The Ready-made Network: Networking and Exchange Activity of Independent Workers in Coworking Spaces

Abstract

Coworking spaces are often said to be breeding grounds for networking and exchange activity by providing their users with direct access to a large and diverse network. Building on prior research on independent workers’ networking and the upcoming literature on coworking spaces as organizational phenomena, we conduct an exploratory study on networking and exchange activity of independent workers working in coworking spaces. Based on qualitative data consisting of 104 interviews and 44 informal talks with coworkers, observations and archival data, we introduce and develop the idea of coworking spaces as ready-made networks. We map the structural network and the different kinds of collaborative activity that take place in coworking spaces and explore how coworking spaces create the conditions for such activity. Our findings depict how 1) spatial proximity and infrastructural means provide the physical opportunity, 2) a collaborative organizational ethos provides the cognitive basis, and 3) default trust among coworkers provides the relational basis for networking and exchange activity in coworking spaces.