Remote Coworking Spaces Checklist

We love remote work. But remote work is not without its challenges. Loneliness, collaboration issues, and constantly being in range of a steady WiFi connection to name a few. But even before pandemic times, remote work has been on the rise. Here’s a remote work report from Buffer in 2019 that even showed remote work was increasing and more desirable by employees. As a society, we have been very adaptive to remote working procedures, but how do you tackle an issue like loneliness? Enter the virtual coworking space.

“Co-working offers more freedom, independence, possibilities for self-realization and overall more freedom of choice than other forms of work.” — Carsten Foertsch, Deskmag

They are popular enough now that we have our pick of the litter. So what kind of qualities should these spaces provide? Keep reading for considerations about remote coworking spaces:

1. Do you want to work from home in a virtual space or be physically near other people?

Many companies have fully embraced the coworking culture. Since funds are typically the bottom line, who wants to pay for a store-front or office space?

Now that we finally have a choice about this, camaraderie can feel different when it’s in-person, even if the other people aren’t actually part of your own team. There are more options for remote workers now, and we can figure out how to do it our way. Questions come up here like, do you need to bounce ideas with teammates? Are you working on your own? When you answer those questions it can help you narrow down your coworking options. For example, The Wing has multiple options, in-person and all-virtual. And it’s all women. Explore. There’s a space out there for everyone.

2. Can you handle some chatter or would you prefer complete silence?

Largely, this depends on the type of work you’re doing. Are you taking calls? Having meetings? Or are you neck deep into your ground-breaking novel? A nice low level of buzz can be relaxing for some types of work, but if calls and meetings distract you, it may be beneficial to select a space with silent areas. This would be pretty easy if the space was completely virtual, but if the space is in-person, make sure there are quiet spaces if that’s what you need to get the job done.

“I've actually been remote from home for years and never really used co-working spaces, BUT have found it truly fascinating that with the pandemic so many business are opting out of these years long leases and cutting down on costs of having an office space and instead opting to give employees access to coworking spaces as an alternative.”  —Kerry Brind’Amour, Freelance Project Manager and Ingram Digital Outlaw

3. Is this space worth paying for, and how much?

If your goal is to work around other people, there’s always coffee shop WiFi. But what if the preferred space is an office-like space or one with “free” coffee, meeting rooms, and maybe even snacks? Questions every remote worker should ask themselves is how much is that ambiance worth? And to many, it may be worth a lot. But some of us remote workers can get by without these extra perks,

4. Would you like to attend events and gatherings outside of your work with your chosen space?

Some coworking spaces are just for that - working in a co-occupied space. But with the skyrocketing rise of remote work, many are wanting more from their space, especially if they’re paying for it. Happy hours, meet and greets, and networking are becoming a large piece of what it means to be a coworking option. Is that something crucial to you in your work environment?

“I appreciate coworking spaces because I once taught my younger brother algebra over coffee-shop WiFi. It’s impactful to let people design their own working (or learning) experience.” —Janelle Zacherl, Freelance Digital Strategist and Ingram Digital Outlaw

5. Do you need access to physical office tools?

What a boring question, but it needs to be asked. Will you or your team need a printer? Fax machine? Rotary phone? Sometimes, these spaces charge for services such as this, so it’s important to research what’s included before joining a membership coworking space. If this equipment isn’t something your team needs, make sure you’re not paying extra for it. Who even knows how a fax machine works anyway?

While coworking spaces are a little new to the scene, they definitely have some pros and cons.Spaces like these allow people to work how they want to, but there will definitely be growing pains. It will be interesting to see how remote work evolves in the near future.