Specializing in order to enable meaningful connections
In this post, I talk about why and in what ways coliving and coworking communities can specialize to help their members to thrive.
Recently I saw a post on LinkedIn that said, ''it's important that coworking and coliving spaces only host remote workers together''. I totally agree with that, but I think there are more aspects to only hosting remote workers. In this post, I explore why and in what ways coliving and coworking communities can specialize even more to help their members to thrive.
Remote workers are all in different stages of life, work in different industries, and have different life interests. I think sometimes it's useful to spend time with people who do different things than you and have different views and interests. But it's also very helpful to be with ''your tribe'' and with people who are going through similar things as you. You grow when you're around both groups.
I have identified 3 areas that I think are important when it comes to specialization. But that doesn't mean that every community should specialize in only one of these areas. Nor does it mean that they should offer these types of activities throughout the year. They could just be weekly or monthly retreats to bring people together around certain topics or life interests. They could change their activities depending on the overall vibe of the place and the feedback from the community. I feel like communities eventually find their sweet spot once people get there and start giving feedback. You're building for the community after all, so their opinion should matter most!
These are my thoughts on how things might go in an ideal scenario, based on 3 different areas: the industry we work in, our personal interests (hobbies), and the stage of life we're currently in.
Industry
You may say this is why we have conferences. To network, learn, and spend time with people who are doing the same thing we are. I see conferences more as a sprint where you get to meet people (briefly) in your industry. Usually conferences are packed with people and you don't have the opportunity to have a deeper conversation with anyone. At conferences, you get to know the people you can later spend more time with in certain communities or maybe live with for a longer period of time in a shared apartment. Think of it as a screening or exploration process. For example, last year I met with people from Slovenia at a web3 conference in Belgrade. We spent three great days together and a month later the same team met at a retreat we organized in Slovenia. And got together at many other meetups later on.
I think it’s very effective when people with similar interests come together, find common ground, learn from each other and thrive. So a community could be specialized and attract people interested in web3, marketing, finance, AI, science, art, fiction, etc. This could be a general theme for the whole year, or there could be just one specific event/retreat aimed at people interested in the same topics.
Personal interests
Then we have our personal interests and passions that we cater to outside of our work-life or connect with it. This aspect sometimes brings people together even more than, 'say, a work-related issue. Everyone loves to talk about their passions.
Food, nature, active lifestyle, spirituality, religion, art and many other interests and beliefs are among us. Sometimes the geographic locations where communities are located already filter this out themselves. A community in the mountains attracts mostly people who are interested in hiking and nature. Maybe a few city dwellers come to experience the vibe or try something new, but they probably won't stay longer or come back unless they shift their interest, which would be great, of course.
Then we have the activities that are organized in these communities. For example, I heard that Guatemala is a great hub for people who are interested in spiritual practices, which in turn filters people according to their interests. Mexico City seemed like a great place to explore food, culture, and history, and I imagine the communities there could use that as a pull factor.
Even if these people work in different industries, they could get together after work or on weekends around a particular theme. They might go hiking together, engage in spiritual practices, or explore the food & culture scenes of a bustling city. This is a very important element to emphasize.
Life-stage
This area is the trickiest, but in my opinion also very important. Knowledge workers, especially freelancers, have busy and not so busy days, weeks and months. I wrote about Cal Newport's thoughts on this topic in my previous post. Maybe you're in a situation where you've taken time off from work, are looking for work, or want to switch industries and explore new opportunities. Or you may be in the ''productive'' season of your life and want to throw yourself into work full time.
For those in the ''resting'' season, trying to reflect on their previous work and plan for the new season, communities in winter destinations might be more interesting. Imagine that: a cozy, warm mountain cabin surrounded by snow, where you can reflect on your past work and plan your next steps in life and business - all while sitting by the fireplace. Basically, the people staying there would be supporting each other in this particular phase of their lives.
To me, it's not the same as being in the ''tourist'' mode, but I see it as a role between the tourist mode and the productive mode. You are not in adventure mode, but either way you're looking for intentional communities where you feel comfortable. When people in ''rest'' mode mix with people who want to be productive, there could still be some inconsistencies and missalignments in their daily schedules and activities. One or the other might feel disturbed by the other's daily routine and lifestyle.
For example, although coincidentally, there are a few of us in a coliving I'm staying at right now, that are in some sort of transitional phase of our lives. We don't work full time and we pursue and explore different interests at this moment. So we have a lot to talk about and figure out together how we can contribute to society and create some impact. We spent one evening talking about this for 4 hours!
While this came up spontaneously for us, this might be the most important pull factor for communities to focus on, whether they're doing long-term residencies or creating short-term spaces for this type of connection.
Creating space for meaningful connections
What I find most exciting is when at least 2 of 3 areas come together for the whole community. At Cabin, where I live now, I think we have all 3 of the above areas covered. Most of us do some work in web3 or are at least interested in it, we all value the outdoors and a healthy lifestyle, and some of us are in the transition phase of our lives. Of course, we don't all have all interests in common and we don't come from the same cities/countries/cultures. In fact, that might be too much things in common and not enough room to learn from each other, which is also an important aspect of community living.
One aspect or challenge of all this came to my mind the most while writing. It's a challenge to find these kinds of places. Imagine that they don't spontaneously arise, but are intentionally created. People should easily be able to find communities that help them in the way they need it most. Whether that's from a professional, hobby or supportive level. I am focusing on something similar to try to solve this challenge in a way that helps people find and connect with rural and peripheral communities. I hope to share my first versions with you soon.
If you have any feedback on these topics, let me know by writing a comment below. Thanks so much!