Why People Thrive in Coworking Spaces
/Coworking spaces are thriving and continue to grow with more than 18,000 coworking spaces worldwide! (source). Three researchers who study how employees thrive in the workplace were surprised to find that people who belong to coworking spaces report levels of thriving that approach an average of 6 on a 7-point scale. To find out why, the researchers surveyed workers from dozens of coworking spaces around the country and published their findings in the Harvard Business Review.
They found three substantial predictors of thriving:
People who use coworking spaces see their work as meaningful
They have more job control.
They feel part of a community.
“Our research — which is ongoing — suggests that the combination of a well-designed work environment and a well-curated work experience are part of the reason people who cowork demonstrate higher levels of thriving than their office-based counterparts. But what matters the most for high levels of thriving is that people who cowork have substantial autonomy and can be themselves at work.”
Gretchen Spreitzer, Peter Bacevice and Lyndon Garrett
Read the full article in the Harvard Business Review.