How to manage a coworking space

If you Googled “how to manage a coworking space,” you probably wanted a simple answer.

Something like: “Be friendly, keep it clean, collect payments, host events, repeat.”

Except… that’s like asking “how to run a restaurant” and expecting a checklist that ends at “cook food.”

Coworking sits at the intersection of real estate, hospitality, community, and software operations. The deceptively simple title hides a messy truth: you’re not managing a space. You’re managing a living system of people, plans, policies, payments, access, expectations, and vibes.

Or, as we have said: “Running a coworking space means juggling a dozen roles at once.”

So let’s make the “simple” title honest.

Below is a practical breakdown of the core roles inside a coworking operation, what each role actually does, how technology supports the work, and how Coworks software is designed to make those roles easier. Along the way, we’ll also name the part nobody says out loud:

Most spaces don’t have eight staffers. Often it’s one person. Maybe two. And they share a lot of hats.

We lied to you with the title

A coworking space can look calm on the outside: coffee brewed, lights on, members typing quietly.

Backstage, you’re tracking room inventory, answering billing questions, resetting doors, handling a prospect tour, updating your event calendar, and trying to remember whether the printer is jammed or simply cursed.

The Coworks team hears this constantly: operators feel like they’re stitching together tools “with duct tape and good intentions.” That’s not a character flaw. That’s the job.

So instead of pretending there’s one way to manage a coworking space, let’s map the roles.

Start with roles, not tasks

Here are the “classic” roles inside coworking. Even if you never hire for each one, you should design your operations as if these roles exist, because it makes ownership clearer and scaling less painful later.

1) The Operator

Core job: Keep the business alive and growing.

What it includes

• Pricing and packaging (memberships, offices, passes, add-ons)
• Revenue targets and occupancy goals
• Cash flow discipline
• Vendor decisions (internet, cleaning, coffee, furniture)
• Expansion planning (more space, more locations, more offerings)

How Coworks supports the role

• A single dashboard for revenue, occupancy, and plan performance
• Reporting that doesn’t require ten spreadsheets and a deep sigh

Coworks is built to reduce operational drag: automated billing, booking, member communication, event management, and integrations with access control, all intended to help operators “run their spaces smoothly and build a thriving community.”

2) The Community Manager

Core job: Turn a building into a belonging.

This role is not “plan fun stuff.” It’s closer to being an ecosystem designer.

One Coworks research-backed piece says community managers are “central to shaping the culture and dynamics of a coworking space,” connecting members and curating a supportive environment.

What it includes

• Onboarding that makes people feel seen (not processed)
• Introductions that create real value
• Conflict resolution and culture protection
• Programming strategy (events with a purpose, not noise)
• Retention work (why people stay, why they leave)

How Coworks supports the role

• Fast, consistent communication
• Member directories and notes
• Events, RSVPs, reminders, follow-up

Operators love how quickly they can communicate when it matters. At CoSquare, where the operation runs lean, the Operations Manager said: “The announcements tool is my favorite. I can send a message to all members in five minutes.”

That’s not just convenience. That’s community continuity.

3) The Member Experience Lead

Core job: Make every interaction feel easy.

Community is emotional. Experience is operational. This role protects the frictionless day-to-day: check-in, wayfinding, rooms, guests, and those tiny moments that become big reasons people renew.

What it includes

• Front desk flow (even if there is no “front desk”)
• Guest policies and visitor logs
• Room readiness and reset standards
• Response time expectations (maintenance, IT, billing questions)

How Coworks supports the role

• Self-serve bookings so members don’t have to ask permission to work
• Visibility into today’s room schedule
• Tools for guest check-in and space usage

Coworks is designed to prevent the classic “I booked this room” conflict. As CEO DeShawn Brown put it: “Double bookings didn’t just create frustration; they broke trust… Our real-time updates eliminated that pain point so operators could focus on building community, not fixing scheduling errors.”

Trust is an experience feature.

4) The Sales Director

Core job: Turn interest into membership without feeling pushy.

What it includes

• Lead response speed and follow-up rhythms
• Tours that tell a story, not just show desks
• Objection handling (price, privacy, “I can work from home”)
• Pipeline hygiene (who’s next, who’s stale, who needs a nudge)

How Coworks supports the role

• Lead capture + auto follow-up
• Tour scheduling
• Notes, reminders, status tracking

If you use Coworks alongside automations, your pipeline can stop living in your inbox. A Coworks automation workshop outlines simple flows like: website form submission → automatic thank-you email → add lead to a CRM like HubSpot or Coworks → notify staff in Slack.

Even one automation like that can keep leads from falling into the void.

5) The Finance Manager

Core job: Get paid reliably, cleanly, and on time.

What it includes

• Invoicing schedules and proration rules
• Payment collection and retries
• Refunds, credits, and plan changes
• Revenue reconciliation (especially if you run events, day passes, room rentals)

How Coworks supports the role

• Automated billing (so you’re not “chasing down invoices” manually)
• Payment integrations
• Clean membership records tied to billing

CoSquare leans on Coworks + Stripe integration for automatic billing. And in the “reasons they told us no” article, Coworks frames it simply: you’re “buying back your time,” because Coworks automates booking, billing, door access, and reporting.

6) The Facilities & Operations Manager

Core job: Keep the space functional and safe.

What it includes

• Cleaning standards
• Vendor management (HVAC, plumbing, internet)
• Inventory (paper goods, coffee, keys, signage)
• Access control rules by plan type

How Coworks supports the role

• Access control integrations
• Permissions tied to membership status
• Simple ways to communicate closures, outages, and repairs

Coworks is built to integrate with access control systems. And when things go sideways (closures, repairs, changes), tools like announcements help you keep members informed fast.

One team, many hats

If you’re thinking, “Cool list… but I am all six of these people,” you’re in good company.

That’s why the goal isn’t to do more. It’s to assign the hats, even if they sit on one head. When you name the roles, you can:

• build repeatable processes,
• delegate later,
• and choose technology that supports how you actually work.

A timeline-style checklist you can run each week

Use this as an operating cadence. You can copy/paste it into a doc, assign an owner (even if it’s “you”), and build your rhythm.

Daily essentials

• Scan the day’s bookings
• Confirm meeting rooms are available and set.
• If you often see “ghost meetings,” set check-in expectations. Coworks supports check-ins that can free unused rooms if nobody shows up.
• Walk the space like a member
• Bathrooms, kitchen, trash, printers, temperature, noise
• Do one high-touch community action
• Make one introduction.
• Welcome one new face.
• Send one thoughtful follow-up.

Weekly rhythm

• Review leads and tours
• Who is waiting on a reply?
• Who toured but didn’t convert?
• Add one simple automation if follow-up lags (form → email → CRM entry).
• Send one broadcast message
• Event reminders, updates, small wins
• Remember: fast communication is a superpower when you’re lean.
• Run a “trust audit” on rooms
• Any double-booking complaints?
• Any rules unclear?
• Real-time syncing matters because booking errors break trust.

Monthly money meeting

• Reconcile billing and exceptions
• Past-due list
• Plan changes, credits, refunds
• Check utilization
• Which rooms print money?
• Which rooms sit empty?
• Coworks provides analytics to help you see peak usage and underutilized space.
• Refresh your onboarding
• Welcome email, access instructions, booking instructions
• If onboarding feels clunky, that’s a known pain point to fix early.

Quarterly scale check

• Document your roles
• Write down the hats you wear today.
• Decide which hat you’ll hire for next.
• Reduce tool sprawl
• The more disconnected systems you juggle, the more time you lose.
• Choose one experience upgrade
• Better booking flow
• Better access
• Better communication
• Better onboarding

Technology matters, but only in context

Software won’t magically make your space great. But it will reduce the kind of busywork that steals your best energy.

Or, said plainly: “software doesn’t replace the work you do—it makes your life easier so you can do more of what you love.”

That’s the point of Coworks. Not “more features.” More focus.

The real definition of “manage”

To manage a coworking space is to do two things at once:

1. Run a tight operation.
2. Build a place people want to return to.

The spaces that win don’t pick one. They build systems so the humans can do the human stuff.

And if you’re new, or scaling, or quietly thinking, “I can’t keep doing all of this in my head,” start here:

Name the roles. Pick a cadence. Let software carry the repeatable load.