Nuances of Working Together: The Influence of Managerial Approaches on Collaboration Within Coworking Spaces

The spread of coworking spaces has often brought about their promise of synergetic environments. For this purpose, coworking managers undertake strategies for setting up conditions leading to collaboration among users. Coworking managers also act as mediators between their internal group of users and their surrounding socioeconomic contexts. This qualitative research explores the relationships between coworking management and collaborative approaches. Findings are taken from four case studies located in the Veneto Region (Italy) and featured by managerial different approaches (bottom-up versus top-down organisations) and aims (social versus business orientations). Collaboration thus emerged as logically consequent to their coworking managers’ interests about pursuing their either social or business goals. Moreover, organisations supporting coworking spaces tend to reflect their respective structures upon collaborative projects. The ways managers understand relational resources both within and outside coworking spaces is therefore instrumental for pursuing their own orientations.