Coworking thrives on presence, exchange, and direct communication. The coronavirus crisis has brought the entire industry to a standstill. Munich-based coworking and workshop space provider Smartvillage has fared no better. Co-founder and Managing Director Lukas Koppitz reports in the #CoronaUpdate how his company used the lockdown to reassess its business concept.
Since 2012, Smartvillage has been offering Coworking spaces in Munich. The company moved into its current location in Munich's Westend district in 2018 and, in addition to coworking, focused on workshop spaces. Since last summer, the Munich-based company has operated another branch in the Finnish city of Espoo, near the capital Helsinki. Everything was going well, and additional locations were planned. Then, in March, the sudden lockdown brought everything to a standstill. Lukas Koppitz describes in a video interview how his team experienced the time:
"Our team was also in shock. We had so many amazing things to do, meeting so many people every day, and suddenly we were all at home in front of our laptops and had to completely redesign the way we worked."
Smartvillage: “We have worked intensively on ourselves”
The situation did, however, have one positive aspect for Smart Village, says managing director and co-founder Koppitz. Suddenly, the team at the two locations in Munich and Espoo had the time to exchange ideas in virtual meetings. Under the title "Smarter Village," the company critically examined its processes:
"We took another look at our processes, our user journey, how customers find us, what do they experience here? We continued training our employees and strengthened our team bond. We worked intensively on ourselves so that after this time, we wouldn't just come back and say: Here we are again, the Smart Village. But also say: Hey, we've changed too."
Here you can find the entire #CoronaUpdate with Lukas Kopitz from Smartvillage:
