The corporate companies are increasingly adopting coworking spaces. The major factors which are feeding this trend include lower costs, increased flexibility, a stronger emphasis on the employee values & the perpetual global drive aimed at attaining innovation. The corporates usually have their individual strategic positioning regarding the utilization of the coworking spaces. There are several things to be determined by the corporates like the major advantages as well as the disadvantages of adopting coworking spaces, the challenges, and benefits, etc.

The present trends indicate that more and more corporate organizations will be coworking members in the years to come. Huge global companies like Samsung, Microsoft, General Electric and Amazon have adopted coworking spaces with open arms for their several teams. This is not at all surprising to witness that more and more corporate companies are integrating coworking as a part of their current business strategy. The following major factors are driving the well-known and forward-thinking companies to adopt coworking.

Innovation & collaboration

Innovation & collaboration are amongst the topmost agendas in corporate coworking. The mentioned two major elements are commonly topmost priorities in the development of business strategies & help the companies in establishing a ‘forward thinking’ identity. The corporate brands usually differentiate their identities against the competitors by associating theirs with innovation, technology and sharing economy. The progressive companies enjoy an edge over its competitors and are in a better position to capture several business opportunities which are highly innovative by operating from the coworking spaces. The established companies bring with them their well-set distribution channels & also their reach to the mass market. They also have the optimum level of experience which is required for building products which are scalable and their know-how related to their industry is commendable. The startups significantly benefit by gaining easy access to work alongside the enterprise members who operate from the same workspace. The established companies, also have access to several bright, ambitious and aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals who operate from under the same roof. This results in fruitful collaborations and sometimes they are being hired by the established companies for both short and long terms. Accenture’s research paper named ‘Harnessing the Power of Entrepreneurs’ published that 78% of the corporate executives prefer in collaborating with the entrepreneurs which encourages innovation big time.

Efficiency in Corporate economics

There are several corporates which prefer coworking spaces in order to save a considerable amount of money in their operational expenses. The coworking spaces are no longer meant only for just early adopters like freelancers, entrepreneurs and startups. The larger enterprises are increasingly understanding the measurable and tangible benefits of placing several teams at coworking spaces & also their appetite in using the coworking spaces more frequently.

Coworking spaces have the potential of saving the companies a pretty 20-40% of the costs as compared to leasing a traditional office. It is even truer when a corporate business organization ventures/expands in a nascent/new market, have the potential of growing by leaps and bounds and do not want to invest on the big private office as the team is initially very small. The corporate companies are locating several teams within the best coworking spaces in order to avoid large overheads and setup costs. By adopting coworking spaces, they are completely worry-free regarding the office furniture, setup, interior design, housekeeping etc. When you hire a coworking space, all these components are included in the package. Thus, the prospect of innovation is not a sole criteria but also the basic principle of business are also majorly driving the coworking trend. The renowned Survey named Global Occupier which was conducted recently states that the 45% of the coworking space occupiers globally adopt the coworking spaces/shared offices with the major purpose of cutting down the cost while 41% of the people have the motive of benefitting from the flexible & affordable lease terms that are attached with the coworking spaces. There are industry experts who forecast that the usage of coworking spaces is about to overtake conventional serviced offices by 2020.

The value of coworking in a true sense comes from the holistic approach of ‘managed office’ and is achieved by gaining the value of support services and networks being offered by the coworking management. The prevailing trend for flexible working patterns and methodologies continue to grow and thus we are most likely to witness more and more corporate organizations in transitioning and adopting coworking which would continue to remain in vogue like the present times.

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