Catalyze your coworking community.

Cotivation turns members into friends and allies through a simple but powerful accountability program.

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You want your coworking community to be awesome. We want to help you.

Be more than a workspace.

As passionate coworking enthusiasts, it is our responsibility to give our members more than just an office to work in and other people to be around. We have the opportunity to connect them to support systems they need to not just survive but truly thrive.

With Cotivation, members are given a safe space to open up about their challenges in a way that invites others to do the same. As members find ways to help one another, they form genuine connections along the way. The result is a culture of passionate, supportive members unlike anything that could be found in a traditional workspace rental environment.

How does it work?

Cotivation is a five-week program for members of a coworking community. Participants meet on a weekly basis to set goals and revisit previous commitments, so every participant has a chance to make progress with the help of fellow coworkers. Weekly meetings ensure everyone has a sense of accountability as well as ongoing guidance from helpful peers. Challenges are routinely identified, tackled, then re-examined, so participants can feel a sense of not just progress in their work but in their development as better professionals and more well-rounded people.

Our program will give you everything you need to start and successfully run a Cotivation group in your coworking community.

"Being your own boss is the biggest pro and con of freelance life, which is why Cotivation is so awesome. You get to define and track your own goals in an inspirational environment that provides the encouragement of friends and the accountability of coworkers."

By joining a Cotivation group, members of your community will have:

An invitation to participate.
Participation in a coworking community comes in many forms. In order to get engaged, some members need an invitation. Cotivation is a great place for members new and old to get started.
A safe space to get vulnerable.
Working for yourself can sometimes feel lonely. Cotivation gives people a way to open up to one another in a way they might not be able to find anywhere else.

Much-needed external accountability.
Many independent workers regularly put aside important personal and professional development projects, always prioritizing work for clients and colleagues. By setting intentions and knowing they'll have to answer for themselves at weekly meetings, participants can stay on target far more easily than if they had to answer only to themselves.
A sense of belonging.
As participants form deep bonds through their shared experiences, they develop an increasingly strong sense that they belong to something they believe in. That feeling often extends beyond the bounds of the group to the wider coworking community, making for more loyal, dedicated and passionate members.

Valuable feedback from a diverse group of peers.
Each Cotivation participant has the chance to solicit the help of everyone else in the group, inviting a host of valuable perspectives on a topic that might otherwise be very difficult to tackle alone.
A serious sense of achievement.
Members come to Cotivation because they want to get stuff done! Participants come away from Cotivation with a superhero-like sense of achievement that can only happen when you check things off that have been on your list for weeks, months or years.

"Cotivation re-connected me with a thriving community and prompted many thoughts in terms of what I could/should be doing for my business. It was refreshing to be among so many thoughtful colleagues!"

By hosting a Cotivation group, you will have:

A deeper connection to your members.
It is impossible to know what is going on with all of your members all of the time. Cotivation gives you the time and opportunity to connect with a small group of your members in a meaningful way.
An opportunity to hone your facilitation skills.
Cotivation is a great way to give facilitating a try, or to hone your skills if you have some facilitation experience.
A great benefit to offer your members.
You can say that you encourage your members to support one another, but how do you show it? Cotivation is a clear indication to potential members that your coworking space encourages cross-member support and collaboration.
All of the benefits of a participant!
By hosting a Cotivation group, you are also going to participate in a Cotivation group.

"Cotivation has made getting things done more fun. Instead of looking at a to-do list with dread, we think of celebrating victories with friends. It's rewarding to know I've brought this to other people's projects.

I've gotten to know many more members since I started hosting Cotivation, which has strengthened my connection to my coworking space. By identifying myself as a Cotivation host, I invite others to ask me how things are going or talk about their own work obstacles. At a traditional office where everyone is working on the same projects, this invitation for conversation is a given. In a group of independent workers, it needs to be cultivated.

Cotivation has been well attended and is very simple to run."

About us

Susan Dorsch

Cofounder of Office Nomads, a coworking space established in Seattle in 2007. She's run over a dozen rounds of Cotivation in her community, developing programs, resources, and best practices along the way.

When Susan saw what Tony was doing with Cotivation, she took the idea (with his blessing!) and ran with it, developing it into a more robust program with a detailed manual so folks like you can follow along!

More about Office Nomads

Susan on Twitter

Tony Bacigalupo

Cofounder and Mayor of New Work City, a coworking space in NYC. He invented Cotivation when he saw that culture in his space needed a boost. Instead of just trying to get more people to rent desks, he used Cotivation to attract people who wanted to connect in a deeper way, so a more powerful spirit of collaboration started to form over time.

Cotivation helped completely reboot New Work City's culture and, over time, make for a more vibrant and lively atmosphere. He's excited to be sharing that with more people now!

More about Tony Tony on Twitter

We're here to help you attract and retain awesome members. Let's get to it, shall we?

Ready to become a Cotivation organizer?

We're ready to help! You can register for an upcoming training session, go for a DIY option that will let you get started today, or talk to us about a custom option that works for you.

DIY Option

Get the Cotivation Organizers Guide and much more!

  • Use our self-guided system to plan, promote, launch, facilitate, and adjust your group as it evolves into an integral part of your community.
  • Use our handy included logos, flyers, example text, and more to easily promote your new group.
  • Get email support from Susan & Tony as you go.

Personal training

We'll walk you through the entire process, from start to finish.

  • Connect with fellow organizers on a weekly video chat
  • Get personal guidance from Susan and Tony as your group evolves
  • Use our self-guided system to plan, promote, launch, facilitate, and adjust your group as it evolves into an integral part of your community.
  • Use our handy included logos, flyers, example text, and more to easily promote your new group.