How to Manage Multiple Teams Under One Coworking Space?

We all know that freelancers utilize coworking spaces to maximize their productivity, but today, these are actually mostly occupied by teams.

According to a Coworker study, SMEs and startup teams take up 59% of the coworking space demographics. The rest are accounted for by digital nomads, remote entrepreneurs, freelancers, and even people from large corporations, such as in-house agencies.

That said, it’s imperative for coworking spaces to adapt to this demand by being conducive for various teams at once. But how exactly do you make your coworking space team-friendly and not disruptive?

Let’s uncover how to make coworking spaces a thriving environment for multiple teams.

 

Effective Ways to Manage Multiple Teams in Coworking Spaces

 

1. Get a virtual assistant or software

You can get a virtual assistant to help you manage multiple teams under one coworking space. This person or software will take care of everything related to managing your members. For example, they will schedule meetings between team members, handle emails, and so on.

Certain software catered to managing coworking spaces can also easily organize and track the following:

• Bookings, invoices, payments, event tickets, shop orders, and more—all activity is consolidated for you by customer.
• Invite members with ease: send individual invites, use a mass invite, approve incoming join requests.
• Easily group members into companies.
• Organize company information and activity, such as billing information, transactions.
• Set alternative currencies for billing at an individual member or company level.
• Use instant full-text search through members and companies.
• Add notes to keep additional information organized.

The benefits of using a virtual assistant or software include saving time and effort, and ensuring that everyone gets what they need at the right time.

 

2. Have a centralized booking system

It’s much easier to have a centralized booking system for all your members to avoid double bookings or miscommunications.

Thus, it's important to have an integrated calendar in place. Your members and especially your team must be able to transparently see when meeting rooms are booked and when they are available.

Here are other tips to avoid meeting room-related confusion:

• Name your conference rooms. Simply doing this will prevent any miscommunications or mistakes. How awkward would it be if a certain team walks into an ongoing scheduled meeting that wasn't intended for them?
• Delegate meeting rooms to each team. If you have team regulars, then it would be wise to delegate meeting rooms to certain teams. Certain teams have setup preferences, and if possible, you could prioritize that room for them if available.

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3. Create a plan in case of disturbance

It’s very important to clearly communicate a set of house rules before your members sign up. This list should include consequences of disturbances as well to cover any actions you need to do to mitigate friction.

Make sure your team creates a list of common disturbances and how to deal with them just to be prepared for worst-case scenarios. Having various different teams under one roof can lead to conflict, so it’s best to set up a system.

Here is a sample house rules template you may enforce:

1. Manage your noise. If your noise level disturbs other members, we may need to give you a few notices. If these warnings are not heeded, we may ask you to leave the space for the day.
2. Clean as you go. Please consider our kind staff as they have too much on their plate to clean up after you. A fine may be imposed if we regularly find your area left with litter.
3. Don't hold meetings in open desks or common areas. We have comfortable meeting rooms to house your amazing ideas. Please schedule this on our centralized calendar, otherwise, we may have to give you a noise notice.
4. Don't abuse the free amenities. We're glad to give you everything you need, but please leave some for others.
5. Do not book a meeting room for more than three hours. All meetings booked for more than three hours will be automatically rejected. We want to make sure that all our members have the chance to use the meeting rooms.
6. Cancel your calendar reservation as early as possible if you are no longer using a conference room. This allows our other members to use the vacancy instead.
7. Work in the pantry is not allowed. We or the other members are not liable for your device in case of damage in the kitchen area.

 

4. Build a community through events & networking

Your members may find business opportunities or enhance their skills from events, and sometimes this can be a deciding factor for members to sign up with you. It's appealing for members to attend leisurely events in your coworking space as well. This is not only a great opportunity for them to relax, but also to network with each other.

Here are a few events ideas you can hold in your coworking space:

• Speaker series. Invite subject matter experts or entrepreneurs so your members can learn new skills and insights.
• Happy hours. Whether it's karaoke night, movie night, or a simple pizza party, it would be good for all your members to have a chance to unwind and network with one another, and outside guests in a casual setting.
• Workshops. Provide various workshops depending on the demand of your members. You may want to provide relevant ones in relation to their skills, such as leadership workshops.
• Hackathons. A hackathon is a 24-48 hour challenge for techies to present solutions for a common problem. This is a fun way to encourage them to work outside their comfort zone and challenge themselves.
• Elevator pitches. This enables your members to practice their communication, creativity, presentation, and strategy skills. It's a fun way to engage them and enhance their capabilities.
• Bounce hours. This event is coined by Liz Eliam from Link Coworking, in which members toss a beach ball to each other and exchange ideas once a week. This enables your members to build rapport and create an opportunity for collaboration.
• Friday lunches. You may invite your team members to stay in for lunch once a week to discuss each others' wins and challenges. This may provide a positive atmosphere by celebrating each others' wins and helping each other sort out challenges.

You must be mindful of events your members like and dislike. The best way to ensure your events wouldn't be a flop is to conduct an internal survey on their preferences or just look into Events analytics on your coworking software.

 

5. Get your members’ feedback & create a ticketing system

Like any product, it’s important to get your customers’ feedback and ensure that they are satisfied. It’s best to be aware of the things you could improve on. This can also enable you to know if team members are not having the best environment for cohabiting.

A way to address important issues is to allow a ticketing system in which your members can list down their problems. This system would be much more efficient than receiving calls for every single report. You may use platforms like Trello or JIRA to manage these issues if your coworking management system does not provide a built-in member support functionality.

 

6. Provide hybrid-conducive meeting setups

In today's modern workplace, it's possible for an entire team to not be in the office at once. Many of them may find virtual meetings more beneficial due to the efficiency of platforms.

Some of your members may be attending this said-virtual meeting in your coworking space, and it would be good to provide a projector and a centralized microphone/speakers for them. Having smaller meeting spaces for one or two individuals to take a call would be ideal as well.

 

How Do You Structure Team Spaces?

There are many ways to build team spaces. Here are some ideas on how you can structure your coworking space:

 

1. Have separate offices

Each team can have the option to have its own office where they can focus on their tasks. However, this method requires a lot of money and time to set up. It might not be ideal for some teams that prefer to collaborate rather than be isolated.

 

2. Create an open area for collaboration

This option allows all teams to share the same space. The benefit of this approach is that it doesn’t require a large budget to start. You can simply put tables and chairs together to make it look like a regular workspace. Open desks are also modern and up-to-date with workplace trends.

 

3. Provide storage in each station

It's important for owners not to overlook storage. A lot of your members would want to leave their belongings at the office, so it makes sense to provide lockers or locked cabinets for their items. Ensure that there are storage areas in each station as some teams may need acces near their designated work area.

 

4. Meeting rooms of all sizes

Meetings may be large and in-person, hybrid, or just a phone call.  Ideally, your coworking space can cater to all team sizes and situations. You should have big and small meeting rooms, and probably even phone booths. What's important is to have a sufficient sound system, projector, and centralized microphone in the bigger rooms.

 

Parting Words

Teams are a huge market to tap into. It's advisable to invest your marketing efforts, management system, and space to cater to this market as well. Not only is this more lucrative for you, but it also enhances your coworking space's community.

If your space mostly caters to individual freelancers or remote workers, then it may be time to reassess your strategies and space because there's a big opportunity in teams.

The article was written by Isabelle Romualdez. Isabelle is a content marketer with years of experience in digital public relations and SEO. She has a knack for storytelling. data analysis, and trying new exotic dishes.