'We want a WeWork'

These were the exact words a senior property professional said to me back in 2016 when we were speaking about their new workplace refurb.

It has always stuck with me. Because I don’t know what they meant.

Did they want an actual WeWork in their building as part of a new, interesting commercial model for managing sections of the space?

Perhaps it was the aesthetic. Get the same designers in, some nice furniture and a beer tap.  

Maybe it was a recognition that providing varied space was the answer because Activity Based Working (or whatever flavour of that you subscribe) was ‘on trend’.

Could be. But I can’t help thinking that they meant the experience, even if they didn’t declare it. I'm making some assumptions here, but go with it….

I’ve worked in coworking spaces, on and off, for around ten years. Given my background, I’ve been invited to panels to discuss the coworking boom due to my experience as both a worker and commentator in the industry. I used to be quite punchy with my views on it all (moi?); for instance, I said that the reason they were popular was more about the financial flexibility than some sort of game-changing workplace approach. I remember putting one operator’s nose out of joint when I described them as a Regus with better branding.

That was a little cheeky, and in fairness, I would say that coworking worked out what was missing from the desperately miserable grey boxes that the serviced office offer was back in the 90s and 00s. Community management.  

In any coworking space, there is a magician. Someone who can jump on any issue. In the co-working space I am currently in, let's refer to him as Ben. The air conditioning doesn’t seem to be working. Ben. Has the WIFI tripped up? Ben. Forgotten my key for the office (again)? Ben. He even sorted me out a security box so I can leave it in the office, but I think that was more for him than me.

Now, think about that in a corporate environment. I’d be raising tickets, directing them to different departments, and getting caught between two teams arguing about responsibility. But not here. Ben handles it. There may well be that going on in the background, but I don’t see it. It just gets….sorted.

For a while now, the facilities management sector has been eyeing this idea and wondering how they might bring it into corporate spaces, which has led to several ‘genius bars’ appearing. In 2018/19, I sat on a panel for the Government Property Profession, responsible for setting competency frameworks for civil servants in the build environment disciplines, and that led to the first discreet role of ‘Workplace Manager’which contained a health slab of ‘community management’. Check out page 66 here.

So, when I attended the CoreNet UK Prediction and Resolutions event in January, I found it interesting that ‘hospitality’ was highlighted as a key trend for 2025 as corporates see that it can hold the secret to drawing more people back into the office more often.

It’s something I touched on late last year at an event in Dublin when I was asked about the future of hospitality in the workplace. I riffed off the combining ideas of hospitality expertise and approach and the importance of community managers moving forward. It’s from the same wheelhouse.  

So, what does that mean for the future? I think that employees who have raised their expectations of what the workplace should offer will get a better experience because there is someone in the building who is laser-focused on their experience. That’s great news!

But what does it mean for the facilities industry, which has historically struggled to create an experience layer on top of its service line delivery. For Total Facilities Management (TFM)contracts, I suspect that will be easier because it’s all under one roof, but what if someone has, as is often the case, a cluster of service providers? Who is responsible for the experience? Are we about to see ‘experience management’ contracts issued so that we see an army of ‘Ben’ like roles appearing in a workplace near you?

I think that could be a game-changing approach.    

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