Story-Telling – An Easy Way to Build Community

Stories can also enhance the connectedness of coworking communities. We all have stories—whether our own personal story or the story of our business. However you’re involved in coworking, tell your story. Here are a few suggestions.

By Angel Kwiatkowski

Storytelling - An Easy Way to Build Coworking Community

People thrive on stories. Whether fact, fiction or (as is most often the case) a little of both, stories are what bind us together—as friends, families, companies, religious group, political sway or country. Stories can also enhance the connectedness of coworking communities. We all have stories—whether our own personal story or the story of our business.

However you’re involved in coworking, tell your story. Here are a few suggestions:

If you’re a coworker:

Do your fellow coworkers know who you are and what your business is? Tell them! Through your own blog (if you have one), while grabbing a cup of coffee, or by showcasing the work you do. The more that coworkers share their stories with each other, the more that the all-important community elements of trust, openness and collaboration will thrive.

If you’re a would-be coworking space catalyst:

So you want to start a coworking community? Don’t seek real estate and fancy desks as your first step. Instead, start telling your story—within the coworking wiki, at local meet-up groups, with past colleagues and with anyone in your area that might be interested in coworking. Tell the story of why you’re starting a coworking space. You’d be surprised how much more effectively you’ll build a coworking community.

If you’re a coworking space owner/curator:

Alright, so you’ve already helped create a coworking community. Are you communicating the story of your coworking space via your website/blog, through email updates or even within the physical coworking space? Can potential coworkers, current members, and other businesses easily find the story of how your coworking space came to be? Try posting a community calendar of events/workshops, or a list of resources for freelancers and small businesses.

Stories help foster the very things that a community requires: trust of fellow members, shared values, an openness to sharing and collaboration, and a sense of stability.

How about you—do you find it difficult to share your story, or do you wave the banner of your story every chance you get (whether you’re a coworker and/or a coworking space owner)? Even better—share your story in the comments below!

Image Credit: GlobalPatriot.com via Creative Commons License

3 Reasons To Give Thanks For Coworking

As you gather with family, relax, and gorge yourself on delicious food this week, consider some of these blessings, and offer thanks to the community that provides them.

By Angel Kwiatkowski

‘Tis the season to be counting your blessings and appreciating the things in life that really matter. As coworkers (or those that are interested in trying it out) there are a lot of things, big and small, that coworking does to enhance our lives and businesses.

As you gather with family, relax, and gorge yourself on delicious food this week, consider some of these blessings, and offer thanks to the community that provides them.

1. A reason to hang up your suit and tie for good.

Being your own boss means that you make the rules, and coworking is definitely a movement that embraces the casual Friday look every day of the week. If you’ve spent all night working on a project, and skipped the shower- we won’t judge. If you’re having one of those days where pajama pants are the preferred fashion, we’ll still love you in the morning.

2. The ability to control your own destiny.

The economy is bad and people are desperate for jobs, but instead of complaining, coworking communities are getting to work. While the life of an independent professional might not always be glamorous, it takes your reliance off of some company and puts it where it belongs, on you. Tough days come and go, but you’ll never have to fear layoffs again.

3. The gift of free coffee.

Those that have spent time on the coffee shop circuit know the frustration of shelling out three bucks (or more) every time they need a WiFi connection and a clean surface. Finding a coworking community to call your own will not only eliminate the need for this extra expense, it will also remind you how much more productive you are when you don’t have to fight shoppers and soccer moms for your workspace.

Are you appreciative of something else that coworking provides, eliminates or facilitates? Give thanks in a comment!

Image Credit: www.makeandtakes.com

Coworking Space Catalysts: Must See Coworking Videos

Many people ask me how I found out about coworking and how I learned how to do it. Here are 3 coworking videos that fired me up and helped me lay the foundation for my coworking community. If you are a space catalyst and feeling confused or overwhelmed

Contributed by Angel Kwiatkowski
Many people ask me how I found out about coworking and how I learned how to do it. Here are 3 coworking videos that fired me up and helped me lay the foundation for my coworking community. If you are a space catalyst and feeling confused or overwhelmed by the many questions you inevitably have, watch these videos. They provide a nice background for the history and evolution of coworking.

Collaborative Consumption and the Coworking Community

“Collaborative consumption” is a shift from individual consumption habits to a focus on trading, sharing & bartering. And it’s happening in coworking.

By Angel Kwiatkowski

“Collaborative consumption” is a new phrase that has entered our business and social lexicon. It signals the way some people are changing their consumption habits away from individual consumption and toward a focus on trading, sharing, bartering and lending within a community. And it’s happening in coworking.

Infographic on CollaborativeConsumption.com
Infographic on CollaborativeConsumption.com

In thinking about how coworking relates to collaborative consumption, it’s no question that coworking fosters the kind of atmosphere that allows for—and encourages—sharing and trading. As described on the about page of this blog:

Beyond just creating better places to work, coworking spaces are built around the idea of community-building and sustainability. Coworking spaces agree to uphold the values set forth by those who developed the concept in the first place: collaboration, community, sustainability, openness, and accessibility.

Collaborative consumption is all about community and sustainability. Coworking is also about community and sustainability.

To make this idea of collaborative consumption a bit more tangible, following are some examples you may have heard of or used:

  • Superfluid – allows people to collaborate by trading favors using “virtual currency”—in essence, bartering
  • Zopa and CommunityLend – social lending
  • Airbnb – a “community marketplace for unique spaces”
  • Freecycle – a place to give and find stuff for free
  • ZipCar – carsharing
  • CouchSurfing – allows travelers to make connections with people, and rooms/couches, in the area they’re visiting
  • Swap – swap books, CDs, movies and video games
  • B-Cycle – bike sharing system
  • Hyperlocavore – a yardsharing community

So, how might collaborative consumption happen in a coworking community?

  • Trading skills/expertise with another member for mutual benefit
    (for example, a graphic designer creates a logo in exchange for a fellow copywriter creating newsletter content)
  • Sharing resources
    (for example, several coworkers may pool their collective buying power to get lower rates at a local gym)
  • Exchanging ideas
    (though collaborative consumption focuses mostly on products and services, brainstorming and ideating are still valuable “commodities”)

A recent post on the Global Coworking Blog highlights some of the ways that sharing and trading happens amongst coworkers.  And another post discusses several of the ways that coworking can save a small business—including bartering and brainstorming.

Of course, this is not to say that sharing and trading are the be-all, end-all to community and economy; we all still have bills to pay and cold hard cash to tender. But this shift in thinking seems like it’s here to stay.

If this topic piques your interest, check out these insightful reads about collaborative consumption:
Infographic – GOOD.is: Sharing is Contagious
Article – Inc.com: Understanding the Consumer of the Future
Book – What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption
Book – The Mesh: Why the Future of Business Sharing

Have you shared your resources or skills with others at your coworking space? What about the “collaborative consumption” worked? What didn’t work?

Difference Between Coworking and a Virtual Office

Coworking has been gathering momentum in the past year or two. As more and more coworking locations are established, more people learn what it is, there is more exposure, then more people learn about it. That snowball effect is at its very early stages, but, in a year or two the awareness of coworking will increase exponentially.

It’s 2010, Folks

Where does a person work when they are not commuting to a centrally located office that took 2 hours to get to…..in traffic?

Well….they can work at home, at a cafe, at the airport, in a hotel, in an executive office, virtual office, or at a coworking location. Anywhere, anytime, anyone.

The mobile workforce has arrived! Well, it CAN arrive.

For those small businesses, freelancers, independents (and the rare commuter) what are some options for “office space”? Lets take a quick look at the differences between two of the options: a virtual office and coworking.

Really Quickly

A Virtual Office is a traditional office environment; the only difference being a virtual office is shared and limited. But it follows the traditional way of thinking for an “office”: Secretary/Receptionist, phone, desk, file cabinets, 10 x 10 office with a door.

Coworking is a new way to work in a shared community. Work in an open space, use private rooms for meetings or phone calls, use your own cell phone, and do your own work…all of it. In most cases your entire work life is your laptop or other mobile device.

Please keep this in mind as you read the following. This just a guideline, places vary in what they offer, so the appropriate changes may be to be taken into account:

Receptionist:

  • Virtual Office: yes
  • Coworking: no (who needs their cell phone answered for them?)

Telephone Service:

  • Virtual Office: yes
  • Coworking: probably not (cell phones, Google Voice)

Fax:

  • Virtual Office: yes
  • Coworking: many do, some don’t (old fashioned anyway…get with the future!)

Private Office with a desk:

  • Virtual Office: yes
  • Coworking: some yes, some no

High class fancy digs:

  • Virtual Office: probably (a great place to show off your wealth and status)
  • Coworking: many, but they tend to stress casual-functionality.

Conference Room:

  • Virtual Office: yes (mostly for extra cost)
  • Coworking: most (mostly free with membership)

Access to Office:

  • Virtual Office: limited number of days / month
  • Coworking: unlimited and/or limited membership options per month

Community:

  • Virtual Office: no (close your door and work by yourself)
  • Coworking: yes (collaborate, do things together, birthday parties, help with problems….evening gatherings, meetings, seminars, classes…..!)

Free WiFi:

  • Virtual Office: probably not
  • Coworking: yes (it is ingrained in the coworking culture)

Free Coffee:

  • Virtual Office: probably not
  • Coworking: yes (again this is ingrained in the coworking culture)

Month by Month rentals:

  • Virtual Office: probably not, but, some are moving towards this
  • Coworking: probably yes, but other options available

Monthly Cost Example (valid as of Nov 17, 2010):

Most Office Hours:

Virtual Office in California (from the web site): 40 hours in office, with all the phones, mail, receptionist, etc:

$135 set up, $275 per month (12 months committed), $325 per month (3 months committed)

Nearby Coworking Space: Unlimited time in office (24×7), you answer your own cell phone, printer/scanner, free coffee, free WiFi, free IT support, conference rooms are free, mail:

$189 per month, month by month, no set up fees.

Least Office Hours:

Virtual Office: 10 hours per month in office, $135 set up, $160 per month (12 month commit), $200 per month (3 month commit)

Coworking Space: 16 hours per month in office, $49 per month, no set up fees.

Membership:

  • Virtual Office: no (it’s an office, business, you rent, period)
  • Coworking: yes (it’s a community of like minded people working, collaborating, and having fun, it’s from the heart)

Summary

Some people may need the features offered by a Virtual Office while some may fit better in a Coworking location.

A possible general rule: If you work at a cafe to get out of the house…you will like coworking. If you are a high powered future executive needing to impress…a virtual office is for you!

3 Ways Coworking Can Make You A Better Professional

Freelancers are constantly fighting the common misconception that we all live in our pajamas and hate social interaction. So here are 3 important ways that coworking can help you become a better professional and get respect in your industry.

Professional Scarecrow

By Angel Kwiatkowski

What’s the first thing you think of when someone says they want to be “more professional?”

Most envision a freshly-pressed business suit, a noose tie, and maybe an ever-mysterious briefcase.

But these are merely the outer vestments society tells us to associate with a business-person. “Being thought of as a professional is not all suit and tie. It’s not all about qualifications either” (Employee Evolution). It’s about how you present yourself and the environment in which you operate.

As an independent, freelancer, or small business owner, the level of professionalism you bring to the table decides whether your client recommends you to a friend, or asks you back for another project.

Freelancers are constantly fighting the common misconception that we all live in our pajamas and hate social interaction.

So here are 3 important ways that coworking can help you become a better professional and get respect in your industry:

1. An address – Starting a small business often requires you to have a business mailing address, and most people opt for inconvenient (and sometimes expensive) post-office boxes. Many coworking facilities will allow you to receive mail on-location, saving you money, and giving your business a more concrete appearance on paper.

2. A place to meet clients – Ever tried to land a sale on the phone with the kids screaming bloody murder in the background? Or arranged a meeting with an important business partner at a coffee shop only to discover that they were having open-mic night? A perk of many coworking facilities is that they offer clean, quiet conference room space as a benefit of membership.

Note to space owners: if you’re not offering conference space, realize that this could be a deal-breaker for new members. Also, make sure the meeting space you offer is bright, clean, and features tables, chairs, presentation tools, and other things that will make your members proud to bring their clients there. Shoving a table into a dimly lit backroom doesn’t count.

3. Social skills – When you’re holed up in your basement or home office for days at a time, it can be easy to forget that teeth-brushing is a daily necessity, or that you’re not the world’s greatest authority on grammar. Coworking gets you out of the house, encourages showering, and reminds you that you have allies (and sometimes competitors!) in your field. Taking advantage of their collective brain-power can help you make tough decisions and avoid mistakes, but you have to show up first.

Has coworking helped you to be taken more seriously as an independent professional? Share it in a comment!

Image Credit: Flickr – battlecreekcvb

Quit marketing your “stuff,” and start marketing your values

After three years being open, Office Nomads is bustling with over 75 members and is contemplating the possibility of opening another space. One of the ways we got to where we are is by focusing our outreach on our values, not our stuff. So we wanted to reach out and share a little bit more about our opinion that the best way to market your coworking space is not by telling folks about all our great shared resources, but to tell folks about your great values.

Let us explain a bit further: No one’s business has been improved by our shared printer. While shared resources (internet, printer, desks, coffee, etc.) are great, they don’t make anyone’s business or work better. While it may be a contributing factor to why people step through your doors, it is certainly not the reason that they stay. Coworking space members enjoy these things, but they STAY in your space and enjoy their experience coworking because they get relief from the isolation they felt working solo and they’re able to be productive again.

If you’re trying to get people into your space by telling them about all of your “stuff,” you’re likely wasting your time (and attracting the wrong folks). If there is one thing that we’ve learned over the last three years, it is that we are not in the “stuff” business. We are in the coworking business. If we try to sell ourselves otherwise to potential new members, we wind up disappointing people. Our true selling point is our culture and our values: we believe that choosing to work along side one another makes our work AND our lives better overall. We believe this, and if we can get that message across, we wind up attracting folks who stick around and are happy.

Members are not impressed with the stuff. Alexandra, our rockstar Community Cultivator, reports that she rarely has people commenting on how great it is that we have an internet connection or a fax machine. Instead, they comment on how cool they think it is that we have rotating artwork in our space, or that we have yoga on Wednesdays. The culture of our space is what impresses people and encourages them to become a member – that’s because they see value there. They see their work life being enhanced. If you felt your work/life balance could be improved by a fax machine, well, you’d just buy one and get on with your life.

What coworking spaces have to offer is SO much more exciting than the stuff. We hope this is helpful to those of you currently hemming and hawing about how to get some new members in the door. And further we implore you: don’t waste your time telling them that you have a badass internet connection. Spend your time telling them that they don’t have to be alone anymore. 🙂

The Coworking Host – A Freelancer’s Resource

One of the keys to a successful coworking environment is conversation, collaboration and interaction with other coworkers. But have you also asked the host at your coworking space for their help and expertise?

3D Character and Question Mark
Go ahead - just ask your coworking host!

By Angel Kwiatkowski

One of the keys to a successful coworking environment is conversation, collaboration and interaction with other coworkers. Hopefully you’ve tapped into the amazing resources and brains that surround you and have discovered ways that coworking helps your small business. But have you also asked the host at your coworking community for their help and expertise?

Whatever it’s called at your coworking space—community manager, community animator, host/hostess—there are more resources in your coworking space than you might imagine. Whether you have recently joined a coworking space or have been coworking since the dawn of time, don’t neglect the fantastic resource that is your host.

So, what might you ask your coworking space host? Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Can you recommend a good (accountant/lawyer/executive coach/etc.)?
  • May I run this (demo/logo design/ad slogan/etc.) by you for honest feedback?
  • Could we brainstorm for 10 minutes about my new project?
  • Do you know any local meet-up groups or events related to my field?
  • How would you respond to a client in this situation?
  • Do you know any other coworkers or people in the community that I could collaborate with on this project?
  • Would you be willing to host a seminar/workshop about (contracting/managing tough clients/easy small business accounting/etc.)?

Your coworking host will bring their own experiences and skills to the table (and likely the feedback & war stories they’ve heard from other independents and freelancers as well!). Although they may not be able to answer all of your questions, chances are good that he or she can point you in a helpful direction. So go ahead—ask your coworking host to help you grow YOUR business!

Share with us: Do you have a story about how a coworking host has helped you in your business? Tell us in the comments!

Image Credit: Flicker – SMJJP

Why Coworkers Need to Organize: Thoughts from a Blankspaces Coworker

By Yelizavetta Kofman of The Lattice Group, originally published by Shareable Magazine.

Every morning, Brian Roth, a headhunter, drives from his apartment in Los Angeles to BLANKSPACES, where he pays $600 a month for a place to work. This isn’t a private office; Brian shares his “workstation” with a revolving cast of characters, including (depending on the day) a talent manager, a web designer, and a screenwriter. Thanks to an open office plan and Brian’s commanding voice, there are about thirty other BLANKSPACES members within earshot, all sharing their own workstations.

Welcome to BLANKSPACES, one of the many coworking spaces popping up around the country, offering desks and other resources to independent workers for an hourly, weekly, or monthly fee. This being Shareable, you’ve probably already heard of it. If not, you can read about it in The New York Times here and here and previously on Shareable.

These articles and others like them will tell you the same thing: that coworking is ingenious, offering independent workers a sane alternative to loud designer coffee establishments and toddler-infested home offices. Add a collegial but uncompetitive environment, a pinch of networking, some free printing, and voila, a Work 2.0 darling is born.

All the praise coworking has received to date is well deserved. The idea is extremely innovative and full of potential. And yet, even the shiniest, techiest, most flexible workspace can’t fully conceal a gaping problem with our 2.0 economy: the growing cadre of independent workers that lack the most basic worker protections and safety net. How did this situation emerge and what do the individuals affected by it really think? Of course, providing these protections and safety nets is not the goal, nor could it be, of coworking businesses.  But coworking establishments offer a unique look into the lives of independent workers, traditionally scattered across individual home offices and mixed in with casual coffee house patrons.

The Emerging Model of Coworking

What started as work space conceived, organized, and managed by and for independent workers is proving to be a good business model. Entrepreneurs in cities like San Francisco and New York, where by some estimates freelancers make up a third of the workforce, need only talk to their own friends to realize that independent work is a fast-growing career path. With the steady expansion of coworking sites–you can now find them all over the country, from Berkeley to Boise–businesses are responding to a growing need and banking on the future growth of independent work.

Just how big is the independent workforce? No one really knows.

Getting good statistics on workers that are flexible by definition is a tall order. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks “nonstandard employees,” a catch-all that includes temporary agency employees, independent contractors, freelancers, on-call workers, and consultants. According to this definition independent workers total 14.8 million workers, or about one in 10 employees.  And this isn’t even counting small business owners, which the BLS counts as employees of their own firms and therefore “standard” workers, even if these individuals have no additional employees.

Whereas temps and independent contractors were once relegated to lower wage jobs like construction and clerical, the fastest growing areas of independent work are now in well-paying professional fields like media, technology, legal, and financial services. According to Working Today, the research arm of the Freelancers Union, the average New York City freelancer has a college degree and is well-paid. Independents are innovators and risk takers, frequently touted as the heart and soul of creative centers like San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Though all workers have had to make sense of and deal with major changes in the economic landscape–the structural shift from a manufacturing economy to a service and knowledge-based one; intensified competition for U.S. companies; deregulation, union decline, and rapid technological advancements to name a few–in many ways, independent workers are the vanguard of this brave new world.

The benefits of a portfolio-based lifestyle are many: greater autonomy, creative control, flexibility of where and when to work.  Countless articles relate success stories and bestselling books offer to show us the way (The Four Hour-Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Joing the New Rich just about sums it up). But taking into consideration the costs and benefits of independent work, and trying to analyze the situation for the average Joe, not just the superstars, sociologists are on the fence.

The optimistic camp maintains that opportunity for professional, rewarding and de-institutionalized self employment in the ‘knowledge economy’ is considerable. The pessimistic theory is that precarious, non-standard contracts easily exploitable by large companies who no longer have to provide even a modicum of benefits will lead to a ‘Brazilianization’ of the West.

The few existing empirical studies of independent workers show mixed results. One study found that a majority of freelancers become self-employed to follow an interest or have always wanted to be independent. Another found that 16 percent of professionals in 2000 became independent as a result of employer demand–an obvious push factor.

Back at BLANKSPACES, where I’ve spent the last six months conducting an ethnographic study as part of my doctoral studies, I see evidence of both push and pull. Marisa, a screenwriter, has wanted to write Hollywood movies since she was a little girl growing up in the boonies of North Carolina. On the other hand Deborah, the former VP of Marketing for a large company, loved her previous job. She transitioned to consulting because the economy changed; steep budget cuts in her department made the job “less fun.” But now she’s frustrated by the lack of resources of her new clients: “Every budget item for them is a big decision,” she tells me with a tense shrug.

Organizing Coworkers

It’s hard to categorize coworkers. And that’s part of what makes coworking so great: you get to rub elbows with people from all walks of professional life, with different experiences and different expectations. Still, I’ve found that more interesting story here is not the differences, but the unacknowledged similarities. The untold story about coworking is that many of these workers lack the kind of worker benefits and protections granted traditional employees.

Take health care. Most people I talked to at BLANKSPACES pay for their own health care plans, but almost everyone admits that there have been times when they have gone uncovered. Marisa has never had health care coverage but assures me she’s really careful: “I don’t ski, I don’t roller skate, I don’t walk on crooked sidewalks!” Later, when she learns a friend has cancer, she admits it’s a wake-up call and that not having health coverage is scary. I’m pretty sure she still doesn’t have any, though.  It’s no wonder: the Freelancers Union has calculated that an independent worker living in New York City with no dependents must earn over $120,000 per year to afford the cost of an individual health care plan premium (calculated based on a 5% income-to-premium ratio with the average premium costing $521).

Sure, some independent workers receive health care coverage through their spouse–which I imagine creates its own host of problems–but a 2010 survey of 3,000 independents by the Freelancers Union reports that in 2010, 18% of respondents had to give up their health insurance all together and 35% changed plans to ones that offered fewer benefits.

In addition to the health care mess, independent workers typically don’t qualify for unemployment insurance–though according to the same survey, 49 percent of respondents experienced periods of unemployment in the preceding year. The median spell without work was a full 16 weeks.

Independent workers are also taxed unfairly, paying both self-employment tax or unincorporated business tax (notably, not in New York City) and income tax. And when deadbeat clients don’t pay, independent workers have few options. Marisa has been struggling to get one of her clients to pay her for an ongoing writing project. The client is weeks late, but keeps demanding revisions. She’s stuck between a rock and a hard-place: she wants to demand back-payment before she continues working but she’s afraid they’ll just find someone else. Independent workers rarely have the resources for a legal battle and, without an accounting department, often spend valuable work time chasing down nonpaying clients. Cash, the talent manager who shares a workstation with Brian, tells me he just takes the losses and tries to learn from the experience.

Surrounded by individuals with similar circumstances—like, ahem, at a coworking space—we might expect that independent workers would recognize that the current work system in the U.S. leaves them without important protections. At the very least, I expected to hear some kvetching among the regulars at BLANKSPACES. But I never did. The independents I’ve met are independent through and through. Most are deeply passionate about their work and grateful for the autonomy and flexibility their independent status affords them. If they have to make some sacrifices, like pay for their own health care or live with uncertainty, so be it. As an education consultant at BLANKSPACES once told me, “there are bigger problems in the world.”

That is certainly true. By most standards, the independent workers that frequent coworking spaces are privileged members of the professional elite, with their college educations and white-collar jobs. On the other hand, many of the “bigger problems” in the U.S. stem from a deeply precarious economic environment that has, for at least the last 30 years, redistributed financial burdens from employers and governments to employees. This is a huge retreat from the New Deal and in stark contrast to the growth of universal social welfare protections in other rich, industrialized countries (see here, for example). If privileged, college-educated workers don’t demand workplace benefits and protections for themselves, my feeling is that our government will continue to sleepwalk its way through the 21st century, happily ignoring the fact that our economy has changed but our public policies have not.

One problem is that as some of my fellow coworkers at BLANKSPACES and other independents reading this, will object to my characterization of employers. Some independent workers are employers themselves! And even if they don’t have employees, many see themselves as business owners—with all the bourgeois class consciousness that entails. Coworkers see themselves as freelancers or consultants or creatives or business owners. On top of that, some feel they’re only going to be independent for a short spell. Others hope to sell their start-up and retire early. In short, few would self-identify as part of the independent workforce and even fewer are itching to do something about it.

Here’s the rub, people: the very diversity that makes coworking such a dynamic workplace experience also keeps about a third of the workforce from realizing they’re in a pretty similar, shoddy, safety-net-less boat and that they’re letting the government and the larger companies that use their services off the hook. Independence at this price is bad bargain for independent workers, and for society as a whole. Independent workers shouldn’t have to shoulder all the risk. If you’re an independent worker, here’s a few tips to help you get what all workers deserve:

If you want to fight back, try these simple steps:

1. Talk to other freelancers and independents, share your experiences, and find common ground. This is the first step to collective action.

2. Get educated. Learn about the worker protections and benefits you don’t have. Demand the protections you deserve.

3. Join the Freelancers Union. Even if you don’t want their lackluster insurance benefits or are only planning to be a freelancer for a short period of time, join. In all likelihood, you will be without a traditional employer more than once in your lifetime and the more members the Freelancers have, the more they can fight for better legislation for all nonstandard workers. Plus, it’s free.

4. Contribute to the Freelancers Union PAC. This political action committee supports the campaigns of independent-friendly political candidates. Let’s face it, in D.C. money talks.

5. Support national and state campaigns for benefits that help workers focus on working, like paid parental leave, the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (UIMA), and public child care.

By Yelizavetta Kofman of The Lattice Group, originally published by Shareable Magazine.

3 Ways Coworking Provides A Rockstar Environment

Whether you’re trying to get a new business off the ground, or wondering how you’re going to survive another day in the cubical jungle, you must never underestimate the power of the environment in which you choose to work.

By Angel Kwiatkowski

“Instead of thinking about how you can land a roomful of rock stars, think about the room instead…The environment has a lot more to do with great work than most people think. -Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson in ReWork

Whether you’re trying to get a new business off the ground, or wondering how you’re going to survive another day in the cubical jungle, you must never underestimate the power of the environment in which you choose to work.

Yes, I said choose.

The boys from ReWork go on to say that, “there’s a ton of untapped potential trapped under lame policies, poor direction, and stifling bureaucracies. Cut the crap and you’ll find that people are waiting to do great work. They just need to be given the chance.”

If you’ve been doubting your ability to do great work lately, maybe it’s time to consider a change of scenery.

Here are three ways coworking encourages greatness better than a basement, cubicle, or coffee shop:

Privacy/Exposure: The way to extract great work from yourself isn’t to lock yourself in a home office. It’s also not to abandon your to-do list for internet surfing disguised as “market research.” When you cowork, you have the opportunity to change place, time, and style of your work on a daily basis. Need to get some serious work done? Tell the host that you’re having a “me” day, and retreat to the quietest corner. Need to bitch about a nightmare client and talk about your lack of motivation? Well, that’s ok too.

Autonomy/Responsibility: When you’re working a traditional 9-5, your lack of greatness can be blamed on the boss/computer/lighting/janitor/coffee. When you’re coworking, the responsibility falls on you and you alone. Giving yourself just one night a week to work freely on projects you’re passionate about will jump start your productivity in ways you never imagined.

Praise/Constructive Criticism: We all know what it’s like to be chastised for doing something wrong, but fewer professionals know what it feels like to be praised for doing something great. Coworking provides you with a community that will applaud when you finally locate a pesky coding bug, or throw you a party when you launch a new product. Rest assured, coworkers will also tell you when an idea misses the mark, but it will be because they want you to succeed and be happy, not because they’re worried about the bottom line.

Has your work environment hindered you from doing great work in the past? Share it in a comment!