COWORKING SPACES AND THEIR ROLE IN PROMOTING SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

Abstract

This research aims to highlight coworking spaces in Singapore and their impact on promoting social relationships as there are limited research on coworking spaces and its impact in the context of Singapore. Unique from traditional office spaces, coworking spaces have an open concept that facilitates and encourages increased social interaction between individuals. The removal of work cubicles and the casual setting of coworking spaces not only allow ideas to flow freely but space sharing also means that different like-minded and passionate individuals will get to network, interact and collaborate with each other. The rise of coworking spaces in Singapore encouraged many business ventures and enterprises to gather, forming a large and closely knitted entrepreneurial community over the years. In order to carry out the research, a questionnaire was distributed and a case study and interview was conducted. Findings in this study had not only revealed the positive impacts social relationships have on individual workers, but reflected that there is a positive correlation between social interaction and communication, productivity and reduced stress levels. In addition, the familiarity that respondents have with coworking spaces were also surveyed, and results raised the need to increase the awareness of coworking spaces in Singapore. One of the limitations in this study was that a direct comparison between coworking spaces and traditional office spaces could not be made, as the two working environments do not have common control variables (such as industry, size of organisation, etc.) to provide a fair comparison. Coworking is also not suitable for every industry, as different industries have different working styles and needs.