Coworking Spaces: Three Samples on How to Get Fun and Three Samples About Collaboration

Coworking Spaces: Three samples on how to get fun and Three about collaboration

Photo: Some of Lanau's coworkers

Although it may be simple to spot the words “collaboration” or “fun” while reading articles on coworking across the internet, it may be difficult to find examples on how people get fun and collaborate with each other in these spaces.

The community is the main differentiator for coworking, which is why creating and nurturing the community is one of the main tasks of a space manager. Whether you are thinking about opening a new coworking space or you are struggling daily with these tasks, you can find great advice from coworking experts from the following resources: Deskmag, Coworking Wiki, Alex Hillman`s Blog, Coworking Handbook or New Worker Magazine.

“Collaboration” and “fun” exists – I have experienced both many times at the Lanau Coworking Space in Madrid. In personal relationships, people need time to interact with each other in coworking spaces to make lasting relationships. The more time that is spent growing and building the community, the stronger the bonds between coworkers will become. 

Now, I will give some examples on how to get fun and collaborate in working spaces.

Fun:

A basketball team:

What if a basketball  team is started at the coworking space? This may be an easy idea to come up with, but not too easy to do. Two months after Luis, a coworker of mine, spread the word about a basketball team, we had our first basketball training season. Sadly, we were unable to practice in a proper basketball court because all of them near our coworking space was occupied by actual "NBA" players ;). 

Despite that downside, we had a great time practicing our bouncing and dribbling skills in a skate park. Afterwards, a few beers helped us overcome the hot temperatures of Madrid in late August. We ended up naming this our Basket&Beers event.

Photo: Paella and basketball.

Paella Saturdays:

If you have a coworker from Valencia (Spain) in your coworking space, what can you have to eat? Paella, of course! Eating meals together in coworking spaces are a great way to talk with people and get to know one another better. If you were to eat meals together on a non-working day, such as Saturday, that is even better. 

The idea is quite simple. Take a guy from Valencia, a DJ coworker and ask everyone to bring a dish to share at the event. The food was asked to be brought, but the rest of the fun came alone: great food, great chats, and live music.  

Neighbourhood Parties:

In Madrid there are many summer neighborhood parties, which is a great excuse to plan a get-together with a group of co-workers outside of working hours.

Collaboration:

HoyComo:

There are many coworkers who eat daily in the coworking space. Many are users of a service called HoyComo, which is a service that sends you three complete meals plus a dessert – handy, isn’t it?  They found within the space a designer and a community manager to collaborate with to completely redesign the HoyComo website and manage their social networks. Magic, you say? No, just coworking.

Bartering:

As I mentioned in an article on the New Worker magazine, Lanau started a year ago, what is called cobartering. “The deal is that coworkers can join the space by providing services instead of paying for a full membership. The program was created for entrepreneurs to access coworking spaces despite the lack of funds. Members who use bartering essentially pay the space with their communication services and skills in social media, translation, and other tasks such as spending time on the reception desk”. 

“Referals”

Every day there are clients who come to the space and frequently ask the coworkers whether they know anyone who could do something they need. Then, voila! You now have someone in the desk near you.  

These are some examples on how coworking spaces are a real way to engage with other people and find interesting connections with one another. Of course, it also depends on how you approach the space, how you use the space, and how you relate with other people. 

Creating and nurturing a community from scratch may not be easy and that is one of the many tasks of a space manager. The more capacity to engage people and bring them together, the more successful the coworking space will be. It is easy to find coworking spaces where you can “feel” the soul of the space manager. “Passionate people who lead the community using trust, not authority” as stated by the team running Espacio Arroelo in Pontevedra, Spain.

Happy coworking!