Coworking is possibly the most misrepresented word in new-age workspace conversations. Every provider hosting multiple teams or individuals for work, at one location, calls it a coworking space. The word has been used synonymously with shared workspaces, furnished office rentals and plug-and-play desk spaces, in a liberal sense.

Truth however is that this concept is way beyond real-estate or infrastructure. Coworking refers to individuals and teams that come together to make work-life more productive. It is a platform that gathers like-minded people driven by the values of collaboration and openness, to form an ecosystem that is self-nurturing, culturally diverse and professionally symbiotic.

This is exactly what is delivered at iKeva, redefining the way small teams function. The primary offerings eliminate the need to invest time and money into the trivial needs of business – office space, telephone lines, internet connection, power supply, and a pantry area. iKeva’s trained team ensures that other essentials such as reception, call-forwarding, mail-delivery and pickup, security and cleaning are seamlessly managed. However, these are just basic hygiene.

The most interesting component of coworking is the iKeva community. Small teams bring with them a diverse set of cultures, working methodologies and expertise areas. These distinctions are nurtured with a platform, through which they get to meet other teams and build their professional network, and do that the ‘fun’ way. The community thereby, becomes an asset for each member of this expert network.

A high energy environment fosters a sense of interaction and engagement where individuals with a variety of interests and expertise areas come on a common platform to share ideas, discuss, and learn from each other. It also offers members consistent access of vendors and service providers. Beyond this, there are tangible and intangible advantages that members achieve by being part of the ecosystem.

Here are a few elements that are unique to the iKeva coworking experience:

Diversity and Togetherness: iKeva gives an opportunity to meet people from varied backgrounds. They come with different experiences in life and profession, and carry it to their everyday workplace. Further, members can also access the wider cross-city network, to seek advice or information, a feature that is difficult to replicate in any other workplace, and is therefore an experience unique to the community.

The Disseminated Power of Many: At iKeva, the ecosystem functions as one large organization with smaller teams constituting them. They bank on this combined strength to receive large scale corporate discounts and benefits that are otherwise unachievable for small teams, no matter how large the parent organization itself is. The ‘power of many’, is transmitted to every small team belonging to the community.

Business Enablement and Acceleration: Startups primarily focused on a core product or service, often lack the skillset and expertise to launch and run a thriving business. As an exciting coworking space, iKeva provides these teams, connections to trusted service providers and professional consultants across HR, legal, accounting etc., that are much needed to successfully manage their business. This helps teams accelerate their business process, and quickly take their product to market.

Preferred Employer Branding: Employees today are particular about the place they work from. They prefer professionally designed offices, in prime locations that are easily accessible. Secondly, employers also have concerns around becoming a choice workplace, and are willing to walk the extra mile to ensure employee satisfaction. Choosing an office space that is furnished, managed and serviced to world-class standards is a smart way ahead.

Borderless Businesses, Limitless opportunities: With access to a community network panning multiple cities, coworking creates newer avenues for collaboration beyond borders. Besides this, a travelling professional can instantly access office locations across locations, regardless of the duration and frequency of their visits, in a hassle-free and seamless manner.

Discovery and Discoverability: At a coworking space one can always hope to run into a potential partner or a customer, every day. With plenty opportunities to create real and meaningful conversations, one can discover more, as well as become more discoverable to like-minded people, churning out better relationships, something that is highly unlikely, if not impossible, in detached offices.

The last few years saw a surge in the number of shared workspaces and furnished offices in the country. However, creating an infrastructure is only the beginning. Coworking as a concept, has the potential to upturn the way individuals and teams work, and for redefining how they function and collaborate. iKeva is redefining the concept of coworking with a focus on building a community; and in turn helping companies ‘build their future’.

More About the Author: Sateesh Andra