Coworking spaces should inspire collaboration. One of the biggest perks of membership in a shared workspace is the in-house community of friends and professionals who provide support, referrals, resources and know-how.
Collaboration with fellow members is absolutely invaluable to coworking members, whether a new freelancer, an established independent professional, a small business owner, a nonprofit team or a startup.
The best shared workspaces empower members to collaborate easily and frequently. They give members access to collaborative spaces, including meeting rooms, day offices and open coworking areas, as well as host events to connect members.
Great coworking spaces also provide access to tools that help members collaborate more efficiently and effectively. Here are four of our favorite collaborative tools to leverage in your shared workspace.
1. Kaptivo and White Board Tech
Without sounding unnecessarily dramatic, Kaptivo is just about the coolest thing ever when it comes to white boards. This fancy piece of technology lets you capture everything written on a white board, save it, and share it. No longer do you have to take mobile phone photos of the brilliant ideas you and your collaborators have generated—Kaptivo does that for you—and way better. You can then easily share the images Kaptivo captures.
When Pacific Workplaces purchased NextSpace, they updated and re-imagined the meeting rooms, including adding glass white boards that are smooth as silk to write on and easy to clean, and Kaptivo, which has opened a world of collaborative possibilities.
2. Apple TV
When it comes to video conferencing, Apple TV is where it’s at. It’s easy to set up, easy to connect to, and the display is gorgeous. Video conferencing has never been easier or more visually appealing.
With a tool called Apple AirPlay, connecting to the Apple TV involves one click of the laptop, iPhone or iPad. Gone are the days of fumbling around trying to find the right adapter for whatever device was being used—only to find that no one had the right one. Presenting, screen sharing, screen mirroring and showing slides has evolved and AirPlay has raised the bar on presentation tech.
3. KUBE Community Board
One of the challenges in a coworking space is finding an internal communications platform where members can connect about small things, such as letting fellow members know there’s chocolate in the kitchen, to large things, such as telling the community that someone got laid-off and is searching for work. The KUBE Community Board is the tool of choice for Pacific Workplaces and NextSpace.
4. EnPlug
Give members, guests, and day passers a glimpse into what life is like in your workspace community with EnPlug, a “digital signage software” solution that “turns your TV screen into a real-time content hub.”
In the Pacific Workplaces portfolio of locations that include NextSpace and Enerspace Coworking in Palo Alto, we use EnPlug to share current news, upcoming events, important updates, reviews, inspirational quotes, images and social media posts the space is tagged in. The display is eye-catching and, because it changes all the time, it’s an attention magnet.
Encouraging collaboration between members is essential to creating a healthy, thriving workspace. Whether members are collaborating with someone across the table or around the world, coworking communities need to empower and enable them to collaborate and connect as seamlessly as possible.
Pacific Workplaces offers coworking, on-demand offices, virtual offices, and meeting rooms in 18 locations around California and Nevada. If you are looking for a shared workspace environment where you can collaborate and meet other freelancers and professionals, find a Pacific Workplaces location near you.
By Cat Johnson, a content strategist, storyteller and coworking member at NextSpace Santa Cruz.