Industry Leaders Discuss Top Trends Shaping The Future Of Coworking

• The coworking sector is increasingly focusing on community building to transform spaces into vibrant hubs catering to professional and social needs. 
• Advanced technology is needed for managing leads, enabling e-commerce, automating operations, and improving the member experience. 
• Despite the need for comprehensive technological solutions, operators are hesitant to adopt new systems due to perceived complexity and costs. This highlights the challenge of meeting expectations for sophisticated, user-friendly solutions in the industry.

In September, Allwork.Space attended the 2024 Global Workspace Association conference in Phoenix, Arizona, which highlighted major trends — and issues — in the coworking sector.

Industry leaders and emerging visionaries discussed the growing focus on community building, technological integration, and improved networking tools and softwares. 

We connected with some of the industry’s top operators and systems to ask them what trends they’re seeing, as well as what new asks/wants they’re getting from clients.

DeShawn Brown, CEO and founder of Coworks, told Allwork.Space

“One of the largest trends we’ve seen in the industry post-COVID is an increase in the ‘on-demand’ user for coworking. This user has always existed but typically was for more traveling business professionals who needed drop-in space in different cities.”

“Now we’re seeing the addition of the home-office user who simply wants a break from the house or needs an in-person meeting and uses coworking as a flex option. Thus, there is a need for day pass or non-member conference room reservation management.”

He emphasized the importance of intentional community-building in physical office spaces, given the prevalence of remote work. As more people work from home, the intentional creation of opportunities for connection, fellowship, and activities becomes essential for those who choose to come into the office, according to Brown. 

OfficeRnD’s VP of Product Ivan Guberkov told Allwork.Space that the flexible workspace industry is seeing a surge in mergers and acquisition activity, with larger operators acquiring smaller ones to expand their reach and standardize offerings. 

“This has put a spotlight on the need for differentiation, leading to a stronger focus on hospitality; service and community have become essential to stand out beyond location and design,” Guberkov said.

“Technology is key in this shift, with AI bots starting to handle lead management and e-commerce tools enabling quick, self-service checkouts for ad-hoc offerings like meeting rooms and day passes. Additionally, suburban spaces are thriving, offering profitable opportunities with less competition as remote work continues to expand.”

Chiko Abengowe, CEO and founder of Perfect Office Solutions, said that

“Entrepreneurs continue to demand affordable, professional and flexible office space options that meet their business needs.” 

It’s clear the industry is witnessing a continued rise in hybrid work environments, with professionals and teams increasingly splitting time between home and coworking spaces. 

The increasing importance of tech solutions

Mia Marino, Customer Success Manager at Deskworks, told us that

“This shift is driving demand for tools that automate operations while offering flexibility, such as custom membership plans and automated billing solutions that accommodate part-time arrangements and effectively capture revenue.”

“There’s also a growing emphasis on enhancing the tech-driven member experience: self-service portals, streamlined check-ins, and the ability to manage everything online from booking to billing are becoming standard expectations.”

E-commerce and marketing tools are becoming important for spaces to stand out and use technology effectively, according to Marino. Operators want better reporting and analytics for smart decision-making, improved operations, and growth predictions. 

High on their list is seamless integration across platforms, which streamlines their tech systems, saves time, and enhances member interaction.

Reed Thompson, CEO of Deskworks, told Allwork.Space

“Many larger operators are expecting a very sophisticated solution, or bunch of solutions. They expect a lot now. Every vendor and competitor is challenged — there’s no full stack solution out there.”

Transitioning from the demand for robust e-commerce and marketing tools, we find an interesting intersection between user expectations and technological offerings. As both Marino and Thompson highlight, operators/customers are on the lookout for intuitive, integrated systems that provide comprehensive solutions without overwhelming complexity.

When asked about user satisfaction and adoption hesitancy, Harun Biswas, CEO and founder of UltraSoft Technologies, provides further insight into the operational challenges businesses face. Biswas said

“Workspace operators are not happy with what they have, and they know that their workflows are not optimum, but they’re sort of stuck and reluctant to move, because they always see that as more work for them and for their team —  I’m talking about their operating system — so they sort of put up with it.”

He emphasized that potential customers in coworking environments are reluctant to stray away from what they know in order to adopt new technology, streamline workflow and increase efficiency, due to perceived complexities and costs. 

Biswas tells operators about the benefits of adopting such technology — likening it to the straightforwardness of upgrading an iPhone. 

Justin Harley, Regional Director at Yardi, says that there is a lot of talk about AI and what that might bring. 

“The challenge that many operators have is that they run many different systems, and their data isn’t centralized. This makes the effective use of AI very challenging.”

“Many apps, like Chatbots, work best when there is a consistent and broader database to look at,” Harley told Allwork.Space.

“We see many operators trying to work out how to overcome the challenge of data integrity. Also, the business becomes increasingly competitive, so operators are looking at ways to reduce their costs by becoming more operationally efficient.”

To summarize all of our expert’s findings, it is clear that there is a strong consensus on the increasing importance of community building and creating intentional opportunities for connection within coworking spaces. This emphasizes a critical need for coworking spaces to serve not just as offices, but as vibrant community hubs that cater to both professional and social needs.

Secondly, technological integration is a significant trend across the board. Operators are recognizing the invaluable role of advanced technology in handling lead management, enabling e-commerce functionality, automating operations, and enhancing member experiences. These tech solutions must be intuitive and seamlessly integrated to meet growing client expectations for flexibility and efficiency.

Additionally, the rise of hybrid work arrangements is driving demand for flexible, professional office space alongside tools that can accommodate part-time arrangements, indicating a shift in how workspace utilization is approached. This reflects a need for innovative membership plans and billing solutions that can capture a wider range of users, from individual entrepreneurs to larger corporate teams.

Lastly, while many industry players foresee a need for comprehensive technological solutions, there is a noted hesitation among operators to transition into new systems due to perceived complexity and cost. The anticipation of higher expectations for sophisticated and yet user-friendly solutions is a common challenge across the industry.

In essence, the synthesis among experts at the conference reveals a shared vision for coworking spaces as multifunctional hubs supported by robust, user-friendly technological infrastructure that enhances both community and operational efficiency.