In search of member needs in coworking spaces

Abstract

Coworking spaces represent a new trend for future workplaces. As more building owners are interested in running coworking space businesses, it becomes important to understand both why a potential member chooses one space over another and how to keep existing members at a coworking site. A sound understanding of member needs can make a difference. Unfortunately, very few studies have been conducted as to understanding a member’s basic needs in coworking spaces. In this paper, we aim to identify member’s needs in three coworking spaces in Sweden. Participant observations, immersion, and interviews were used for data collection. The member needs are categorized and structured through the lens of self-determination theory. In total, we uncovered, formulated, and categorized 21 member needs. We found that the fulfillment of one need may lead to the inhibition of another, thus creating tensions between and within coworking members. This research contributes to the literature by addressing the importance and definition of member needs for coworking as well as the created tensions related to these needs, which have been lacking in coworking studies.

Coworking spaces vs. home: Does employees' experience of the negative aspects of working from home predict their intention to telework in a coworking space?

“…As expected, the experience of a feeling of social isolation when working from home positively (and strongly) impacted how useful participants perceived teleworking in a coworking space to be, and indirectly how inclined they were to telework in a coworking space in the future. These results are particularly interesting in that they support the claim that perceived social isolation constitutes an important predictor of employees' intention to telework in a coworking space (Boboc et al, 2014 ; Gerdenitsch et al, 2016 ; Bianchi et al, 2018 ; Lashani and Zacher, 2021 ; Rådman et al, 2022 ; Wright et al, 2022 ). Since perceived social isolation had the strongest effect on perceived usefulness (and indirectly on behavioral intention) out of the four predictors investigated in our study, the prospect of feeling less lonely when teleworking and having more social interactions at work appears to be the main benefit perceived by employees of teleworking in a coworking space, in the same way as identified for self-employed workers (Boboc et al, 2014 ; Gerdenitsch et al, 2016 ; Lashani and Zacher, 2021 ; Rådman et al, 2022 ).…”

“…These results are particularly interesting in that they support the claim that perceived social isolation constitutes an important predictor of employees' intention to telework in a coworking space (Boboc et al, 2014 ; Gerdenitsch et al, 2016 ; Bianchi et al, 2018 ; Lashani and Zacher, 2021 ; Rådman et al, 2022 ; Wright et al, 2022 ). Since perceived social isolation had the strongest effect on perceived usefulness (and indirectly on behavioral intention) out of the four predictors investigated in our study, the prospect of feeling less lonely when teleworking and having more social interactions at work appears to be the main benefit perceived by employees of teleworking in a coworking space, in the same way as identified for self-employed workers (Boboc et al, 2014 ; Gerdenitsch et al, 2016 ; Lashani and Zacher, 2021 ; Rådman et al, 2022 ). As participants who teleworked more than 50% of their working hours reported a stronger feeling of social isolation than the other participants when teleworking from home, which reproduces past findings (Bailey and Kurland, 2002 ; Mann and Holdsworth, 2003 ; Gajendran and Harrison, 2007 ; Vayre and Pignault, 2014 ; Vayre, 2019 ), the potential benefit of teleworking in a coworking space for social integration might be all the more substantial for employees who telework intensively and may explain why these participants also reported being more inclined to telework in a coworking space in the future.…”

“…While the primary users of coworking spaces are self-employed or freelance workers looking for an affordable place to work away from home, the proportion of employees teleworking is growing, reaching one third of users in 2019 (Deskmag, 2019 ). However, while the motivations of self-employed workers to use a coworking space have been the subject of several studies (Gerdenitsch et al, 2016 ; Orel, 2019 ; Robelski et al, 2019 ; Appel-Meulenbroek et al, 2021 ; Lashani and Zacher, 2021 ; Rådman et al, 2022 ), the reasons why employees may favor coworking spaces over home as a place to telework are largely unknown.…”

“…While coworking spaces are open to all workers, regardless of their status and sector of activity, self-employed workers in the sector of ICT, marketing or consulting remain their primary users (Deskmag, 2019 ). According to several studies, the main reason for this population's interest in coworking spaces is to overcome a feeling of socio-professional isolation and to find social support (Spinuzzi, 2012 ; Gerdenitsch et al, 2016 ; Bianchi et al, 2018 ; Robelski et al, 2019 ; Spinuzzi et al, 2019 ; Lashani and Zacher, 2021 ; Rådman et al, 2022 ; Wright et al, 2022 ). Self-employed workers are at risk of experiencing a pronounced feeling of socio-professional isolation in the absence of colleagues to lean on if difficulties are encountered in the course of their work (Gerdenitsch et al, 2016 ).…”

“…The diversity of users' professional profiles also offers opportunities for knowledge sharing and professional networking which may help self-employed workers to expand their professional skills and activity (Spinuzzi, 2012 ; Spinuzzi et al, 2019 ; Rese et al, 2020 ). Finally, the mere provision of comfortable working facilities can enhance self-employed workers' productivity and health if their home workspace proves insufficient in terms of comfort or ergonomic qualities (Robelski et al, 2019 , 2021 ; Lashani and Zacher, 2021 ; Rådman et al, 2022 ).…”