A house, 2020-05-06
A current situation with Tua Asplund
-CEO at A house
Tua, what is your perspective on the development in your industry?
Communities are more important than ever. We have worked hard to build an environment where people feel recognized, energized and inspired. Creative industries, the gig economy and startups in particular are currently facing extremely hard times.
As a co-work operator and event organizer, we meet the needs of the gig economy and start up community, consisting largely of freelance and smaller teams.
“Meeting spaces are fundamental in forming successful ecosystems”
We offer meeting places that are based on collaboration and development through sharing economy, meetings, serendipity, knowledge, activities for creation and recreation. All these activities engage networks and talent supply; who knows you might even meet the love of your life or your next business partner in our space! Meeting spaces are fundamental in forming successful ecosystems and important tools to bring the city to life. We are longing for the physical meeting to start again, in the meantime adopting and navigating on new grounds.
The crisis has a devastating effect first of all on health and all the individuals that are directly or indirectly affected by the virus. The consequences on growth & innovation, jobs and especially individuals will also be substantial. We are inviting creative change-makers to our community in order to give inspiration in facing our joint challenges. Additionally, we are sharing stories from our members and their views on the current situation. We reach out to our surrounding neighborhood, inviting them into our community and giving them greater local value.
What good can come out of this? What mindset should we adopt?
In this period of uncertainty, we need to encourage self-autonomy, self-motivation and self-reflection within our teams more than ever. Now is the time to rethink how we work; the fast pace that we were used to solving things, participating in endless meetings, and going through overwhelming inboxes. This is now replaced with time for reflection and finding creative solutions to completely new problems.
“share problems, not just solutions”
Make sure to use this time productively! In our community, we have a few key principles and one of them is to share problems, not just solutions. Reach out to competitors and share obstacles, connect and network with other leaders and most importantly take good care of yourself in order to also support others. I have reached out to numerous members that have generously shared their stories, struggling of course but also keeping up their spirit, engaging in the society, developing creative solutions and helping out in the surrounding neighborhood.
What is the future of communities? How do we create stronger communities?
Communities now have the possibility to be strong both in person and online; I believe workplaces that are a combination of the two will thrive. We all have a very clear common goal now — to survive this hardship and hopefully land on both feet, coming out stronger than ever.
“Communities will be based on both creation and recreation as this develops into a natural part of our lifestyle”
A lot of creativity will come out of this and bring us closer together. In the 2020s, we are all for encouraging diverse and equal communities with the willingness to collaborate within their own industry as well as with others. Communities will be based on both creation and recreation as this develops into a natural part of our lifestyle.