A few weeks ago, an internal memo was issued to the employees of the web giant Yahoo! informing that:
“We need to be working side-by-side”
and pointing out that:
“Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings”
In short, the message was: stop working from home, we need you to share your energies in the workspace, close to your coworkers.
Now, if you think that such issue rang a bell in the ears of coworking evangelists worldwide, you’re absolutely right.
Some folks who had just met at the worldwide coworking unconference GCUC in Austin, Texas thought that this was a matter to take position on, so they did.
That’s where Cowo steps in, because at the very moment we were informed that an official statement was to be released, we gave our endorsement.
And that’s why you’ll find the Cowo signature at the end of the following letter, which will be forwarded to The Guardian, The New York Times etc :-)
But, most important, that’s why we invite you to sign the letter, too :-)
Independent, mobile, and distributed workers,
1 billion around the world
BACKS MARISSA MAYER:
OUR BEST WORK IS DONE TOGETHER NOT ALONE.
“Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings.”
reads the Yahoo! memo.
Yahoo! banning working from home was hotly debated by some of the most forward-thinking minds in workplace productivity and well-being.
And workspace experts at the conference were in majority in their support for Marissa Mayer‘s controversial decision, in regards to the idea that working along side and interacting with others is essential to fuel creativity, boost productivity and nurture emotional well-being.
The global coworking community represents a growing collection of shared work-spaces, each grounded in a set of core values: collaboration, openness, community, sustainability, and accessibility.
“In 30 years time, as technology moves forward even further, people are going to look back and wonder why offices ever existed.”
While we can see a side to this that makes sense – distributed work is on the rise – we believe working from home is not the only answer.
Working from home, all of the time, stifles productivity and is actually unhealthy for a majority of people around the world. It is not good for companies or independent workers.
“Our industry exists because, for a lot of people, working from home doesn’t work.”
That same industry has seen a 300% growth since 2010, according to the recent Coworking Census conducted by Deskwanted.com – the leading online portal for finding shared workspaces. 79% of coworkers, who responded to the Global Coworking Survey, said they feel more productive now that they have another option.We are also supporters of flexibility. In fact, most who work in coworking spaces around the world, also spend large parts of their work-week in other locations, such as cafes, libraries, traditional offices and yes – even back at home.
“Everyone likes working from home, except when they cannot get any work done”
“It seemed I could either have a job, which would give me structure and community…or I could be freelance and have freedom and independence. Why couldn’t I have both?”
says Brad Neuberg, the man who coined the name ‘coworking’.
Our statement comes in response to this current international debate.
“Being a Yahoo! isn’t just about your day-to-day job, it is about the interactions and experiences that are only possible in our offices.”
While it was likely a tough and strategic decision to recall all remote workers to the Yahoo! offices, we applaud Ms. Mayer for taking such a risk in an effort to build and strengthen the community within the company – as we do everyday in our spaces.
Whilst we welcome the contribution to the debate made by Ms. Mayer, we do caution Yahoo! that a group of employees working in isolation day after day can become stale and unproductive.
Marissa Feinberg, Green Spaces NY – New York City, USA
Steve King, Emergent Research – San Francisco, USA
Rachel Young, Camaraderie Coworking Inc. – Toronto, Canada
Joel Dullroy, Deskwanted.com – Berlin, Germany
Tony Bacigalupo, New Work City – New York City, USA
Susan Dorsch, Office Nomads – Seattle, USA
Jean-Yves Huwart, Global Enterprise – Brussels, Belgium
Kristine Woosley, Woosley Studio Inc. – Phoenix, USA
Ashley Proctor, Foundery Inc. – Toronto, Canada
Cristina Santamarina, Cobot – Berlin, Germany
Global Coworking Unconference Conference (GCUC)
Coworking Canada
Coworking Ontario
Coworking Toronto
Cowo – Italian Network of Coworking Spaces
Slovenia Coworking
Xindanwei 新单位 | A New Way of Working, Shanghai, China
Coworking.de – German Network of Coworking Spaces
OuiShare – Creative Community for the Collaborative Economy
Beach Business Hub, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Deskmag
Deskwanted
Every year, right after the Coworking Europe Conference, some of us enjoy playing around with this idea: find the keyword that nails perfectly the specific mood of that specific conference.
