By Abigail Baker
Coming together to cultivate a community at The Mill is a vital part of fostering collaboration and innovation. The emergence of coworking spaces has opened the door for one of the most effective ways to promote organic community growth, allowing members to successfully form the bonds needed to help them go the distance. The tremendous growth within the coworking sector signals a rise in remote work, along with temporary and freelance hires becoming a core part of the workforce. Community is the foundation of the coworking movement and helps workers otherwise severely disconnected develop a sense of purpose and belonging.
The Power of Kindness Fuels Community
Something as simple as exchanging a few kind words or shared experiences to socializing in a coworking space has the power to shape mental health and influence the overall well-being of workers. Anxiety, depression, and many other mental health issues continue to rise rapidly, and many organizations are looking to build in-house support systems that their staff can tap into. Creating a supportive ecosystem becomes exceptionally harder for distributed and external team members, and coworking companies are rising to the call by creating holistic spaces and opportunities for every type of worker, no matter where they live.
The New Way of Working is Far More Balanced
The modern era has brought with it a new set of both problems and solutions. Humanity faces a unique collection of challenges coupled with the most access to information that’s ever been available to humankind. Additionally, the rapid pace of a global economy is adding to workplace stress. Scientific advancements can now provide business leaders with data that highlights how stress impacts staff. Concepts such as community, kindness, belonging, generosity, and gratitude have become part of many new narratives embedded into mainstream corporate talent development strategies. Community-powered coworking spaces are the tools being used to meet the needs of the modern workforce. They are the tangible execution pieces that are moving the needle towards better mental health for distributed staff.
The Coworking Movement
The demand for collaborative spaces goes far beyond the need for real estate. Maintaining connectivity between external staff is now a critical part of performance, engagement, and morale that companies are looking to build outside their home offices. What makes building a community amid the everyday grind in coworking spaces possible is the design to support the multi-dimensional nature of work. A mixture of private and public spaces shared kitchens, and perks such as flexible events and 24/7 access meet the needs of workers while creating actual areas and circumstances where people can connect. Agile spaces, mixed with maximum productivity and opportunities to connect, are the secret sauce accelerating the coworking movement in metropolitan areas and bringing a community to a new way of working.
Our founder, Robert Herrera, is optimistic about the future of coworking. Especially since larger coworking spaces are well-positioned to accommodate larger tenants looking for strong community ties, and long-term leases were already losing their appeal pre-pandemic.
Abigail Baker is a writer from Happy Writers, Co. in partnership with recreational fabric distributor Seattle Fabrics.
