Coworking Playbook Shows How to Modify Space and Behavior

The coworking model thrives on the idea of community, and the collaborative hubs, common space lounges and hospitality-like amenities that have long made this type of workspace attractive are now the very features that have members wary of returning to it amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Shortly after the pandemic hit the U.S., a group of global coworking companies including New York-based Industrious, CBRE’s Hana, Convene and more banded together to form the Workplace Operator Readiness Council (WORC), a collaborative global task force dedicated to creating guidelines for reducing the spread of COVID-19 in coworking offices. The council also included epidemiology experts and advisors from notable architecture and brokerage firms such as Gensler, Nelson, Cushman & Wakefield and Hines.

The result was the Return-to-Office Playbook, which outlines specific recommendations for new cleaning procedures, social distancing and spacing of furniture and workstations, changes to services like food and beverage offerings and mail and printing, and importantly, behavioral changes around the workplace, like wearing masks. The guide also includes a list of questions coworking operators should ask themselves in regard to each specific area of the office.

“We quickly realized we were not alone in asking the questions we had," says Anna Squires Levine, Industrious's general manager of North American Coworking. "There was a lot of value for us in bringing together like-minded companies to serve our collective customer base. We worked closely along with epidemiologists and other advisors to demystify a lot of the information out there and create a playbook that looks at the questions you should consider if you’re running a shared workplace and the options to think through in promoting the health and safety of the workplace.”

Industrious also released its own guide for Maintaining a Safe and Healthy Workplace with changes its made to its own flex spaces, as well as a five-step guide for returning to flexible office spaces with key considerations for employers that rent coworking space, along with effective ways to work with operators.

While creating the playbook, Industrious did over 200 interviews with clients to gauge their sentiment on returning to the workplace and what they were most excited, nervous and cautious about when it came to health and safety.

One of the biggest concerns members have about returning to the office doesn’t have to do with the space itself, but with the lack of control around how other members conduct themselves.

“The concerns we heard from both large and small companies were mostly the same, and one of the biggest things we heard was about other people’s behavior, which is why we wanted to make trust and transparency a top priority,” says Levine.

According to a survey from Workstat, a new data gathering initiative from Industrious and data science company Elucd, 35% of respondents noted they are worried that others in their office could put them in danger by not following protocols.

One notable theme throughout the playbook is a commitment to making sure members follow health and safety policies by enforcing new norms. It suggests requiring members to sign a pledge to follow cleaning and behavioral protocols and adhere to all new modifications and configurations, something Industrious has implemented across its spaces that have reopened so far. Communicating with members, especially through building signage, also contributes to educating staff.

“What it takes to deliver an amazing day at work right now looks different today than it did before,” says Levine. “Everyone needs to think about the behavioral psychology of this in the coming months. Not only do [members] need to know the technicalities of what’s being cleaned, but knowing that they can feel calm and focused in their workspace is more important than it ever was. It’s a challenge to create peace of mind in the midst of what feels like such a generationally earth-shattering moment for all of us.”

The authors of the Return to Office playbook note that, with so many different types of workspaces in different areas around the world, the strategies and suggestions are less about telling you what to do and instead “intended to help you make informed decisions and develop a return-to-office plan that places people first.” It encourages operating principals like making health the top priority, being transparent with members and meeting people where they are.

While each company should consider new protocols within the context of their specific environment, the report breaks down specific steps to prepare spaces by each type, from building lobbies, elevators, and kitchens to workspaces, conference rooms and private offices, with questions to consider and actionable steps for each space.

It’s no surprise that increased cleaning recommendations and social distancing measures around the office spaces are top considerations. The areas that once made coworking spaces a draw — lounges, libraries, and communal areas — are now the most high-risk spots in the workspace. In these areas, operators should remove seating to promote social distancing and reduce high touch points by installing features like touchless trash cans.

The playbook also offers specific recommendations for overall cleaning and disinfection, communication and signage, upgrades to HVAC systems and air filtration quality, staff training and accountability, determining when to reopen your space, and even responding to a positive COVID-19 case.

Take a look at the full playbook here to see the questions you should be asking and guidelines to follow as they apply to your specific type of workspace.

Industrious primarily operates suites of private offices with some shared common areas on the floor, which means members will mostly be interacting with colleagues they’re comfortable with throughout the day.

“Part of the benefit of working at Industrious is that there is a real community and a group of customers that have their permanent office bases there. You know everyone else, and our members are saying they’re excited to come back because they feel secure ,” says Levine. “We have already had really positive feedback from our members saying the guidelines make sense and they appreciate that ‘we’re all in it together’ when it comes to promoting a healthy environment.”

A Flexible Future

Industrious is bullish on the future of flex spaces in a COVID-19 environment, and notes that it has anecdotally seen a rush of requests coming in for its coworking spaces. As companies grapple with how social distancing measures, coupled with a new proliferation of telework, will impact their office leasing and spacing needs, flex spaces look especially appealing in an uncertain environment.

“We are already seeing an increase in demand relative to where we thought we would be for a number of different reasons,” says Levine, noting Industrious has talked to large companies that want to decrease the density of their current office space, along with others that are looking to prioritize flexibility with shorter lease lengths and some that are focusing on employee health and wellness by making sure teleworking employees aren’t lonely and have a space to come to collaborate and interact with colleagues if they choose.

“Many companies are also looking for us to operate and manage their spaces. A lot of companies out there have resources to design, execute and implement new office configurations and health protections right now, but many don’t have the resources, time or staff to completely close and remodel their offices themselves," she says. “They have to outsource to get the quality they want, so we are getting a lot of inbound requests from companies large and small who have seen our plans and want us to deliver on that for them.”

Many employees are eager to get back to offices after months of remote work. Gensler's recent U.S. Work from Home Survey showed that 70% of people want to work in the office for most of the week, while only 12% say that they want to continue working from home full-time. But employees know they'll return to a different office than the one they left, and Industrious knows it must answer to new member demands in this current climate.

“At Industrious, we have approached how to build a productive day at work from a human behavior point of view. It’s not just about what stuff we need to provide, but what kind of relationships we need to have with our members, landlords and partners,” says Levine. “We think about how we need to design our spaces in a way that’s really intuitive for people, and I think all of that is even more important than ever as we try to keep ourselves healthy and adhere to a whole new set of operating principles.”