We’re racing towards a ‘perfect storm’ for even more corporations to embrace (or at least explore) flexible workspaces for some or all of their teams.
A quick overview of some new known-truths.
- – A lot of companies sent all their employees to work from home.
- – Many many homes are not designed or suited for long-term work stints.
- – Preparing (and keeping) offices clean and safe is stressful, and expensive.
- – Implementing policies for potential contaminations, can be even more stressful and expensive.
- – These challenges compound with every office, floor, building a corporate needs to re-open.
Now if you’re anything like me, and believe in the great impact coworking and flex workspaces make, you’re probably seeing the opportunity already.
Flexible workspaces already need to take all these preparations (and more) into account, and factor them into their pricing. A huge part of their entire business model is to provide safe, comfortable and managed workspaces.
Given this growing opportunity, the question I’ve seen/been asked most frequently is:
How can coworking spaces efficiently promote their benefits to corporate decision-makers?
Especially to those decision-makers who probably have never had to even think about picking workspace before and/or may have only ever heard of ‘coworking’ in negative headlines about failed IPOs and unlimited pinot-grigio on tap.
Corporates also have a bunch of questions that aren’t always clearly answered or touched upon.
Things like security, privacy, multi-vendor billing, and building branding or company culture within flex workspaces. Alongside a whole raft of new post-Covid questions about cleanliness, wellness and clear procedures/guidelines.
The answer friends, is collaborative actions.
Collaborative campaigns, discussions, roundtables, and alliances are scalable and cost-effective ways to plan/share the benefits of coworking outside of our usual clientelle, and to a community of people who need coworking really bad right now.
The guiding principle here is that a rising tide lifts all boats.
The more people hear about, see, engage with, and understand about coworking in your region, and the benefits it offers – the more people will adopt it as part of their back-to-work strategy.
The opportunity before the industry now, is huge. And it’s up to all of us to seize it together.
Some ideas, opportunities & calls to actions.
#1 – Join Coworking Convos
25 June 2020 topic: all about attracting remote workers, WFH and Corporates.
28 August 2020 topic: attracting members through collaboration with other spaces.
#2 – Join (or start) a local coworking alliance
To coordinate cooperative marketing campaigns in your local neighbourhoods.
Need help finding/starting one? Get in touch with included where we support a whole bunch of great alliances.
#3 – International Coworking Day (9 August) .
#4 – Contribute or learn from the crowdsourced list of benefits/pushbacks for messaging in campaigns to corporations about coworking. Get involved here.
#5 – SaveOurLocalCoworking campaign – UK operators should get involved as a big part of the objectives are to raise the voices of local coworking spaces. More info here.
#6 – These 200+ Remote Work statistics may be a useful resource around messaging around the global shift to remote working. Check that out here.
Bonus – Make sure your workspace is discoverable, especially in places these new decision-makers may be looking.
If decision-makers can’t find your space, and up-to-date specs, prices, guidelines online, you’re starting from a disadvantage.
Yea, I know! Copy-pasting your listing info across 100 sites is frustrating and an inefficient use of human work-time. It’s why Syncaroo exists (full-disclosure: I’m a co-founder of Syncaroo).