What Does the Workday Look like for Coworking Members?

In cities, suburbs and small towns around the world, professionals are gravitating towards coworking spaces because of their ability to help achieve a productive working life while maintaining personal well-being. According to the 2nd Global Coworking Survey, 75% of coworking members reported an increase in productivity, 92% widened their social circle and 86% had decreased levels of loneliness at work. Millennials are flocking to coworking spaces because the monotony of a traditional office space never appealed to them. Alternatively, working from home or any other remote location comes with distractions that can stifle creativity and productivity. Such factors make it difficult for individuals to reach their potential and dedicate full focus to their work.

Of course, coworking spaces are being used by more than just millennials; coworking spaces are becoming extremely popular among medium-and-large-scale businesses as they can avoid the burden of a lease, and take advantage of cost-effective membership plans. For all parties, coworking spaces are a playground for networking opportunities.

But, does any of this mean coworking members don’t follow the typical 9 to 5 of traditional offices? Who actually pays for the membership of these spaces? What about transport, how are coworkers getting to and from their coworking space? These are some of the questions that come into your mind when considering becoming a coworking member. Here, we’ll answer them for you.

Coworking Members Typically Have Shorter Work Days

A typical day at the office for the average worker is about 9 hours, including a 1 hour lunch. Add your commute time to that, and you’re potentially devoting over 10 hours a day to work. Members of coworking spaces are a diverse crowd: some of them are self employed, part of a startup, or even just remote workers for an established company. The traditional 8-5 worker might find that they don’t need an hour for lunch, especially if there’s a cafeteria available in the coworking space. They also might combine their other activities, like going to the gym, into one trip utilizing the facilities provided by the coworking space. Those that are remote workers or self employed might find that they simply work until they’ve completed the day’s tasks.

Overall, the work day for someone who uses a coworking space is more flexible, and it can reduce the time spent out of their typical day going to work. One may also choose to spend their extra time networking or socializing with the diverse crowd at their coworking space.

Membership Subscriptions and Payments:

Only 60% of members pay for a coworking membership on their own. The rest of the members have their employer or clients pay the membership charges, while a smaller number of their members prefer to provide other forms of capital instead of money. This number has increased from the number of corporate workers who have now migrated to coworking spaces.

Generally, the most popular membership packages of a coworking space are monthly subscriptions, which make up a whopping 83% of the coworking population. A monthly subscription is a cost-effective choice, you gain access to space for a long period of time, yet still has the flexibility for you to go traveling next month. Hourly, daily and weekly memberships combined are used by 6% of members.

How Members Work Inside a Coworking Space:

Two-thirds of members prefer working in a team, while the rest prefer to work by themselves. If you are handling a project that requires third party feedback or suggestions, you can approach people working in your domain—generally, there are separate seating places or timings for different industries of employees, to increase the chances of sociability and collaboration. Members are encouraged to simultaneously use social areas of coworking spaces so that members (and sometimes visitors) can network and look for inspiration.

Generally more than half of coworking members work at a flexible desk, while others actually prefer an assigned desk. 14% of all members seated on hard surfaces like wood or plastic and more than 40% of members work standing up for a small portion of the time.

Preferred Seating Areas and Views:

Who doesn’t want to have a great view of the skyline as they work? Similarly in a coworking space, the majority of members prefer to sit close to a window with a view. However, it’s interesting to note that almost all members refrain from sitting in places that face a wall. Sometimes coworking space design is mocked for being “quirky,” but nobody wants to look at a wall, it’s the difference between an average and excellent coworking space.

Mode of Commute:

It takes around 20 minutes for coworking members on average to reach their coworking space. If the weather is bad, 35% of the members preferred traveling by car, and 24% prefer using public transport. While travel time differs according to the number of people in the city of the coworking space, it also varies according to the location of the coworking space, i.e. whether located in an urban, suburban or rural area. Generally, the bigger the city, the longer the travel time. Coworkers want convenience, and coworking spaces that are easier to access are undoubtedly more popular.

If you were thinking about entering a coworking space, hopefully, this article has provided some clarity as to how you might use it and access it. There’s so much variety in the way coworking spaces are used, which is indicative of the flexibility you gain.

Zioks was designed to have the best spaces and amenities all at the right location. If you’re in the area, consider giving our co working space in Kolkata a visit to see if you’d benefit from a facility like ours.