Enterprise Nation

After spending the day working 'Mac to Mac' with a friend, San Sharma continues his Homeworking 2.0 series with a look at coworking.

When my house mate pulled a muscle in his back yesterday morning, he thought the strain would be on his workload. He had a lot on, he said, but didn't think he could go into his office. "Well, why don't you work from home?" I suggested. And so, Mac to Mac, we hi-jacked the kitchen table and worked alone... together.

The experience reminded me of something I read about in the New York Times last month. In a feature for the Business section - 'They're Working on Their Own, Just Side by Side' - technology writer, Dan Fost, covered 'coworking', from the start of the movement in computer programmer, Brad Neuberg's mind, to its adoption in cities around the world.

"It seemed I could either have a job, which would give me structure and community," Brad said. "or I could be freelance and have freedom and independence. Why couldn’t I have both?"

Writer, Fost covers the upsides of coworking, from its sense of community to its conduciveness to productivity. He compares it to the age-old practice of artists and writers sharing studio space, but doesn't shy away from its downsides either.

"The arrangement does not always work perfectly," Fost writes. "Thor Muller, the chief executive of Get Satisfaction, a San Francisco start-up, said he had opened his offices to friends to come in and work. One day, a friend started aggressively recruiting Satisfaction’s employees for his own start-up, and he was banned from the office."

Read the full article on the link below. – San Sharma

• They're Working on Their Own, Just Side by Side - [New York Times]

Feedback

Do you have any experience of coworking? Would you like to work part of your week home alone and the other 'side by side'? Or would you find working alone together distracting? Let us know in the comments below.