Co-constructing a Sense of Community at Work: The Emergence of Community in Coworking Spaces

As more individuals are working remotely, many feel increasingly isolated and socially adrift. To address this challenge, many independent workers are choosing to work in coworking spaces – shared spaces where individuals do their own work but in the presence of others with the express purpose of be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Organization studies Vol. 38; no. 6; pp. 821 - 842
Main Authors: Garrett, Lyndon E., Spreitzer, Gretchen M., Bacevice, Peter A.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.06.2017
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects:
Case studies
Community
Community work
Constructionism
Office space
Organization studies
Sense of community
Single case studies
Social interaction
Telecommuting
Work
autonomy
relationships
relational constructionism
coworking
community
ISSN:0170-8406, 1741-3044
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:As more individuals are working remotely, many feel increasingly isolated and socially adrift. To address this challenge, many independent workers are choosing to work in coworking spaces – shared spaces where individuals do their own work but in the presence of others with the express purpose of being part of a community. In this qualitative, single case study, we analyze how members of a coworking space work together to co-construct a sense of community through their day-to-day interactions in the space. We apply a relational constructionist lens to unpack the processes of ‘community work’ as an interactive, agentic process. We identify three types of collective actions, or interacts, that contribute to a sense of community: endorsing, encountering, and engaging. These interacts represent different forms of community work that members interactively accomplish to maintain a desired community experience. The rapidly growing coworking movement offers insights, as uncovered in this study, on how to integrate a sense of community into the world of work.
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ISSN:0170-8406
1741-3044
DOI:10.1177/0170840616685354