The union sometimes also makes the office. It's coworking, the idea born in California that allows those who don't have a workplace to share premises, services and expenses with other people, filling the gaps in companies and public administrations. With the happy corollary that often new ideas and opportunities arise from the interweaving of relationships with heterogeneous office co-tenants. A new work philosophy that is proliferating in Italy.
The work is small and sporadic. If you are forced to carry out a personal spending review, it immediately emerges that the costs of maintaining an office are the most burdensome and in any case are not compensated by the income. One solution is to work from home, of course. Or in the car, using the steering wheel as a table. Or stay in a bar with free wifi. An alternative idea came from Brad Neuberg, a computer programmer from San Francisco who decided to create the first shared workspace in which to host other freelancers like him.
The phenomenon is spreading like wildfire, among the younger and less young. The figure of the office co-tenant with whom to share premises, services and expenses was born. But the interesting issue is not only on the economic side.
“When we talk about coworking we always tend to highlight the element of savings” he says Ivana Pais, Professor of Economic Sociology at the Faculty of Economics of the Catholic University of Milan. “Observing coworking places and listening to the language of the coworkers themselves, I was able to notice an affiliation to a way of thinking about work, a closeness between people that disregards the sharing of spaces: coworkers therefore tend to feel part of a community. Also, weaving relationship networks they are also created new opportunities of work to which, being locked up alone in one's own home, one would not have access. Often there is work, but supply and demand do not meet. The coworking itself becomes a form of business, a space of planning that is cultivated”.
Coworking can therefore be seen as a new philosophy, a culture of work. Coworkers live this reality "with an open mind, with the idea of sharing ideas and projects" says Pais. “Especially between people who carry out different professions: many coworkers say that this experience allows them to enter into relationships with professionals who otherwise they would never have sought and with whom they would never have thought of interacting. And from this relationship comes the stimulus to design, create, innovate“. It is the product of mesh model typical of the information society in which a space for sharing is created, very heterogeneous contacts and relationships are created, while individually one continues to carry out one's profession.
But how does it work?
The formulas are many and there is something for all tastes. The basis of course is that there are gods local where everyone can have a seat. There can only be one large open-plan room where everyone works together. Or there may be smaller rooms having to retreat for an important phone call or to receive a client. Some co-offices also offer meeting rooms or offer individual rooms exclusively for those who need to leave bulky documents and archives.
And we come to services. Also in this case there are basic offers: a wifi connection, a printer and a postal address. But then other co-services can be added ranging from legal and tax advice, secretarial services, technical tools, boardrooms with video-conferencing equipment and more depending on the requests. For example, there is also the version aimed at parents with small children who can find structures there where they can work and, in the next room, leave the little ones in the hands of an educator who makes them play, greatly surpassing companies that are not willing to grant spaces for the children of employees. But there is no office that does not also have an area dedicated to breaks from work and even co-working can offer an area of co-relaxation ranging from a simple coffee machine, to the availability of a kitchen, to the use of a cathering service. THEprices vary according to the structures.
How to find a coworking space?
A good point of reference to start the search is the portal www.coworkingfor.com created by Claudia Merlini, the first search engine for co-working where, in four languages, requests and offers of spaces meet and where it is possible to book an office, a workstation or a meeting room, for short or long periods . Or up www.coworkingproject.com affiliated in 98 establishments in 58 Italian cities. In recent days (December 6-7) the third edition of the 'nonconference' Espresso Coworking (www.espressocoworking.it) organized by the Alessandrian coworking center Lab121, together with the Florentine Combo Project, Impact Hub and Multiverso. Coworking managers from all over Italy met here: Milan, Gallarate, Alessandria, Pordenone, Brescia, Borgo San Lorenzo, Florence, Rome, Cagliari, Padua and Matera.
“The main objective of the 'non-Conference' was to understand how to make the most of coworking centres, eco-systems for professional encounters, growth of skills, development of projects for economic and professional relaunch. To work in a network, everyone in their own territories.” they tell Espresso Coworking who cite some numbers: there are currently 190 centers in Italy in the north, 55 in the center and 40 in the south; Lombardy is the first region with 87 coworking centers, followed by Veneto (31) and Emilia (29).
It is a growing phenomenon: from March to May of this year alone, 20 new (or soon to open) centers were mapped. 53% of coworkers are freelancers, 29% entrepreneurs (or startuppers); more men, but women are growing by 5% each year. One of the topics of discussion was the smart working; that is, the creation of innovative projects that have a social impact on the territory. “Because the values of openness and sharing that distinguish the coworking movement are positively contaminating not only the communities that gather there, but also the surrounding areas” they say. “The creation of a new economy" He says Andrea Paoletti of Casa Naturalal – Matera. “Companies gravitate around coworking spaces looking for talent, Investors who find in these places antennas to explore new markets and people who, instead of fleeing abroad, share their professional skills in the territories they belong to, favoring the quality of a balanced life between family and work".
And here some of the examples of coworking already started:
The space of coworking Qf (Family Quotient) – founded by Erika Martinazzoli, web designer, and Raffaella Cesi, psychologist, in via Procaccini 11 – is a multifunctional place with workstations and vast areas for free time, including an area dedicated to children: children can be entrusted to the care of expert personnel allowing the mother, father, or grandparents to work independently in the next room. Erika and Raffaella had met during the course of preparation for the birth of their children. Back home, the two "colleagues" quickly took action where institutions and businesses are in hiding. “We wanted to go back to work soon” they say “but at the same time we wanted to be close to our children. And we understood that this same need was felt by many others. Hence the idea of opening this space, where people without children also arrive". In fact, people from different backgrounds frequent Qf. “I immediately liked the idea. I don't have the problem of bringing the children. Instead, I had to find a place to work here in Milan for my employer who is in Rome. This formula is spot on. Here I have everything I need to work. Much better than working in a studio alone or, worse, at home. And then it's a beautiful place, with beautiful colors, beautiful lights, in short, very comfortable ".
With the same spirit of helping freelancers with small children is the Roman? The Hive born within the association "The city of mothers".
Open Campus, born in May 2010, is a coworking space born within Tiscali, in Cagliari. Space dedicated to digital startups, with a focus on promoting corporate culture.
Based in the province of Varese, in Gallarate, B-Smart center has as its macro objective the creation of a "link between the latitude of Milan and that of Gallarate". In addition to managing a technological space thanks to partnerships with digital brands, it develops a multi-professional community by carrying out various activities, from thematic aperitifs to training courses ranging from oenology to digital. Among the high-impact projects carried out was the launch of a competition to reward entrepreneurial ideas in the area.
Mild workshop it is 30 km from Florence in a context of countryside, agriculture, woods and a very strong network linked to the territory. He finds the heart of his project in self-construction and natural materials. The craftsman-builder relationship was so strong that it gave life to a cooperative. They are work in progress!
cobox was inaugurated on November 27 in Cremona, within a project for the creation of a technological pole. It is a vertical business model that favors ICT, in order to attract particularly sought-after professional figures, such as programmers.
Let's Make is a social promotion association, which has given life to a coworking in Rome, born about a year ago. "Rapid prototyping boards, arduino, innovation, culture of digital manufacturing", are the keywords of the founders of Let's Make. A currency called Let's coin has been introduced in coworking to generate a virtuous cycle of exchange of services and knowledge. Among the projects sprouted in coworking, an illustrated book for the blind and a tool for teaching the art of programming in a simple way.
We still stay in Rome, with Cowo360, space that has a second life; after the start by Stefano Borghi, it has increasingly transformed into a community managed by an association. The resurgence is characterized by a strong focus on the collaborative economy which quickly attracted over 15 coworkers.
LOFT350 open space in Modena. The adventure begins with the renovation of a large shed originally used by a craftsman, not without bureaucratic hitches. The realization, as often happens in coworking, was possible thanks to a multi-professional community of nomadic workers.
