What Changes And What Stays The Same?

On changing needs, human connection and the fundamentals that still matter in coworking

The older I get, the more I realise that looking after ourselves isn’t necessarily about finding the right routine, the right way of working or even the right people and then keeping everything exactly the same. Our circumstances change, our bodies change, businesses evolve and the people around us move into different stages of their lives. Naturally, what we need from the things and people that support us changes too.

And yet, for all that change, I’m beginning to wonder whether the fundamentals are actually remarkably consistent.

Perhaps I’ve been thinking about it more because there’s quite a lot of change happening in my own life at the moment. My eldest is about to leave home for university in Edinburgh, which I’m enormously proud of and excited for him about. At the same time, I know the house, and my life will feel very different without him in it.

In reality, he’s not going very far. Edinburgh is hardly the other side of the world, but put a stretch of sea between us and somehow, in my head at least, that’s exactly what it feels like. I’m used to him being ‘somewhere just down the road’, knowing roughly where he is and that he’ll wander back through the door at some point today. I suspect it’s the change in that everyday closeness, rather than the actual distance, that I’m going to feel most (along with the absence of noise from his guitar and sining).

It’s made me think a lot about proximity and connection, which perhaps isn’t surprising for someone who has spent the past fifteen years running a coworking business.

We often talk about connection in coworking as though it has to involve networking events, introductions or deliberately bringing people together. Increasingly, I think some of its value is much quieter than that. Sometimes it’s simply about knowing other people are there.

 

Independence and connection don’t have to be opposites

I’ve always considered myself very independent. I’m an introvert who genuinely enjoys my own company and needs quiet and space to recharge. For a long time, I’ve probably regarded being able to go it alone as one of my strengths.

Yet as life has become a little more changeable, I’ve realised that independence works much better for me when it is balanced by connection.

With my son leaving, I’ve actually asked a few people close to me to make a point of checking in. I’m normally much more comfortable being the person doing the checking in, so admitting that I might need a little more support than usual hasn’t come entirely naturally.

Yet simply knowing those people are there has helped, and it has made me look differently at something I’ve watched happening around me at The Hub for years.

Many of the people who choose coworking are incredibly independent. They run their own businesses, work remotely, consult, freelance or lead small teams, and they certainly don’t need somebody organising their working lives for them. Many value privacy and quiet just as much as I do.

But being independent and being isolated are very different things.

Sometimes the value of coming to work isn’t the conversation you actually have. It’s knowing there’s somebody in the next office, recognising the person making coffee in the kitchen, exchanging a few words on the stairs or simply being somewhere where other people are getting on with their day too.

The balance is different for everybody, and it changes.

 

When what we need begins to change

I’ve noticed the same thing with exercise. In my twenties and thirties, I loved the discipline of an hour of Ashtanga yoga twice a week. More recently, strength training has become an important part of staying healthy, and now I’m learning to pay much more attention to what my body needs on a particular day.

Sometimes that’s a challenging workout; sometimes slower yoga or a long walk is exactly right.

The routine has evolved, but the fundamental reason for doing it hasn’t. Movement keeps me well and gives me a stronger foundation for everything else.

Perhaps good workspaces aren’t so different.

 

The way we work changes but the fundamentals still matter.

The way people have used The Hub has changed enormously since we opened fourteen years ago. We’ve watched people begin with a desk, grow into an office and take additional space as their team expanded. We’ve also watched businesses become leaner or more remote and need less physical space than they once did.

Some people who initially wanted the buzz of sharing eventually wanted a door they could close. Others discovered after working alone that what they missed most was simply having people around them.

Those changes don’t mean one model worked and another failed. They reflect the fact that businesses like people move through different stages.

Our job isn’t to tell somebody which stage they should be in or prescribe how they ought to work. It’s to understand what they need now, while getting the fundamentals right enough that the space can evolve with them.

For me, those fundamentals have never been particularly complicated: a warm welcome, a calm environment, reliable technology and thoughtful spaces. Somewhere to concentrate, somewhere to talk and enough flexibility for people to find the balance that works for them.

The way people access those things may change, but the underlying human needs are surprisingly consistent.

 

Listening beyond our own four walls

Interestingly, I’ve recently found myself thinking about exactly the same principle beyond the walls of The Hub.

Ahead of a conversation later this month about the flexible workspace sector in Northern Ireland, I’ve been making a point of speaking individually with other operators. I want to understand what they’re seeing in their own businesses and, importantly, in their own local markets.

I’ve found those conversations genuinely energising. After fourteen years in this industry, there’s always something interesting about hearing how somebody else approaches it. They’ve also reminded me how valuable connection is at an operator level too.

We can become very absorbed in our own buildings, our own members and our own towns and cities, particularly when we’re independently run. Talking to someone operating elsewhere gives you another lens. We can compare what businesses are asking for, where working patterns appear to be shifting, what we’re adapting and what seems stubbornly unchanged.

 

Why local differences matter

One of the things I feel strongly about is that we shouldn’t assume the future of flexible work in Northern Ireland will simply be a smaller version of what’s happening in London, Manchester, Bristol or another large city. Nor should we assume that what’s happening in Belfast tells us everything about Newry, Derry or our other towns and regional centres.

The fundamentals may be shared, but the way they show up & impact locally can be very different.

A business in Newry might place enormous value on being able to work closer to home, avoiding a commute and having parking outside the door. Somewhere else, transport links or access to a large city-centre network may matter more.

Some local businesses need self-contained offices and consistency; others increasingly want flexibility because their teams aren’t physically together five days a week.

Understanding those nuances requires us to listen locally rather than simply follow national trends.

But listening locally shouldn’t mean thinking in isolation.

If anything, the conversations I’ve been having recently have convinced me that we need more connection between operators and business members across Northern Ireland, not less. There is value in sharing what we’re seeing and comparing experiences, while recognising that each of us is serving a slightly different community.

 

Independent, but not isolated

Perhaps that’s another version of the balance I’ve been trying to understand in my own life: being independent without becoming isolated, having your own space while remaining connected to something wider, and knowing when to retreat into yourself and when to reach out.

It’s what I’m learning personally as I prepare for a fairly significant change at home, and it’s what I’ve watched our members navigate as their businesses and working lives have evolved.

Increasingly, I think it’s also what we need as a regional coworking sector: strong individual spaces rooted in their own communities, but operators who are connected enough to listen, learn and speak collectively about what businesses across Northern Ireland actually need.

Perhaps that’s why the word community feels slightly different to me now than it did when I first started working in coworking.

I’ve spent years thinking about it largely from the perspective of creating it for other people. Recently, I’ve experienced more of its value from the other side. I’ve realised that community isn’t necessarily about constantly being together; sometimes it’s simply about having enough connection around you that you don’t have to navigate every change alone.

The way we create that connection will continue to evolve, just as the way we exercise, work, build businesses and live our lives will evolve. But the fundamentals underneath it may not change nearly as much.

For me, they increasingly come back to health, movement, space, conversation and people; having enough independence to be ourselves, but enough connection to remind us that we’re part of something beyond ourselves.

Perhaps navigating change isn’t about continually reinventing who we are or abandoning what came before. Maybe it’s about recognising the common threads that have always kept us steady and finding new ways to carry them with us as our lives, our businesses and our communities evolve.

Because the things that support us don’t need to remain exactly the same to remain important. They just need enough room to change with us.

 

What are you seeing?

I’d love to hear what you’re seeing too.

Whether you’re running a micro business, working remotely, part of a coworking community or involved in the flexible workspace sector, I’m interested in how your needs have changed and which fundamentals have remained important.

And particularly if you’re working or operating in Northern Ireland, I’d love to hear what you’re seeing in your own local area as the way we work continues to evolve.

 

If any part of this resonates, you’re very welcome to reach out.

With heart,

Suzanne