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Co-working in Silicon Valley
When given the opportunity to work alone from home, most telecommuters soon understand the importance of having an office community. This often leads them to gravitate to one another and form "co-working" groups, where they can share ideas, brainstorm concepts and socialize about work-related issues. In response to the growing number of people telecommuting – working on computers from home or elsewhere – venues are sprouting up to fill in the gap where a professional workplace community once existed. Whether it be a coffee shop with free Wi-Fi, a friend's apartment set up to accommodate a dozen freelance techies, or rented "co-working" spaces, the office environment is getting a face-lift (or shall we say a tighten-up), as things like bosses, office politics and 40-hour workweeks are being trimmed down to mere social gatherings of like-minded, business-savvy workers. While the coffee shop is still a popular meeting spot for many self-employed techies, some are taking it a step further, opting for a professional office environment, complete with desks, printers, lounges, kitchens, fax machines and office supplies. Places like Sandbox Suites in San Francisco offer co-working office space for rent, for self-employed professionals who want to congregate with others. "It's like summer camp," says Sandbox Suites co-owner Roman Gelfer. "No one knows each other at first, but then there are the ones who've been around a while and go out to lunch with each other. There are a lot of water cooler-type conversations. People talk about work more here, because they love what they're doing. It's not like a job where they are forced to go because that's just where they work. It's more professional and productive." And productivity is the impetus for the shift to co-working. Workers are realizing how important it is to be around other people, how vital it is not only to productivity, but to creativity as well. "It's for people who lost that social aspect of work when they started telecommuting," says Amit Gupta, entrepreneur and developer of Jelly, a web-based community that lets people organize co-working meet-up spots, called Jellies, in cities all over the world. "They want to be able to bounce ideas off each other and brainstorm, but without the downsides to office environments. It weeds out office politics, for one thing."
And, as with all co-working spaces, the community aspect reigns supreme. "They like meeting people outside of their profession," Chapman adds. "With co-working, they're not only working and talking with engineers – they are meeting recruiters and web designers and all other types of professions, working side by side." But why this desire to socialize? Aren't we supposed to be getting work done? Can working in groups really be that conducive to productivity? James Lee, assistant professor of sociology at San Jose State University, thinks so. "It's a fundamental question in sociology, why people group," Lee says. "It's part of the human animal that wants to be linked and to belong. Similar to the general institutions of family and religion, you want to gain a sense of belonging. In a contemporary advanced society like ours, work is one of the few domains where people can belong. When you telecommute, you give up that way to belong." Lee also says that productivity can be directly related to a community environment. "The presence of other people motivates us to perform," he explains. "We are more likely to do it if someone else is there. We want to show that we are a contributing member of society. We have this need to validate what we are doing, and we need other people in order to do that." But while some praise the onslaught of technological advances in the workplace, allowing employers and employees freedom to work where they please, there is still some concern that these telecommunication tools can negate communities. Sheraden Nicholau, manager for an employment services program, wrote her master's thesis for Lee at SJSU on teleworking in Silicon Valley. The results of her research are interesting. While Nicholau believes that teleworking is financially viable because of increasing gas prices, she is concerned about its effects on local communities. She found that the more hours people spend using telecommunication technology tools – telephones, email, instant messaging, Voice over IP, web conferencing, etc. – the more negatively that affects social trust, which measures the health of a community. "Communities and businesses that rely on telecommunication tools would benefit from more research on the effects of social trust," Nicholau says. IBM, Google, Yahoo, have a smart way of addressing the concern about the loss of a social network. Playing volleyball, softball leagues, cafeterias, it only does good for levels of social capital. It's a very positive direction. Research shows that lower levels of social capital increase medical costs and crime rates in communities. We want to make sure we're not headed in that direction." As technology links people together more and more (consequently decreasing the need, and opportunities, for human contact) the need to group together becomes increasingly vital. So if you're at home, putting off designing a web page, blogging or writing open source code, you should head down to a coffee shop, join a Jelly group or rent a co-working space. Because, believe it or not, you're missing out on the vast benefits of being an integral part of an office community. HOW AND WHERE TO JOIN A CO-WORKING GROUP For an updated list, or to add your business to free Wi-Fi spots in every major city in California, go to www.wififreespot.com/ca.html. To join or start a Jelly group in your area, visit www.workatjelly.com. Sandbox Suites, 123 Tenth St., San Francisco (415) 659-8197 www.sandboxsuites.com. Cubes & Crayons, 1122 Crane St., Menlo Park (650) 323-2551 www.cubesandcrayons.com. Bowers Office Center, 3333 Bowers Ave., Ste. 130, Santa Clara (408) 727-3303 www.optionsatwork.com. For a list of co-working opportunities in your area, visit coworking.pbwiki.com. ©2001 - 2008 The Wave Media. |
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The Wave Magazine - Volume 08, Issue 15:
July 16 - 29, 2008
More and more of Silicon Valley's self-employed techies – freelance graphic designers, entrepreneurs, web designers, programmers and so on – are emerging from their dark, cavelike apartments, rubbing their eyes and blinking at the sun, a touch of cabin fever in their gaze, wanting so desperately to find a more professional, social, officelike environment in which to work. They are realizing that sitting at home in a dirty robe five feet from their television sets isn't very conducive to a productive workday.
Then there are places like Menlo Park-based Cubes & Crayons, which combines co-working space with child day care. Cubes & Crayons has become a unique business model that has many people pleading with founder M. F. Chapman to open one in their city. "I think it's a valuable service to people," Chapman says. "It's better than having a nanny. You can see what's going on with your child. There's total accountability. We have a lot of babies, and the moms can walk down the hall from their work desk and feed their baby or put them down for a nap, because that's a special thing for moms – they can play with the kids for 10 to 15 minutes and then walk down the hall back to work."