Having an activated and engaged coworking space is an infinitely better experience for members. Spaces that look nice but are devoid of energy are boring and uninspiring, which means members are already thinking of leaving for another space or back to their work-from-home or coffee shop life.
Which is no good for anyone.
So, let’s talk about what it looks like to be a place where people feel inspired, connected, and engaged. Here are seven signs you have a thriving coworking space and community.
1. Your members connect without you
If you’re the only one making connections in your space, you’re a single point of failure. As soon as you’re not there, members go back to being strangers milling around. The best thing you can do to boost engagement in your space is to create a norm of introductions, and members connecting with people they haven’t met yet.
This starts on day one when you introduce your new member around to a number of members. Lauren Urlacher from Fellow Coworking shared a genius strategy that they onboard new members in the common space / kitchen so they can start meeting people immediately.
2. Your members do things without you
While it may sting just a little bit to see your members going off to do social things without you, this is actually a signal that your community is thriving. People using your space (and beyond) as a place of connection, collaboration, and friendship lets you know the vibe is right and engagement is happening.
3. Your members introduce themselves and each other
To build on number one, it sets such a nice tone when people who haven’t met yet introduce themselves and each other. This can happen at the coffee machine, during an event, when they’re sitting near each other, and anywhere else people tend to bump into each other. This norm can be strengthened by you by saying, “Hey Tom. Have you connected with Susan yet? Susan is project manager for a branding agency. Susan, Tom is an organic gardener working on creating a CSA.”
(Notice that the trick here is to know your members and what they’re working on. This is the cheat code to creating a great vibe. If you take an interest in your members and what they’re working on, your other members will do the same.)
4. Your members clean up after themselves
I know, I know. The dishes in the sink thing is enough to send you over the edge. If it eases the pain a bit, this is something coworking spaces around the world struggle with. Aaaaand, when members understand it’s their role as part of the community to clean up after themselves, you’re on your way to having collective buy-in and a sense of ownership of the space, which is the first step to having a sense of belonging in your community.
I talk about how if you act like a receptionist, you’ll be treated as a receptionist. Well, the same thing goes for clean-up. If you act like the clean-up staff, you will be treated as such.
5. Your members feel a sense of ownership and belonging in the space
As I mentioned, feeling a sense of ownership of the space is the quickest way to feel a sense of belonging in the community. So, how do you facilitate this? Ask your members to contribute to the space. It can be a plate of their famous cookies; teaching a lunch and learn; hosting a workshop for the community; playing guitar at the next happy hour; etc etc etc.
The point is that the more engaged a member is in bringing their whole self to the space, the more permission everyone has to do the same, which creates off-the-charts engagement and fun.
6. Your members celebrate wins together
Do you have ways for members to celebrate wins? Would the other members even know if someone just had a life changing moment, day, or event? Get creative with this one. Celebrate wins through your communication channels; have a “Wins Board”; put a little bell in the space that people can ring when something good happens. It doesn’t matter what the win is. In a great coworking community, a win for one is a win for all.
7. Your members support each other during hard times
On the flip side of celebrations, it’s equally important to have a sense of support and belonging on your worst day. It’s great to celebrate wins, but who better than other members, understands the frustrations and challenges of entrepreneurship, remote work, startups, running a business, and building something new?
A good way to bring members closer together and remove the pretending that everything is always great is to have Fail Fests, Fuckup Nights, Cry It Out channels (This is my favorite channel in the Coworking Creators Lab Slack). The veil separating us from each other is so very thin. It just takes a moment of humanness to create a real connection between people.
So there you have it, my seven signs of a thriving coworking community.
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