Last Tuesday at the shared workspace in Denver was wild

I usually sit in the quiet corner at the Den Collective on Broadway, but last week a new guy sat next to me. He was on a client call talking loud about a $2,000 budget dispute for like 45 minutes. Nobody said anything but everyone kept side-eyeing him. Has anyone else dealt with a coworking space where people just forget there are others around?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancyramirez11d ago

Oh man that is the WORST lol. I had something similar happen at my old coworking spot in Capitol Hill where this guy would take Zoom calls on speakerphone in the silent zone. Like sir, there are signs everywhere, are you blind or just selfish? I finally snapped one day and slid a sticky note onto his laptop that said "headphones exist, use them" and he got super defensive but at least he started using them after that. The awkward energy in those spaces is real though, nobody wants to be the one to say something but everyone is hoping someone else will. I honestly think coworking places need to enforce the rules better instead of leaving it up to us to be the bad guys lol.

danielowens11d ago

I gotta disagree with you a little here @nancyramirez. I think coworking spaces are already walking a fine line between being a library and a coffee shop, and if they start enforcing rules TOO hard it kills the whole vibe. I've been in places where the staff would literally tap people on the shoulder for talking too loud and it felt like being in high school again. The sticky note thing is funny but honestly I think part of the deal with shared spaces is that you gotta learn to handle minor conflicts yourself without running to management. Like yeah the guy was annoying but you solved it without getting anyone in trouble. That's kind of the point of coworking - you're an adult and you figure it out. If the staff becomes the noise police then everyone starts tiptoeing around and it stops feeling collaborative.

owens.laura11d ago

ngl i used to be on the other side of this argument. i thought people just needed to chill and deal with a little noise since it's a shared space. but after last month when this one guy took a full hour sales call in the quiet zone at my spot, full speaker mode, i totally get why people get fed up. it's different when someone just completely ignores basic rules and makes everyone else uncomfortable for no reason. the sticky note move is honestly genius, i might have to borrow that idea next time lol.