If you’re self-employed or work for different employers, then you could benefit greatly from operating in a co-working environment.
Should you decide to perform your daily tasks within such a space, you would be able to share equipment, ideas, and knowledge with other hard-working professionals like yourself. As well as that, you would be able to tap into a traditional working atmosphere, and the increased productivity levels that it naturally cultivates, without having to worry about your boss breathing down your neck throughout the course of each working day.
Should you decide to co-work, just be sure to do it properly. Here are a few things you need to do to do just that:
Choose the right co-working space
First and foremost, you have to ensure that you move into a workspace that is going to allow you to operate in a highly effective, collaborative, and targeted fashion. Here are just a few factors that you should be sure to consider when you’re looking for the perfect co-working environment:
Amenities
Speak to the host that is renting the space and enquire about what general office amenities (chargers, whiteboards, projectors, etc.) they have the capacity to provide.
Atmosphere
Check out the atmosphere of the work environment for yourself before you commit to it. Above all else, you want to make sure that the space encourages productivity, sparks creativity, and facilitates networking.
Office environment
Take a close look at the office environment, paying specific attention to lighting, temperature, and moisture.
Flexibility
Check to see if the space offers you the chance to move around and make use of different communal areas, as this flexibility could play a key role in your productivity.
Privacy and security
If you don’t want your important data to be spied on, your systems to be hacked into, or your belongings to be stolen, you have to look into the privacy and security measures that the co-working space has in place.
High-speed Internet connection
No matter what technological devices you make use of throughout the course of each working day, make sure that you can connect them to high-speed Internet. Anything less than optimum speed in this instance will severely impact your ability to work proactively and hit deadlines.
Location
The location in which you choose to co-work will impact you in a number of ways, particularly when it comes to your brand image and visibility. A good piece of advice in this instance is to move into a space that is geographically located in an area synonymous with your industry. If you work in finance or business, for instance, this would entail you finding London office space to rent. Doing this will prove to future partners, clients, and customers that you are an authority in your field.
Getting the most out of a co-working space
Once you’ve decided where it is you are going to be co-working, it’s time for you to make the most out of the space. Here are a few ways you can do just that:
Introduce yourself to your fellow co-workers
Taking the initiative when it comes to forging new connections with your fellow coworkers could do way more than just ensure that your workspace is comfortable and pleasant — it could set the ball rolling for your next B2B collaboration or it could even land you a new client. A good piece of advice in this instance is to forge connections with people that work in different industries to you. By doing this, you could find a way to intersect your fields and then potentially offer a service that nobody else is offering.
Get to know your community manager
Your co-working space will more than likely be governed on a day-to-day basis by a community manager. Should you get to know this professional and manage to strike up a working relationship with them, you could very well reap a whole host of benefits going forward. Having a friend in such an authoritative position would, for example, see you stand a much better chance of being allocated a move into a prime location within the working environment should one ever become available.
Don’t be afraid to ask
If you’re ever in need of anything, be it information about the co-working environment or a particular resource that you don’t currently have at hand, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Whether it’s your host, your community manager, or your fellow co-workers, if they have something that you need, politely request to borrow it. Remember, the worst thing that they can say is no.
Take advantage of what you’re offered
Regardless of what resources you are offered; whether it’s free coffee, access to certain equipment, or the ability to use meeting rooms at no added charge, you should take full advantage of it. Juicing these offerings and solutions will help you to operate in a stress-free and productive manner, and that’ll only result in you producing high-quality work time and time again.
