By 2024, coworking spaces would accommodate 5 million people worldwide. Compared to 2020, this is an increase of 158%. Apart from offering you a fully-equipped office space, coworking spaces bring along some amazing perks too. Be it community engagement and a sense of belonging, a variety of events for growth and development (business and personal), or professional networking, there’s a lot to benefit from. But shared office spaces have some unwritten rules too. Here’s a comprehensive list of certain things that you should never do in coworking spaces.

Being loud

Don’t be an obnoxious individual who disturbs others by talking loudly (with a coworker or on the phone) or laughs loudly. Just because shared offices mostly have open spaces doesn’t mean everyone working there needs to hear about your weekend party or how your client is giving you a hard time. You should be mindful of the noise you’re making and thus, the disturbance you’re creating. Remember – what’s acceptable for you might not be so for your coworkers. This means if you anticipate your calls to be long, take them somewhere like a meeting room or phone booth that won’t disturb your coworkers.

Keeping the space dirty

Working from a shared office means taking responsibility for keeping the space clean. This means taking small steps like not eating at your desk, having a couple of tissues handy to clean the spills or even the rings made on the desk by your cup of tea/coffee, washing the utensils (cup, spoon, etc.) after use in case you’ve taken them from the pantry, throwing trash in the designated bins, and wiping off your desk before you leave, among others. You should also avoid keeping all your personal belongings and stationery disorganized or spread out so that they annoy your neighbor by spilling over to his/her desk. The key is to keep the overall space and especially, your desk, neat and ready for the next user, and not expect others to do the job after you leave it dirty or untidy.

Joining just to network or socialize

Coworking offices are great spaces to network with like-minded professionals and people from diverse fields. However, it should happen organically. If you join just to network with people or find clients and start distributing your business cards from the first day without knowing others or what it is that they do, you run the risk of irritating your coworkers and may even get yourself banned from using the space. Again, those looking to simply socialize should find other ways (joining hobby clubs, going to a party, etc.) because coworking spaces are primarily meant for work. So, joining them just because you want to kill time by talking to people and socializing is a definite no-no.

Skipping events and activities

Coworking spaces host a variety of events and activities that offer opportunities to get to know your coworkers and even share your ideas, get feedback, collaborate, and network with them. Defaulting on such community events would rob you of several golden opportunities to learn and grow. Some may skip such events thinking they aren’t going to help them progress as a business, entrepreneur, or individual. But even if you think so, you should join anyway because it can not only be fun and interesting by breaking the monotony of work and deadlines but even bring you closer to your coworkers without disturbing them at work. And you may be fairly surprised to find a mentor in an experienced professional you meet at such events or get people to agree to collaborate with you on a specific project.

Hugging the meeting/conference rooms

The shared amenities of coworking spaces are for everyone to use. This includes the conference and meeting rooms. Whether you need to brainstorm with your team, discuss something business-related, meet clients, or train your team, you can do them all in private spaces offered by the conference and meeting rooms. But hugging these spaces beyond the designated hours, canceling your booking at the last moment, requesting to use them at the last minute, or conducting non-business matters are things that should be avoided. Else, you would quickly make your coworkers exasperatedly irritated with you.

Acting as if you own the equipment and amenities

The equipment and amenities offered by shared offices are for everyone working there. You shouldn’t act as if they’re meant just for your use. This means not spending most of your time at the scanner or copier or getting hundreds of documents printed or taking a tea/coffee break every fifteen minutes. It’s okay to use them when needed but you should ensure that everyone else working at the coworking space has a fair chance of using them as well. 

Disrespecting your coworkers’ trust and privacy

Your coworking space may have a member directory or social media group that lists members’ contact details. You could have even got such details by attending a coworking event. You should handle such information responsibly. Just because you have the members’ contact details doesn’t mean you should irritate them by calling frequently or add them to your mailing list and start bombarding them with emails soliciting business. The ideal way is to explain the objective of your calling/mailing list as well as the frequency of calls/emails before asking for the individual’s permission to include his/her contact to call them or send emails from time to time. You should also avoid disrespecting your coworkers’ privacy by eavesdropping on a phone call /conversation, distracting them at work, or snooping on them to see what they are working on.

Suffering in silence

Not asking for help or advice from your coworking community is the biggest mistake. People working in such spaces love to help each other become better and succeed. Whether you need to be introduced to someone, want help with an idea, or aren’t sure about what the next step is for your business, don’t suffer in silence or be shy to seek help. People working in shared offices enjoy brainstorming over a complex challenge and would be too happy to help – be it with resources, ideation, feedback, problem-solving, or anything else.

Before you start working in a shared office space, get to know the policies and rules (mentioned and otherwise) to avoid rubbing your coworkers the wrong way. Also, adhere to the basic etiquette, don’t do the things mentioned above, be proactive with your manners, and you’ll soon find how rewarding coworking spaces can be.