What are the most faced problems in co-working spaces? It is a question that every single freelancer, small business owner, entrepreneur and potential member of a coworking space will ask and will want answered. Of course, like every product or service in any industry, what you pay, location and your own preferences will impact the challenges faced during working in shared offices. The challenges faced by individual/company is subjective to the person using the space.
Here are some of the challenges to keep in mind when searching for your next good spot to work in shared workplaces- and what to do about them?
Noise/Distraction
A lot of productivity is lost due to workplace distractions. According to a survey nearly 23 min of productivity is lost due to a single disturbance. Many coworking spaces can be noisy and distracting, especially the larger ones. Noise is a big problem in a co working space and most of the co working space is not doing a thing about this. It is up to the community and the space owner as to how this is managed.
Solution: The community sharing the co working space should respect each other privacy. The amount of space between desks, or where the communal/event space is located versus the desk space can have an impact on this because majority of distractions comes from there.
Events
Events are a popular way for coworking spaces to add value, to market their space to potential new customers and to generate revenue. Most of the time events or large conferences can be disruptive and a nuisance to users of the space, if they are not managed properly.
Large events can add extra burden on the services and it may interfere with the services being used by the workers and after some point it gets irritating for the workers. You could be faced with events being run when you are trying to work.
Solution: Events can be scheduled at times when most of the people are not working in the office. The amenities and services should be pre-allotted for an event and should be priory informed to the workers.
Slow Internet/Wi-Fi Network
Like a business or a home, coworking spaces do have internet and Wi-Fi issues. Some co working spaces try to cut costs here and that can mean a challenge with connectivity. High-speed Wi-Fi connections are important for those who need to stream or upload huge data files, so this is one of the most important aspect of co working spaces and it can’t be overlooked.
Solution: Good investment on WIFI routers should be done and there should be a high-quality LAN fiber interlinked for high speed internet connection.
Flexibility
Many coworking spaces do not offer flexibility, often insisting upon monthly commitments straight away or not allowing users to adjust their commitments. Flexibility also applies to the open hours of the space.
Coffee/Drinks
Along with the internet, coffee is a staple of any coworking space. Great Wi-Fi and great coffee is a winning combination. Some coworking spaces will offer free drinks/coffee, but then cut corners and provide cheap and sometimes undrinkable coffee, or the coffee machine is complicated, or it is a filtered one where a big pot of brown sludge stays lukewarm all day.
Privacy
Privacy is one of the most important concerns for the workers. When workers can hear the noise of other conversations productivity suffers. Business information could be leaked to competitors, or you could mishandle personal information in a ‘public’ setting. The co working spaces should encourage collaborative environment yet in a controlled way.
, then you will have to pay highly for that.