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Three Steps to Help Accelerate Your Personal Growth

Three Steps to Help Accelerate Your Personal Growth

Each of us have once experienced a rough transition towards a new chapter of our life. When we reached our teenage years, we ventured out of our comfort zones in attempt of finding our true selves amidst the peer influence and societal pressures. As we entered college, this journey continued on. We slowly figured out what we wanted to be in the future and pursued it with great passion.

Now that we’re out in the real world, it felt like we were back to square one – each lesson we learned in school contradicting the laws of this modern jungle. Standing amidst the storm that is creating a career for ourselves and making it on our own as an independent young adult, we can’t help but feel out of control.

When we feel stuck, how do we keep moving forward on our travels?

Owning Up Your Personal Growth

The most crucial first step that we should make is to own up to everything in our life.

It’s time for us to accept that we are now in full control and that blaming anyone or anything else for the troubles we are experiencing will not get us anywhere. Making peace with this now known fact about your life accelerates your personal growth journey.

If there’s anything in your current situation that bothers or upsets you, you have full authority of taking action. Nothing – or no one else – can make you feel happier and content with what you have other than yourself.

Once you have embraced this, start identifying the certain parts or aspects of your life that you want to improve. The term personal growth is very broad and could mean improving different qualities of ourselves or skills. Write down the areas you want to ameliorate on a piece of paper or maybe at the very first page of your brand new planner.

For example, you may want to polish your communication skills and public speaking capabilities or you could master a new technical ability. The more specific you become the better.

After doing so, follow these three steps:

• Read On

A fool-proof way of both learning and enhancing an expertise is by reading about it.

Don’t just read one or two books about your chosen subject or field. Instead, collect five to ten materials and this will dramatically increase your overall knowledge of that specific discipline. Experts suggest using audiobooks such as Audible so that the time you spend commuting can be used to learn something new.

• Network and Mingle – In the Right Way

People often mistake networking as the act of finding as many experts and professionals as you can for the sole reason of “cherry picking their brain”. Majority of the entrepreneurial community have called this off, saying that one should always consider the value that they can give to the other party as well.

With that said, keep in mind that you should build meaningful relationships and friendships that are for long term. These strong connections that you make are far more valuable that the information you can pick from someone else’s mind for 10 minutes.

It’s best to join platforms such as Eventbrite or Meetup to converge with like-minded individuals as you learn about your chosen field. You can even share offices with them by joining coworking spaces. The well-known flexible workspace takes pride in curating an environment for professionals of different fields and cultivating them into community-woven offices that promotes creative collaboration.

A large number of today’s workforce is jumping into the movement in the endeavor of expanding their network as they grow their business and studies have backed this up by publishing reports stating just how happy its members have become since joining.

• Attend Events and Conferences

Participate in seminars and other live events not only for that one discipline you are focusing on but other skills as well. Use these gatherings to expand your reach further. Check if any conference is being held in your city or nearby town. You can also give boot-camps a try to get a full immersion experience.

Providers of coworking spaces also hold in-house symposium and conventions with well-known experts and sometimes its hosts are even their own members. This specific feature of the movement is another contributing factor as to why more and more solo-preneurs and freelancers are making the move.

Make the effort of attending them each year. Taking the time to truly learn is one of the best investments you can make for yourself and will surely yield high results.

Do these steps for each skill that you want to build and continuously escalate your personal growth.

The Start of Something New: 3 Tips for The Aspiring Entrepreneur

The Start of Something New: 3 Tips for The Aspiring Entrepreneur

So you’ve finally decided to follow your heart!

Congratulations! You’ve now overcome your fears and have gathered enough courage to build a career for yourself. And as you lay out everything that you need for your journey toward entrepreneurship, the first item that should be on your list is to work up an appetite to learn and do more.

Hunger is the primary ingredient of success and once you have it, the other critical qualities such as persistence and disciple will follow suit. And while having the apt know how in doing business remain to be a requirement in leading a startup, today’s competitive industry meant becoming more efficient with your research – more creative, if possible – in developing strategies.

Admittedly, though the market continuously expands, the bleak truth remains; nine out of ten startups will surely fail. These numbers were not reported with the keen intent of discouraging a budding entrepreneur but rather, was meant to push them to work smarter and harder.

With that being said, here are 3 strategies that will boost every aspiring entrepreneur needs:

Know Your Enemies

Go into battle prepared instead of blindly attacking your enemies.

Learn everything that you can about your competition and don’t just rely on the belief that constant demand will keep you in business. Newbies will have to fight for the attention of their customers as medium-sized companies have already caught the attention of their target audience and have gained their loyalty – not to mention the leading players in the field.

Though opting for a market with high demand but very little providers is a smart move, the fact still remains that in order to gather a following and make loyal consumers out of them, your brand needs to be there for them.

Frugality is Key

Several startups and businesses fail due to the lack of well-developed financial management skills. Saving money and wise spending should be your priority as an entrepreneur, not only during your first few months but throughout the rest of the year.

Upon deciding whether or not you should open up your very first office, evaluate all the available options that you have and ensure that your future workplace will be of smart investment to your business in the long run.

The industry have grown over the years, giving entrepreneurs a wider selection of versatile alternatives from the traditional headquarters. Experts highly suggest that budding businessmen take advantage of the well-known coworking space movement.

These shared offices provide startups, freelancers and other solo-preneurs work areas that are fit for their needs. Its cost-effective rates and flexible lease terms allows them lessen overhead expenses. Members can choose between private offices, desks of their own and even shared open areas. Some providers also offer the option of virtual offices for those who want to work remotely. More and more are moving into these seemingly unconventional workplaces not only for its affordable pricing but for the opportunities it offers to them

And if prudent financing isn’t your field of expertise, educate yourself to handle money with confidence or hire someone who will help you do so. Though penny-pinching is usually seen as a negative quality, it will pay off quite soon.

Communicate as a Strong Entrepreneur

Building an enterprise doesn’t happen overnight. And for it to have a strong foundation, there should be a fair amount of effort from your core employees.

Inaugurate trust between one another and treat each other the way you want to be treated. As a leader, one should be a proper example to your team by cultivating moral and ethical values within the office from day one.

After doing so, work on your communication. It helps build teamwork and creates positive work environment. Moreover, fluent correspondence between members perfuse throughout all business operations

Admittedly, being a young businessman – or businesswoman – there’s much more to learn and coming to terms with the reality that not everything will go according to our plans. Develop your existing skill set yet at the same time, adopt new ones and don’t be afraid of change. Enable each member to have professional growth as you direct your joint efforts to expanding your company.

Curating the Right Workplace Strategy for this Generation’s Workforce

Curating the Right Workplace Strategy for this Generation's Workforce

British economist Frances Cairncross – together with a large number of social and media theorists – predicted the death of distances during the 1990s when the advent of the internet spread across the world.

They argued that if every single place in the world can instantly connect with one another, space itself would slowly become irrelevant. So much so, that we could go to work without going to our offices. Immediate communication with almost anyone in the office would soon render workspaces obsolete.

And though the concept seemed imminent, humankind still have somehow charted to a different path than the one predicted by Cairncross.

Despite of the global and instantaneous communication handed to us by today’s technology, a large number of us still commute to work every single day – and it’s not exactly the best part of our work day.

Oxymoronic Concepts

This trend that we seem to be following for almost a century now is commonly known as the paradox of place.

The anomaly that places and locations are seemingly less important due to how connective modern technology have made it more easier for us to connect with one another, anywhere we are yet at the same time, it remains to be a critical factor due to the pressing realization that it is a prerequisite to interaction and innovation.

A living proof of this is that though telecommuting continues to grow and has created significant disturbances in how humankind works, we cannot ignore the growing popularity of coworking spaces.

More and more professionals are leaving behind the traditional way of making a living, in exchange for the chance of roaming the earth as digital nomads or remote workers. Simultaneously, shared offices such as the coworking movement are growing by large numbers as an answer to the growing need of a third place where in people aggregate and share knowledge – both old and new.

Experts predict that the paradox of place is surely here to stay as humans are social creatures by nature. Places and locations will remain necessary but at the same time, modern technology will continue to lessen its importance.

Creating A New Workplace Strategy

Due to the pressing need for actual social interaction, a handful of companies who have allowed telecommuting, recently made policy changes and have called their remote workers back in the office.

And with such modifications, it opens up the question of whether or not flexible work hours is an effective workplace strategy. But JLL Managing Director Peter Miscovich that there’s no black and white answer of yes or no. He adds that the binary question underestimates the complexity of workplace strategy. Miscovich suggests that companies and even office space providers need to curate versatile strategies in order to attract this generation’s digital talent. ManpowerGroup Solutions recent survey reported that 63 percent of job candidates today believe that they don’t really need to be stationed at their desks to get work done. In addition to this, 45 percent of respondents say that flexibility is a key motivating factor in their career decisions.

Gallup’s 2017 State of the American Workplace report strengthens this claim when their results reported that the happiest participants are those who don’t spend their whole week in the office – yet at the same time, not spending a majority of it from their respective homes.

Curating a workplace environment that allows professionals to have a balance between concentration and collaboration for a diverse workforce creates better results.

The Hidden Potential in Peer Groups and Interconnectedness

The Hidden Potential in Peer Groups and Interconnectedness

Psychologists cannot stress it enough, but just so that we remember; other people’s thoughts and behaviors are powerful enough to influence us. We’re all humans after all, so it’s only natural for us to be affected by external factors such as peer groups. The people whom we surround ourselves will affect your overall potential and this is not just a mere speculation.

Social Scientists have said that a child’s economic mobility – and even the amount of opportunities they are bound to receive – is largely governed by the country they grew up in. Kids coming from communities that produce low income are less likely to have the potential of earning higher than their parents compared to those of their peers who descend from affluent neighbor hoods – proof that sometimes, it’s just hard to break out of our surroundings.

Even in groups of friends, individuals tend to pick up one another’s behaviors and even living style. The more we spend time with them, the more we use similar phrases or words as we speak. It even comes to a point wherein we alter each other’s clothing choices.

American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker Jim Rohn says that we are the average of the five people we spend most of our time with. Whenever we surround ourselves with high achieving individuals with good characters, there’s a high chance that we become like them yet at the same time, those with sub-par qualities can bring upon us negative habits such as poor outlook in life.

Life coach and philanthropist Tony Robbins add that everything that we allow into our life – as well as every action we take reflects on who we are. Furthermore, he advises that we associate ourselves with people who carry the same high standards as we do – possibly leading to a higher quality of life.

The prospective opportunities that peer groups can bring did not go unnoticed by the leaders of today’s business industry. Hence, it came as no surprise when the greater community started coming up with ways to turn the traditional office as a place for business to a microcosm of a society that is connected, commercially viable and collectively responsible.

Peer Groups and Interconnectedness

Inspired by the idea of American urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg widely known as “third places” or the concept of building informal spaces meant for public gatherings that can contribute to a functioning civil society, the pioneers of the well-acclaimed shared offices called coworking spaces have placed great importance in vibrant internal communities among its members.

Founders of the movement saw the right set of circumstances to lead the market to a near-future wherein each and every one of us is given the equal opportunity to be part of something greater than our profession.

With the directive of supporting freelancers that connect small businesses, providers continuously shape their respective communities through engaging events and activities. Some are also able to utilize today’s online tools to leverage their interconnectedness.

Coworking became an avenue for professionals to meet like-minded entrepreneurs and build peer groups around them, to share experiences, advices and tools that aid success in business with one another. It gives them the advantage of having access to a wealth of information and resources. More than that, they get the support and inspiration that fuels their motivation to keep on doing what they’re doing regardless of the failures and hindrances they go through.

Former Yahoo director Tim Sanders once said that one’s network is their net worth. Whenever we surround ourselves with good people who strive to become both a better professional and person, their positive energy becomes contagious.

We become motivated to always aim for excellence, no matter what it is that we are going. These kinds of peers will surely help us grow into the best version of ourselves and would teach us to become more in-love with life.

Ready to see the greatest people you could ever meet? Talk to us today and we’ll introduce you to a bunch of wonderful peer groups!

Keeping Your Best Employees with Catalysts and Nourishers

Keeping Good Help: How To Keep Your Best Employees

Admittedly, it’s hard to find good help amidst a sea of people and when we find them, we want to keep them around for as long as we could.

And though people leave their jobs for several reasons that are sometimes beyond the control of their employers, there’s no denying that leadership can heavily affect the job satisfaction one individual perceives. Those who feel unappreciated or unrecognized for their efforts are more likely to exit. While those who suffer from office politics or were unfortunate enough to find self-serving managers will look somewhere else for a job.

Truthfully, they would begin searching for a new home to go to under the radar, and as they go through several interviews, they’ll start to realize just how undervalued they have become. There’s a good chance that they’ll start looking for a different employer if their current one isn’t offering them opportunities for skill development and fair compensation.

But it’s possible for us to curate systems that your talented workforce deserves.

Catalyst and Nourishment Factors

Director of Research at Harvard Business School Teresa Amabile, together with independent researcher and writer Steven Kramer said in their book – The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement and Creativity at Work – that there are two certain factors that aid in keeping employees or members of the team engaged, the Catalyst and Nourishment factors

Defined as events and structures that help people make progress, catalyst factors include providing clear goals for the task at hand and giving people enough resources to accomplish them. Nourishment factors, on the other hand, means supporting their inner work lives and usually includes getting to know them better, showing respect as well as offering emotional support.

One real life example of this is Airbnb’s company culture. Their system is pretty simple, they consider the needs of their team members in all aspects of their work environment. They focused on creating a welcoming environment which resulted to a positive impact to their business.

Their leaders recognize the need of development in their culture as the company grows. And in the effort of ensuring that each member is supported, they have appointed a Global Head of Employee Experience whose task is to make sure that everyone’s needs are met.

Your workforce needs nourishment and catalysts in order for them to be successful. Employees who are lucky enough to be part of a supportive and engaging environment are most likely to stay with their company. By giving them the feeling of accomplishment and allowing them room to make progress, they find more meaning and value in their work.

Governing Employees with Catalysts and Nourishers

Amabile further discusses that catalyst and nourishers should work together in providing workers an environment in which they can both thrive and remain fully engaged in their tasks at the same time.

And the first step in leading with catalysts is by setting clear goals that gives everyone direction. Whenever a big project comes in, call for a meeting and set out short as well as long term objectives that could hold them accountable for their progress.

Give them the chance to speak up and ask questions. By doing so, each member will leave with a clear idea of what will be the end results of their efforts.

Once you have a set clear plan, give them enough leeway to do their assigned tasks in that works well for them. Build autonomy within the workplace and make reaching the set objective your main goal.

Having the freedom to do things their way is what attracts majority of this generation’s young professionals. Some of the most talented and creative people tend to stray away from structured domains. One real life proof of this is the growing popularity of the coworking movement.

More and more teams and even, individuals are opting for these shared offices in exchange of having the liberty of working whenever, wherever and however they want to. Unlike in conventional workplaces, coworking gives members full control of their work day, allowing them to maximize their work efficiency.

So don’t be afraid of the unknown. Don’t stifle creativity and who knows? That one person who does things differently than most could just produce excellent output.

Nourish your team by instilling respect and support among one another.

Lend them an ear whenever they have a concern and even if you aren’t exactly on the same page as them, consider what they have to say. The issues they are experiencing may be affecting other members as well. Make your working environment better by hearing them out.

Make them feel good by giving encouragement and recognizing their accomplishments – showing them that you are paying attention. The lack of appreciation is one of the major sources of unhappiness in the office so go the extra mile of offering a compliment or even a formal recognition.

Offer emotional support by listening to them. Each and every one of us have our bad days or feel frustrated at times. Hence, it’s important to recognize how an employee’s mood affects the workplace. By giving them enough space to feel better, they’ll know that you see them as an equal.

And lastly, bond with them. Help coworkers trust and appreciate one another by arranging company picnics or company trips. Create opportunities for them socialize and build memories as a team.

Taking the aforementioned factors into consideration aids the management in improving their respective work culture – giving their employees a much better experience within the company.

Sometimes, the smallest and unexpected thing can create a major impact to your people. By going the extra mile to support them, your good employees or your team’s superstar might just stick around.

Maximizing Your Workday Through Energy Management

Maximizing Your Workday Through Energy Management

Majority of us start our work day with a clear outline schedule in our hands. If not, we have our to-do lists – with the most crucial tasks written atop and those that could be accomplished at a later time found down below.

Our automatic response during a surge of heavy workload and other deliverable is to work long hours, or worse, grind till our bodies hit its breaking point. It’s a common phenomenon to believe that in order to maximize one’s productivity, putting on hours and hours of work is necessary. And though there’s no denying that a lot can be done if you manage your time properly, it inevitably takes a toll on our physical, mental and emotional well-being. Only to result to declining levels of engagement, increasing vulnerability to distractions, higher turnover rates and escalating medical bills among workers.

The fundamental flaw of the conventional view in being productive and energy management – spending endless hours stuck in our desks – is that time is actually a finite resource. As mentioned earlier, we can delegate ourselves to accomplish menial tasks later in the day but energy, as a resource, is a different story.

Human Energy, A Resource

Physics define energy as one’s capacity to work. As human beings, our energy comes from four main sources: the body, emotions, mind and spirit. Each one is capable of being systematically expanded and regularly revitalized by a series of rituals – set of behaviors that should be practiced with the goal of making them daily acts.

Experts suggest that it’s high time for organizations to shift from getting more out of their workforce to investing more so that they are motivated to bring more of themselves to the office. And in order for us to fully recharge ourselves, it’s important that we recognize what energy-depleting behaviors costs us and slowly but surely, change each one, to successfully achieve a better energy management solution.

Partner of multinational professional services firm Ernst and Young, Steve Wanner, shared his journey to having a healthier routine after seeing how disengaged he has become with his family and self to a Harvard Business Review article.

According to him, his overhauled energy management routine simply started by establishing an earlier bedtime and by giving up mannerisms that disrupted his sleep such as drinking. This then resulted to a well-rested Steve motivated enough to do his morning exercise until he becomes accustomed to it as an activity he does in the morning. Later on, he lost 15 pounds and now sits down with his family for breakfast. Admittedly, his habit of working for long hours remained but now, he renews himself regularly. Instead of staying in his desk to eat, he goes out for lunch and has both morning and afternoon walks outside the office.

It’s these simple rituals that creates an impact across employees in several organizations.

Energy Management

Just like Wanner, you can restore yourself throughout the day with small routines you can slowly incorporate and reach the 90% of your output that correlates with you body’s naturally productive rhythms. Here are three tricks that you can do to manage your energy in general.

• 90-minute blocks

Instead of forcing yourself to work for long stretches of hours until every task on your list is crossed out, encourage yourself to break your day into 90-minute blocks of work sessions.

Author and CEO of the Energy Project Tony Schwartz said in an article that our minds function better if we allow it to have both times of highly focused work and times of rest. Schwartz adds that we can imitate the habits of elite violinists who practice for no longer than 90 minutes and took breaks in between each one.

Reassess your to-do list and outline tasks that is realistically feasible to be done within a span of that block. After doing so, take a break. Get up and visit the café and snack bar for your refill of coffee or maybe stretch for a while.

• 15-minute breaks

Schwartz further adds that by breaking up work sessions into 90 minute blocks with the insight that there will be a 15 minute break at its end is a great stepping stone to balancing your energy thought the day.

By doing so, your work periods can be approached in a relaxed manner with the knowledge that a scheduled recess is on the horizon. Utilize this time to refresh your mind and take a walk outside or if you’re residing in a shared office like coworking spaces, explore and go around. Make use of the recreational amenities that they have such as pool tables, karaoke rooms and game rooms.

Though allowing yourself to have these kinds of breaks seems strage, Schwartz and the complementary studies supporting it making it worth a try.

• Take naps

Taking naps in the office isn’t welcomed with much enthusiasm as the aforementioned activities but the reality is: naps are actually a strong source of competitive advantage. Experts have seen a 16 percent increase in pilots’ reaction time when they are given the chance to have 30 minute naps.

Though majority of organizations would be skeptical in allowing this, a certain number of corporations have already implemented this energy management approach by allocating specific spaces for sleeping pods. Given the opportunity, take a nap and science says you’ll surely wake up rejuvenated.

We, and the rest of the corporate industry, remain to be dependent on the draining ethics of overworking ourselves. And until we all see past the myth, both employees and companies will remain depleted instead of enriched.

Talk to us today and we’ll introduce you to an office that helps manage your energy better.

Thriving in Negative Feedback and Receiving it Like a Pro

Thriving in Negative Feedback and Receiving it Like a Pro

Admittedly, we are all afraid of committing mistakes.

The idea of being called out for an error we might’ve missed and risking one’s reputation is something that we’re not entirely comfortable with. Nor are we fond of receiving negative feedback from either friends or colleagues.

Though we tend to fear feedback, it’s actually much more vital than we actually think. One good example of this was the calamity Facebook faced back in April 2013. The team launched the application Facebook Home with the promise of changing the “look and feel” of a person’s phone. The main idea is that it would transform a user’s default screen into a Facebook wrapper – allowing them to utilize their accounts without the need for them to log in.

Much to the surprise of the general public, the app failed due to what was presumed to be negligence by its creators. It seemed like they forgot the existence of Android systems, leading them to run majority of the tests in iOS devices.

One would think that the minds working behind the multi-million social media website would have the appropriate know-how to develop an application but even experts are prone to error as well.

Had they been able to collect customer feedback while developing the aforementioned program, it could’ve made a big difference but the agitation they presumably felt towards criticism is a natural thing for us humans.

Our innate agitation towards disapproval comes from our disliking for being wrong, and though it can actually be seen as constructive, most of us would feel like it’s some sort of personal attack. It leads us to start pointing our fingers towards external forces and sometimes even other people for our mistakes. We make outside attributions and would rather blame luck, other people’s flaws and even circumstances that are beyond one’s control instead of coming face to face with the mistake they’ve made.

In worst cases, people would be too closed off to entertain outside input that they no longer care about other people’s perspective. Leaders who have reached a certain degree of success are more often susceptible to becoming overconfident with themselves – they use their power to shut those who would disagree with their opinions or decisions.

Whenever we avoid feedback, we risk both of our personal and professional growth. We are letting ourselves off the hook whenever we deny responsibility for our actions and the more that we do this, the less we believe that we are the own makers of our success.

Moreover, the possible consequences it could bring to your business can be disastrous. Hence, it’s important for us to learn how to take criticism like an expert.

Get Feedback and Receive it like a Pro

Becoming a true professional means knowing how to accept criticism without viewing it as a form of personal attack. It means becoming comfortable with evaluating each comment other and seeing how one should react to it. The ability to take an objective look at each comment gives you points in which areas are in need of improvement.

Its best to come into terms with yourself that everyone is subjected to criticism early into your career. Its helps keep your ego in check and makes you feel much happier with your work. By anticipating feedback, you are allowing yourself to make mistakes ever so often and this trains you to see it as a chance of refining your craft.

Certain individuals or teams aim to get feedback as soon as possible in order for them to get things right immediately – saving them time, effort and even money before launching a product or service.

And this prompt need for reviews is one of the main reasons why the seemingly unorthodox coworking movement is so popular among startups and even large companies.

Founder of Link Coworking, Liz Elam, says in an Inc.Com article that its intangible benefit of a diverse community encompass the traditional networking. Providers focus on curating an encouraging clique that makes opening your own business a little less scary. Members will give you honest feedback with a snap of a finger and will cheer you on as you check off company goals.

Craig Baute, owner of Creative Density, further adds that the aforementioned free flowing evaluation is a key benefit for entrepreneurs. Unlike in conventional offices, brainstorming sessions can take place anytime within the open space.

Successful people will tell you that each of them have been on the receiving end of criticism at some point. Furthermore, they’ll advise you to not be afraid of it. Because if we are as committed as we say we are to a project or venture, we’ll learn how to use them to our advantage instead of letting it hold us back.

See how feedback can be the best gift you can ever receive – or give – by joining Sales Rain’s first ever coworking space.

Looking Forward to Coworking Predictions for 2018

Looking Forward to Coworking Predictions for 2018

The coworking movement saw nothing but so much untapped potential and great opportunities during the year 2017. The movement slowly but surely became a global phenomenon as the population of digital nomads and remote workers grew. This generation’s startups and professionals created a new need for flexible workspaces that allows them to work anytime and anywhere they like. Moreover, they have put much emphasis on the importance of a good work-life balance. As a result, the demand for office spaces that allows them to maximize their efficiency without sacrificing their overall well-being rose.

As the year comes to an end, let’s take a look at all the major developments coworking has made over the year before moving forward to the coworking predictions that the new year has in store for us.

In Hindsight

The Global Coworking Unconference Conference recently released their GCUC Survey for the year 2017. Discussing the results of their annual survey, the report showcases a quick summary of the improvements and future predictions for the following year.

According to the aforementioned report, a total of 14,411 coworking spaces are now available around the world. Experts forecast that the number will grow to over 30,000 in 2022, globally. Members originating from the US would grow to 1,076,000 by the same year.

It was also during this year that large companies and tech conglomerates experimented on workplace models.

Given the proliferation of open layouts and shared offices, established corporations are giving the latest workplace organization strategies a try by moving some of their teams into coworking spaces. More and more employees from big players are moving in and taking over.

A recent survey have also said that almost half of corporation in the US alone are making use of some sort of flexible office space solution. Moreover, based on the data gathered from the aforementioned report, researchers believe that an increase in the demand and usage of these work areas can be expected in the following years.

By studying the information we have observed from survey data results and trends of the previous year, experts have put together a picture of what coworking predictions for the year 2018 has in store for the industry.

Coworking Predictions

As mentioned earlier, the population will continue to thrive as the years go by. GCUC predicts that the number of spaces will expand to 17,725 this year with an annual growth rate of 16.1% and members will grow to 2.3 million globally from the previous year’s number of 1.74 million with 24.2% annual growth rate.

The trend of mega corporates transitioning to flexible workspaces will accelerate over the next five years as administrations look forward to reducing their exposure towards long term leases. In addition to this, the continuous demand of this generation’s labor force for better workplace options will move the numbers forward.

Startups will also continue to flock these shared offices around the world because of the flexibility and talent attraction advantages that they provide. And as the market grows, so does the demand. With the prediction that over 50% of the global population by 2020, more brands will continue to consolidate spaces that will be built to suit the arrangements of the ever-changing workforce.

It seems that the movement will continue to move upwards and has the capability to evolve even more. Sounds interesting right? Talk to us today and take a quick look at the future.

Forming Bonds: The Art of Networking Without The Network

Forming Bonds: The Art of Networking Without The Network

An average person would spend one third of his/her life working and within that period, they would meet a hundred to a thousand of professionals through meetings, conferences and other colleagues. Somewhere along the way, we would create connections with these individuals and form a professional network with one another.

The bonds that we create with them plays a crucial role in the overall success of our career life. Hence, it’s important for us to be consistent in building our professional network – no matter what industry we are from. Anyone you meet can be of help to you and your career in the long run.

But to say that networking is your singular goal whenever you start a conversation with someone can present a negative connotation towards your personality. Connections done the right way create authentic bonds, giving the impression that you’re not after what that person has to offer but rather, you’re simply interested in knowing another like-minded individual.

And as the new year starts, it’s only apt that we find ways to improve and develop our communication skills. Here are the different ways we can maintain authentic connections be it in informal or formal occasions.

Fortifying Bonds through Networking

When taking part in social gatherings, it helps to start by looking for someone you already know and start catching up before making your way to the new faces around you. CEO of professional networking company Voray, David Olk suggests in a Business News Daily article to have a genuine conversation with someone familiar about things that you have in common before working your way around other people who look lost. Stick out a handshake as conversation starter.

Inspire Human Resources CEO Jaime Klein adds that one should mingle around when there are no assigned seats. These relaxed environments can be used to one’s advantage and make several connections.

Diversify

Olk also notes that spending ample time with people to get to know them better is the true meaning of “networking” – not pushing a certain agenda or idea.

He adds that we should avoid seeing it as a chance to sell your business or you yourself but rather view it as a chance to be in the same room with interesting new people that you’d love to meet. During work gatherings, try and sit with a member for another team that you haven’t spoken to. Keep things brief to spark a more intricate conversation when the gathering is over.

Keep up

In order to keep the relationships you have made after a party or a gathering, it’s important to keep up with them. Send them a thank you note through email and maybe send them a request in LinkedIn. Add in a little note to someone new that you met during the recent gathering. One can also make smart use of their other social media accounts to stay in touch with them.

Other than the aforementioned ways we can create and maintain relationships, the newest way of working have also provided us with a platform wherein we can meet, collaborate and learn through other professionals coming from different industries.

These shared offices commonly known as coworking spaces were designed to improve collaboration and communication. Breaking through the traditional cubicles, its open plan layout allows its members to switch from private desks made to help them concentrate to communal areas made for socializing.

It prides itself in the community it curates and makes it their mission to continue cultivate and enhance the relationships it has built between its members through workshops, events and even parties.

Investing time and effort in building authentic connections within your network will not only help you build your career in the long run, but makes work worthwhile.

Become part of something greater and inquire today to join our very first coworking space!

Thinking Like Alice: The Importance of Curiosity in Business

 

Thinking Like Alice: The Importance of Curiosity in Business

“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice

When Alice fell down the rabbit hole, it was evident then that its young audiences will develop a highly curious nature. Much like her, we marveled at the whimsical creatures that she met along the way – the Cheshire cat, the mad hatter and the nervous white rabbit wearing a waistcoat. Together, we believed that nothing is impossible, that despite of the several chances Alice had to quit, she continued on.

Yet unfortunately so, only a few grew up laden with the spirit of inquiry. A large number of us have lost our natural interest towards the world as the years have gone by. The moment we caught a glimpse of the realities of our surroundings, we no longer looked up to Alice. We seemed to have forgotten about the adventures she had and how she taught us that risks can sometimes bring brilliant unexpected results.

Be like Alice

According to a Harvard Business Review article from September 2015, curiosity is one of the main attributes expected from CEOs.

A PwC survey from the said year reported that more than a thousand participating CEOs have said that “curiosity” and “open-mindedness” as leadership traits have become increasingly critical during taxing times. Chief executive of Dell, Inc., Michael Dell said in a statement that curiosity can inspire leaders to continuously seek fresh, new ideas and approaches in order for them to keep up with the ever changing market and stay ahead of its competitors.

Inquisitive leaders also has the ability to set an example that influences creative thinking through the company. Hollywood producer Brian Grazer writes in his book A Curios Mind, leaders who manage by asking questions are laying the foundation of a culture of curiosity in your company or team.

The idea that curiosity can produce good results in business is not a new phenomenon. Years ago, Walt Disney stated that the reason why his company continuously innovates is because of their curiosity, the same trait that kept leading them to new paths.

The desire to explore and find a new perspective towards your surroundings – just like Alice – have become even more important in today’s evolving, innovation-driven industry. Experts and consultants alike suggest cultivating a culture of curiosity and inquisitiveness to drive the creativity out of one’s workforce.

Encourage Curiosity

In order to hone curiosity well into your company culture, it’s only apt to consider certain principles that encourage the spirit of inquiry.

First and foremost, it is important to encourage query. Employees of the California-based non-profit research organization HopeLab are motivated by its CEO and President, Pat Christen, to ask questions and challenge themselves. The company created stimulating tools such as a deck of cards called “Questions for Curious” that comes with 12 categories including “beauty”, ”candor”, ”emotions” and “100% responsibility”. These can be found around the office, at desks – even in conference rooms – and is often used by employees on their own or in meetings.

And because of the hectic workdays one would usually have, these tools help find time for reflection and conversation.

Another way of promoting curiosity in one’s usual workday is by writing agendas as questions that needs to be solved by the end of a meeting or a day – by doing so employees become even more engaged knowing what they can bring to the outcome. Christen explains in the aforementioned Harvard Business Review article that everyone present in a meeting is invited to join the conversation and is expected to ask questions, share ideas and contribute.

Private enterprises are not the only ones coming up with other strategies in strengthening the sense of inquiry of today’s workforce. The well-acclaimed movement of shared offices commonly known as coworking spaces have used architectural design and the psychology of performance in their advantage. By implementing open layouts, members get the chance to share their thoughts with other like-minded individuals. Its diverse community encourages members try out new things and open doors to undiscovered opportunities.

Somewhere amidst her adventures, Alice began to think that there are very few things that are impossible. Her story pushes us to become more versatile, more creative and motivates us to remain eager to learn.