From Coworking to Proworking: The Next in Shared Office Space
For nearly two decades, shared office spaces have provided professionals with access to affordable work environments. As professionals' needs continue to evolve, the coworking model of the mid-aughts has lost steam and a new approach to shared office space is gaining momentum: we call it proworking.
Proworking offers professionals a dedicated office suite, equipped with secure network connections and clean facilities, so they can complete their work free from distractions. These enhancements foster focused work, and they address professionals’ needs in a world where hybrid work and remote work remain popular.
Here’s how proworking came to be, and why a space that delivers the privacy and security professionals need to be productive is the leading option for professionals seeking a private workspace today.
Origins of the Coworking Model
The first coworking space opened in 2005 as a way to provide financially-strapped freelancers and remote employees with a work environment.
This coworking model didn’t just give access to office space. It was also meant to disrupt the “unsocial” business center industry and address unproductive WFH setups by providing professionals with a community.
Since then, shared office spaces have connected professionals with one another and to work environments apart from their homes or offices. This has been especially beneficial as public health recommendations have evolved, causing many businesses to either delay return to office plans or eliminate their office space altogether.
The greater availability of cost-effective office space has provided many professionals – from solopreneurs to working parents – an opportunity to focus and complete their work outside their homes.
Why Traditional Shared Office Spaces Needed to Evolve
Back in 2005, when the primary value proposition of a shared office space was networking, investments in the most secure firewalls and into updated HVAC systems weren’t a priority. Professionals wanted a hub where they could complete their work and build a community.
In today’s hybrid work environment, these investments into IT and cleaner spaces are essential for providing professionals with an optimal work setting that prioritizes their comfort.
While the communal environments of the past were excellent for networking, open offices may alienate immunocompromised professionals by compounding transmission risks of serious viruses.
Understandably, the combination of health risks and in-person networking make it more difficult for professionals to complete deep work and finish tasks. This hit to productivity also stems from noise interruptions, which are shown to negatively impact focus.
Shared office spaces also come with cybersecurity risks, which can expose professionals’ private information. Not every professional uses a VPN on their device. Without comprehensive firewalls and defense lines, internet users are at the mercy of those around them.
How Proworking Optimizes Productivity in Your Office Space
Proworking takes the convenience and access of shared office spaces and fits them around the needs of today’s working professional – to complete their work safely and privately.
Even outside a pandemic, professionals generally aren’t looking for opportunities to interface with dozens of potential contacts while finishing their work. They require a conducive environment for completing their assignments, equipped with features like secure wireless access points, doors that lock, and filtered air.
Proworking fulfills this requirement in two, distinct ways:
Promoting safety with both private workspaces – which can dampen viral transmission risks and limit distractions – and greater cybersecurity infrastructure.
Using the office as a professional services hub and offering amenities like on-site IT support to help professionals make the most of their time in the office.
The greatest demand for professionals right now is to complete work in a dedicated office space, free of distractions and unnecessary exposure to any sickness or cybersecurity threat.
The Modern Professional Needs a Private Workspace
Hybrid work isn’t going away and neither is professionals’ desire for office space.
In a recent survey from Morning Consult, nearly 70 percent of professionals reported still wanting offices. But for many professionals, maintaining their own workspace has become a burden – not just on their time but also on their bottom line. Proworking eliminates this hassle of outfitting an office space yourself and lets you focus on what’s important: completing your work.
If you or someone you know is in need of a safe and private workspace, book a tour or purchase a day pass for any one of our locations to see if proworking is right for you.