Today, in the post-pandemic world, coworking space has become a buzzword. Many large companies, startup firms, remote working professionals, and freelancers are preferring coworking space over traditional office setups. 

According to the latest research conducted on coworking statistics by The Address, the demand for coworking spaces will experience an increase of 160% by 2024.

However, keeping the existing coworking members satisfied and engaged is one of the challenges that most coworking spaces face. To overcome this challenge, most coworking spaces are building community-driven workspaces that provide a welcoming and flexible environment to diverse individuals.

In this post, we shall learn what is community building and how to build a community in your coworking space.

How to Build a Coworking Community

Creating community in coworking spaces takes time and channeled efforts. Let us have a look at the top seven tactics for building a community in a coworking space.

#1. Connect with the Existing Members

Build a close-knit community of coworking members and engage them proactively. Brainstorm ideas or reach out to your community members to organize a few get-togethers, casual hangout sessions, happy hour parties, and other after-hour sessions to understand their interests and identify a potential scope of collaboration. 

Coworking communities are diverse and multifaceted. Hence, it is essential to be yourself and encourage the members to open up in your space. Focus on creating a sense of belonging in your community. Encourage in-between chats, water cooler conversations, and more to form bonds with the coworking members.

You can create an online communication group on Slack, Microsoft Teams, or any other platform to proactively connect with the members and share your views and thoughts.

For example, The Address has created a WhatsApp group for all its members where members interact with one another whenever they want. This group keeps the coworking members updated about the latest events, news, industry trends, and more.

#2. Have a Member Onboarding Plan

Take out some time to introduce new members to your existing ones. Make them feel welcome on their first day at work in your space. Having an onboarding plan that offers a seamless experience to the new members right from signing the contract to the coworking space tour will help you create the best impression on them.

Here are a few tips to help you create an excellent onboarding experience.

• Give new members a tour of the entire office space. Show them the office amenities, such as lounge areas, breakout zones, pantry, and more.
• Introduce them to the existing coworking members and encourage them to have conversations with one another.
• Use a contract management tool to send lease agreements to the new members. Include the links to terms and conditions, visitor policy, pet policy, and other office-related policies in the same.
• Provide access to the booking software and other services for booking meeting rooms, conference rooms, training centers, and more.

#3. Foster a Culture of Support and Friendship

The culture at coworking spaces directly impacts its community. Hence, when creating a community, it is essential to invest in creating and nurturing a unique and friendly culture in your coworking space.  

Here are a few ways to build and nurture a supportive work culture. 

• Promote workspace flexibility by providing the members with 24*7 access to shared and private office spaces. 
• Always put the member’s needs first and give them opportunities to customize the workstations according to their requirements.
• Convey the company’s core values and mission to the members and make them understand the importance of these values for your coworking space.
• Make the members feel heard by collecting ideas, suggestions, and feedback from them. Form a team to oversee the coworking space culture and create a memorable experience for the members.
• Highlight the member’s achievements and contributions regularly during community events or other meetings.
• Send branded gifts to the members during birthdays, anniversaries, and festivities. This will make the members feel more connected to your coworking space.

#4. Organize Events 

Organizing varied events that interest your coworking members enhances your community-building efforts. Workshops, seminars, hackathons, yoga classes, fun Fridays, speaker series, and more can be leveraged to build a sense of community among the members. 

Start by asking the members what type of events they would want to be a part of. Create a survey to understand their interests. You can ask the following questions.

• Which events do you enjoy the most?
• Which events do you enjoy the least?
• Do you like in-person events or online ones?
• Would you want to be part of workshops and seminars? If yes, what would you be interested in learning?
• What are your preferred times for such events?

These insights will help you craft an event or a giveaway that the members would happily participate in. The events at coworking spaces educate the members and provide them with opportunities to hone their skills. It improves their mental health and enhances their productivity at work. 

Here are a few coworking event ideas to engage your community.

• Happy hours
• Lunch and learn
• Speed networking
• Workshops and seminars
• Day trips
• Movie evenings
• Entrepreneurial talks
• Book clubs
• Yoga sessions
• Launch parties
• Training sessions
• Panel discussions
• Health awareness drives
• Charity events and fundraising
• Hackathons and challenges
• Open houses

Send out an email message or text message in the community group containing the details about the event. You can also put up a standee or banner on the coworking premises to inform the members about upcoming events. 

For example, The Address hosts events, such as health insurance training sessions, yoga sessions, breakfast clubs, and more for coworking members to come together and spend some time networking and learning new things. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Address (@gototheaddress)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Address (@gototheaddress)

#5. Partner with Local Businesses

Develop partnerships with local businesses and create a mutually beneficial alliance that helps both, the coworking space provider and local business to grow and flourish. While the local business gets exposure to a wider audience, you can keep your community members engaged by providing exclusive offers and exciting product discounts. 

This partnership will also help in increasing the visibility of your coworking space. Some examples of local businesses you can partner with are –

• Restaurants
• Gyms
• Grocery stores
• Supermarkets
• Travel companies
• Financial services
• Healthcare institutions

For example, check out how The Address partners with local businesses in these Instagram posts.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Address (@gototheaddress)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Address (@gototheaddress)

Here are a few tips to help you build profitable local partnerships.

• Identify the local business you want to partner with. Remember every partnership must provide some value to your coworking community.
• Inform the local businesses of the benefits they would receive because of this partnership. For example, free advertising, revenue generation, and more.
• Document every aspect of the partnership before making the deal.

#6. Make Your Members Brand Ambassadors

Did you know that your coworking members can become the best brand advocates? Encourage the members to help you with the promotions of your coworking space. By involving them in brand promotions, you create a sense of trust among them and lead them on the path of becoming brand loyalists.

Here are some tips to help you convert your members into brand ambassadors.

• Showcase the member’s points of view by sharing the content they create, such as social media posts, blog posts, videos, and more with other community members. 
• Allow members to take over your social media pages for a day or two asking them to share their experience at your coworking space. 
• Encourage the members to leave their reviews on local directories and review websites. Remember around 82% of people refer to online reviews of local businesses. 
• Implement a referral program and encourage your members to recommend your coworking space to their connections. Offer them some incentives, such as gift cards, free memberships, and more to appreciate their efforts.

#7. Leverage Social Media Platforms

Social media is the perfect place for fostering thriving communities. It helps you boost your brand visibility, create an engaging environment for members online, and attract more potential members to your coworking space. 

Establish your presence on major social media platforms to connect with your existing members and prospects. 

Check out The Address’ Instagram page. It is bustling with posts related to coworking interiors, amenities, community meetups, brand collaborations, and more. It engages the existing community while offering insights about its offerings and benefits to potential members.

Source

Here are a few tips you can follow to build and grow your coworking community online.

• Create a group on Facebook for the members to connect with like-minded people and share the best content. Add moderators to the group to ensure that value-driven content is shared and spam is kept at bay. 
• Leverage Instagram to follow your coworking members and encourage them to share content related to your coworking spaces. Create a brand-specific hashtag or set of hashtags and utilize the same during content creation. 
• Besides Instagram, you can also include Twitter to connect with community members and share relevant content to keep them engaged. 

Wrapping Up

A coworking community is a place the members can network with each other, share ideas, discuss challenges, and celebrate together. We are sure that this post has guided you on how to start a community. Implement the community engagement ideas that we shared in this post to engage and grow your coworking community. Which one among these are you excited about?

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