.
From Germany, this innovative and sustainable idea has spread all over the world. Collaborative working spaces are shared by all kinds of businesses and workers from small-scale startups to employees of giant global companies.
Collaborative working spaces mainly consist of private offices and shared spaces. It is up to the tenant to decide what type of space and how much of it they need. You can rent an entire floor, if necessary, and your employees will also have access to beautifully designed shared areas.
What are the disadvantages of a collaborative workspace?
When we think of a collaborative workspace, the first drawback that comes to mind is the lack of privacy.
What about confidential phone conversations and sensitive business information? Do employees feel comfortable? Are they productive if they keep eavesdropping on the conversations of other workers from across the room during a work task that requires concentration?
If you are committed to designing a collaborative working space, consider whether your idea will satisfy the people who value their comfort. Therefore, pay special attention to avoiding the following mistakes when designing your workspace.
We asked our friends at an NYC web design agency who are based in a coworking space to share their opinion on the common collaborative working space design mistakes.
Mistake #1: Choosing a wrong location
Location plays an important role. It matters whether your collaborative workspace is located in the old part of town, surrounded by museums and cultural monuments, or in the financial district.
Yes, it is true that real estate in prime location is expensive. If you want an open workspace that interested parties will be grabbing to reserve their place, position it near other business units. Such places should be close to other points of business interest, public transport, restaurants, and shops.
Make sure you check that the location you’re aiming fits your target audience and think carefully about where you position your business.
Mistake #2: You’re not targeting desired clients
Do you want your shared workspace to be narrowly specialized?
For example, will it only be aimed at the workers from the IT industry? Or do you want to attract a mix of different business profiles?
Take time to think through who your target audience is and advertise the space based on your conclusions. If you want to attract a narrowly specialized target group, personalize your marketing to appeal to their niche.
Otherwise, you will end up frustrated, with attracting a “wrong” crowd.
Mistake #3: Not counting every cost
If you are planning to rent out a collaborative working space, you must imagine yourself in the role of a host.
Entrepreneurs and workers that rent your business space are like your guests, except they pay for their stay. You don’t want your rent income to end up swallowed by unplanned expenses, so it is a good idea to make thorough calculations in advance.
The biggest expenses in a collaborative workspace are the upkeep, furnishings, and amenities of the common rooms where your tenants will work, hang out, have meetings, and so on.
Try to keep up with the competition. Offer your clients a modern, well-equipped working base tailored to their needs.Mistake #4: Not providing a necessary equipment to your clients
Businesses that rent your space expect to get a pleasant and peaceful environment that encourages productivity and creativity of their employees.
The interior of your collaborative workspace should be just the way we described in the previous section. Employees should feel comfortable and welcome, and the space should meet their needs and expectations.
You don't necessarily have to copy from other projects when designing collaborative workspaces. Be creative. Consider what the space should look like to encourage interaction between employees while providing them with peace and privacy.
When decorating an open workspace, be sure to use colors. Purple shades are relaxing, just like the colors of the sea. Red, orange, and yellow tones encourage energy flow, while gray and beige shades are ideal for reinforcing creativity.
Don’t forget to add some plants to your space to create a relaxing and pleasant atmosphere, everyone will enjoy.
Mistake #5: Neglecting your clients’ needs
If some collaborative working space owners (or managers) spend some time in offices their clients use they could get useful insights on how to improve their needs.
That would help them experience the shortcomings that their clients face daily. Your clients expect you to provide them with at least the very basic working amenities, such as:
Ergonomic furniture that provides support during the hours of sitting
Stable and fast Internet connection. A little tip: provide two independent internet connections, from different companies. If one of them collapses, the other one will cover for it. Also, make sure your Wi-Fi is not open, but encrypted.
Air-conditioned space. Nobody wants to sweat or shiver while working. The ideal office temperature should be between 68 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
A stock of soft drinks and coffee - chose quality ones.
Rules of conduct in a collaborative working space.
These are just some of the wished you can expect your clients to have. Keep in mind that comfort and convenience will be key for them. Your customers won’t appreciate you asking them to move tables because you are preparing an event.
They also don’t want to feel the smell of someone’s cooking a stew, for example. We also shouldn’t have to mention that hygiene is top priority, especially since Covid-19 knocked on our doors.
Mistake #6: Ignoring your clients’ feedback
The only way to truly improve your business is to listen to your customers’ feedback. You can follow all the innovations in the world of shared working spaces, but it’ll be useless if your efforts do not meet the needs of your clients.
To make sure you get that feedback, organize a communication channel through which your customers will be able to contact you. You choose whether it’ll be a book of impressions, a Slack channel, or email.
Also, it is a good idea to hire customer service specialists in addition to the on-site managers and task them with keeping an eye on your customer’s satisfaction.
Mistake #7: Not joining a coworking centers network
In many developed countries, there are networks of coworking centers. If you choose to remain an independent collaborative working place, you will not be eligible for the benefits offered by these networks.
For example, the Coworking Visa system allows your clients to travel anywhere in the world and pay their bills in a standardized system.
Entering a network of coworking centers can bring you several other benefits, such as sharing experiences with other managers, gaining valuable customer relations insights, getting ideas on how to improve your amenities, and more.
Mistake #8: Absence of an employee community
We spend a third of our lives at work with people who become like another family to us.
Considering that we spend a good part of the day with these people, improving relationships among coworkers is of great importance. To foster harmony and a pleasant mood among the employees, it is important to think about their affinities.
It is advisable to occasionally organize events where they will have the opportunity to connect and discuss things that are not necessarily related to work.
Do everything you can to make it a pleasant experience for them. Organize events, celebrations, casual Fridays, and similar events that will help your customers connect.
People like to feel that you care. People bond with people, not business conglomerates. Use this to your advantage.
Takeaways
Designing a pleasant and functional collaborative working space is not easy, but it’s also not impossible.
It takes time, a lot of research, and thinking. You want satisfied customers who will stay loyal to your brands for the years to come.
To achieve that, create a space where you’d like to work yourself and keep an eye on your customer’s needs. The benefits of a collaborative workspace will make your investments pay off.
Travis Dillard is a business consultant and an organizational psychologist based in Arlington, Texas. Passionate about marketing, social networks, and business in general. In his spare time, he writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing for Finddigitalagency.