The Co-Working Revolution: Your Office Away From Home

I’ve been fascinated by businesses popping up around major metropolitan areas that create a shared workspace for independent workers. Imran Ali wrote about the trend of co-working spaces back in April, and I’ll be exploring the trend further as I look to set up a co-working space in my town.

Sherman, Aliza. Web Worker Daily (2008). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration>Coworking

Coworking Evolved

It’s interesting to see coworking snowballing as a phenomenon, but like many trends originating in dotcom culture, what’ll be most interesting is how these shifts begin to affect larger companies and more traditional employers.

Ali, Imran. Web Worker Daily (2008). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration>Coworking

Design Patterns for Coworking

Recently a member of the global coworking mailing list, Joseph Holsten) recently created what’s essentially a recipe book of ‘how to’ guides for those seeking to setup a coworking community, coworking space or simply better operate the communities and spaces they’re already running.

Ali, Imran. Web Worker Daily (2008). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration>Coworking

Coworking or Noworking?

An exploration of the downsides to telecommuting and coworking, focusing on the experiences of a coworking community founder.

Ali, Imran. Web Worker Daily (2008). Careers>Workplace>Coworking

Coworking, Childcare, Cubes

An interesting discussion on the potential of providing childcare facilities to coworkers – with the coworkers themselves dedicating a portion of their time to caring for the children of other community members.

Ali, Imran. Web Worker Daily (2008). Careers>Workplace>Coworking>Children

Creative Classes, Civic Regeneration and Coworking

This post speculates on the potential to revitalize decaying and vacant urban centers with new creative areas, by replacing discount stores, vacant properties and unused public libraries with coworking facilities.

Ali, Imran. Web Worker Daily (2008). Careers>Workplace>Coworking

Coworking in Africa, San Francisco and Bath

A look at the underlying value structure of coworking communities, how they’re evolving in different countries, and the issues existing coworking communities face as they outgrow the space available.

Ali, Imran. Web Worker Daily (2009). Careers>Workplace>Coworking>Case Studies

The Perils of Our Digital Communications

When 90% of what you do for work is based online, there are bound to be some glitches, and not just the technical ones. How do you handle the inevitable misunderstandings that come with today’s rapid-fire digital conversations and communications in the workplace? I’ve put together a few ideas for how we can all minimize misunderstandings or at least diffuse the fallout.

Sherman, Aliza. Web Worker Daily (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>Online

Can You Be a Web Worker From a Small Town?

Part of the promise of working independently is to able to live and work where ever you choose. Getting away from the big city sounds great, but can you really work remotely from a small town? Can the technology support it?

McCray, Becky. Web Worker Daily (2008). Careers>Telecommuting>Online

Draw the Line: When and How to Stop Giving Away Professional Advice

People are unabashed about asking for web advice and help related to blogs, social media, networking and other web work because they don’t regard it as a specialized service the way they do with medical and legal expertise. I’m not saying giving away freebies is always a definite no-no, but I do think that as web workers we need to start reinforcing the value of our work by drawing a line between friendly advice and working for free. Here’s how I’m trying to create that demarcation.

Etherington, Darrell. Web Worker Daily (2009). Careers>Consulting>Advice

Create Effective Project Milestone Sheets

The project milestone sheet is an incredibly important document for freelancers and their clients. It defines all the most important tasks, who is assigned to them, and when they are due. In other words, it serves as the map for your entire work process.

Roque, Celine. Web Worker Daily (2009). Articles>Project Management>Planning>Methods

Taking Content Strategy Personally 

If you don’t have a professional blog or web site, you may think that you don’t need to worry about content strategy. Think again. Celine gave some great advice in her article “How to Develop a Content Strategy for Your Professional Blog,” but these days our blogs and web sites aren’t the only windows to our professional souls. If you use social media platforms for professional purposes, you should consider having a content strategy for the material you publish on them as well.

Poole, Pamela. Web Worker Daily (2009). Articles>Content Management>Content Strategy>Social Networking

The Two-Edged Sword of Web 2.0 

As web workers, most of us are steeped in Web 2.0 throughout our working day (never mind that we can’t agree on what “Web 2.0″ means). Many of us have embraced online applications from Google, Yahoo, and elsewhere to do the bulk of our work, and we rely on a mishmash of social media sites to stay in touch with our peers and build our extended networks. But this connectivity comes at a cost: the internet is filled with bright, shiny distractions.

Gunderloy, Mike. Web Worker Daily (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Social Networking