Co-Working Meetings

Co-Working is a periodic virtual meeting space where we work on our individual projects together. There are different variations of co-working, but overall intentions are:

• Develop a strong sense of community

• Increase Productivity and Focus

• Combat Isolation (especially valuable for dispersed teams)

• Foster accountability

• Enhances Collaboration

• Minimize Distractions (turn off phones, email, etc)

Meetings are virtual and typically 2-3 hours in length. Prior to the meeting you should have identified a task you plan to work on (have a goal!), and have your materials ready.

Meeting Timeline

1. Have all your materials ready before the workshop begins. Identify a small manageable goal to complete during the co-working sesssion. For example, I will work on paragraph 3 of my introduction. If I have extra time, I will begin on my methods. Or, I will develop the code to merge these datasets and create a combined table. Or, Jane Doe and I will work together to talk through a problem.

   Turn off ALL distractions (no email or web browser, turn off phone, etc)

2. First 5 minutes of workshop– everyone briefly introduces the work they hope to complete in the first 90 min of the workshop. This is a great time to identify if you have a particular problem you are tackling (in case someone else in the meeting has the help you need!).

   Identify break out groups for people who need to work in teams.

   Select a person to keep the time– they will give a 5 minute warning before the end of the 90 minutes.

3. Work on your task with videos on (accountability!), and your sound muted, unless you are in a break-out room. Stay focused on your one specific goal and avoid all distractions. Do not do anything that would distract the others from their work.

4. At 90 min mark, everyone briefly discuss how things went (if they had any obstacles). Take a 15 minute break

5. Everyone briefly discuss what they will do for the final 60 min of the workshop (one manageable task). Identify a person to keep the time. Work quietly (with videos on, sound muted) until the 5 minute warning is given.

6. Everyone give a brief update on what they accomplished, how they feel about their work.

Variations to Consider:

• Have teams that want to do a ‘sprint’ to co-tackle a goal? Use a break out room and work together to do one larger project.

• Need help from someone on the team, use this time/space to work together to tackle the problem.

• Having problems focusing on a problem? Use the limited scope (3 hrs) and higher accountability (vocalizing goal, staying on video, giving update on progress) to try to improve productivity.

• Something not working? Change it!

Resources

The ultimate guide to virtual co-working: Maximize productivity today - Kumospace

Organising Coworking Calls or Meetings - The Turing Way Community