There was a talk going on at the office today about the benefits of coworking spaces. That basically means sharing an office with strangers. It’s become quite popular nowadays especially among creatives. I believe it helps by exposing people to other complimentary companies. I have certainly found some interesting and useful people in such places.
So, as I sat and worked I looked to the front of the room where there was a man speaking in Chinese about coworking to a small audience. From time to time there was a (very) small ripple of applause and it became obvious to me, if not to the speaker, that there were actually very few people listening.
I went to the front and looked back at the ‘crowd’ to find most people were looking at their mobile phones. How demoralising is that for the speaker. If I was speaking to a crowd, over half of whom were more interested in their phones than me, I would get the hint. I think they came for the free breakfast.
Why is it that people nowadays find it hard to concentrate on a speaker for more than a few minutes and feel drawn towards their phone, check text messages and playing games? Is it the speaker who is dull (possibly) or is it the fault of those pesky millennials who have the attention span of a puppy.
Whatever the reason I think it’s a bit sad to sit in front of a speaker, who is possibly nervous and has been planning his presentation for hours, and not give him any attention. If you’ve eaten the breakfast, the least you can do is to listen to the man…. or go around the corner where nobody will see you not paying attention.