Top 6 challenges in Coworking spaces with solutions.
Tags: Coworking Space, Coworking

Over the past decade, coworking spaces have become increasingly common. These open workspaces give entrepreneurs and remote workers a place to create as well as collaborate with other like-minded people because of this business model, we saw a significant rise in the number of spaces — from only 75 in 2007, to over 7,800 by 2015.

A recent report by Clutch shows that most coworkers (77%) think shared office spaces are fantastic and they like their co-working spaces.

Just because people are getting along at work does not mean they are always happy with their workplace.

The truth is, not everyone experiences the joy of working in a coworking space and this doesn’t just happen because of some particular challenges.

Distraction And Noise

Distractions and noise have been a top issue in shared workspaces all around the world. It’s nearly impossible to work productively when there are so many distractions.

Here are some tips on how to get your workspace or your entire community to rally behind getting sound proofing measures for all of you.

Adding plants to the office to create barriers and absorb noise

Businesses can reduce distractions by investing in noise-canceling headphones

Finding a coworking office that offers noise-absorbing panels.

2. Lack of Privacy

So you’re sitting at your coworking space and really need to focus but the person sitting next to you, obviously on their phone, keeps texting away. Eventually it becomes annoying enough that you get up and ask them if they could maybe move to another table. But there’s nowhere else for them to go!

To address this issue, the desks and other seating arrangements should be spaced out to give each coworker plenty of room at their workstation while still having that sense of privacy.

Although these plans can run more expensive than standard ones, it’s important for coworkers to feel secure at their job while also maintaining their sense of privacy — this can keep them focused on doing what they should be doing.

3. Insufficient Equipment

Almost one-third of coworking space employees (30.89%) say their coworking environment is short on equipment.

A coworking space might offer the latest and the greatest, like free coffee and fresh fruit, but if it doesn’t have what workers want — like fast Internet — it may struggle to retain clients.

Solution is really simple:

It is of utmost importance to any business or company of any size that invests more than 9 hours a day on the same premises as the workers based there, that they make sure they provide their employees with everything they need to be successful and more importantly stay productive throughout the day.

So we believe it would be beneficial to both the employees and the company itself if more businesses invested in providing their workers with more various equipment such as: books, laptops, smartphones and all sorts of extension cords that may come in handy for just about everything imaginable!

4. Security and safety issues

If you work with another business and share a Wi-Fi connection, you increase the chances of accidentally accessing and compromising each other’s privacy; information might be shared among computers left overnight in the shared office space; and if computers are stolen, access to personal and sensitive information will be leaked.

To address these issues, coworking space operators should:

Provide a private network for coworkers to use. Ideally, operators will give each coworker a unique credential and password to access the network. Coworking spaces need to offer 24/7 building access to their members should have an alarm system installed, entrances should be well-lit, and individual codes should be given to entrance doors. Providing access to lockable storage options is important if you want people to leave their personal work equipment in the space because it makes them feel more secure.

5. Inability to personalize space

To ensure their clients are successfully representing the business, coworking members need to have a professional space to conduct their work. Professionalism has become so important in today’s corporate world that it’s hard for professionals to show up with messy desks or crowded workspaces.

In order to address this issue, coworking space operators should have a clear policy on how dedicated desk and private office members can give their workstation a personal touch by adding pictures, plants, decorative items, or even their business logo.

6. Limited Space

Employees value their personal space above any other place at work: A limited space can make employees unhappy and may prevent them from doing their jobs as efficiently as they would like.

One survey found that thirty-nine percent (39%) of coworking employees say that the limited space in which they work is a challenge of shared office spaces.

To address these issues, coworking space operators should:

Coworking spaces reduce the amount of individual space per person in their shared office layout by providing access to multiple work areas and business environments, like lounges, kitchens, and break-out rooms. Coworking space operators should encourage all members to take advantage of amenities, as well as meeting rooms. Additionally, for clients or employees to feel like they have more room to breathe, consider adding personal storage options like lockers and shelves.

Despite these challenges, coworking spaces are becoming more popular due to the flexibility they provide to their clients. Compared to traditional offices, coworking spaces allow people who work remotely or freelancers for example to pick and choose their location, short term basis.