I listened to episode 1 of GCUC Radio where the host, Tony Bacigalupo, kicked off the series with an introduction to coworking. Here is what I got out of the podcast.
Coworking
How it Started
Coworking is taking the world on by storm. It started in 2005 in one small community in San Francisco to 780,000 in 2015.
The idea of coworking started by a few people with the same desire to get out of the house and be around other people while they work. People wanted to have a productive and structured day.
The actual concept and term “coworking” started with things like a wiki, wordpress blog, google. This made it easy for people to take the idea of coworking and make it their own. People started to hear about coworking and realized it overlapped with some of their own from their areas of expertise which allowed them to join the conversation and start sharing their skills and knowledge.
Becoming a Global Phenomenon
Eventually, coworking became a global movement as more and more people began to use the term to describe what they were doing in their own locations. The movement and the industry of coworking emerged. The two are different but often intersect with one another. Coworking as a movement is people talking about coworking in every form that it takes — commercial and noncommercial. On the other hand, coworking as an industry focuses on the actual business around coworking — office/workspace and how you can make money sharing workspace in new ways.
Relationships with Work
The new relationships that we are seeing emerge with work provide a lot of promise but are not without tradeoffs. The growth of coworking spaces creates a chance to replace the hierarchies of traditional employment with peer to peer network systems. This is helping people view their relationship with work in a different light. Coworking can help one better connect their passions to work.
There is no shortage of work to be done in future years. The nature of that work is going to require more than just showing up. It’s going to require our creative faculties and dedication, not just time. Coworking provides a path to a way of approaching work that supports that.
Listen to the full podcast here.