If you’ve never used a coworking space before, you might wonder what actually happens once you walk through the doors. Do you need a membership? Do you get your own desk? Can you come in for just one day?
Coworking spaces give individuals and businesses access to professional workspace without requiring them to lease and manage an entire office. You choose the type of workspace and level of access you need, while the coworking provider takes care of the space itself, including furnishings, Wi-Fi, shared amenities, and common areas.
Here’s how it works.
A coworking space is a shared professional workspace used by remote employees, freelancers, entrepreneurs, small businesses, growing teams, and other professionals.
Instead of signing a traditional office lease, you choose the workspace option that fits how you work. That might mean dropping in for a day, becoming a coworking member, setting up at your own dedicated desk, or moving your team into a private office.
In general, your options may include:
The coworking provider manages the office itself, which means you can get many of the benefits of a professional workplace without furnishing an office, setting up utilities, maintaining common areas, or committing to a traditional long-term commercial lease.
A floater membership gives you access to open seating throughout the coworking space rather than assigning you a permanent desk. You can arrive, find a comfortable spot, open your laptop, and get to work.
It's a flexible option for remote workers, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants a professional place to work without needing a permanent workspace of their own.
If you like the coworking environment but want a workspace that's consistently yours, a dedicated desk offers a nice middle ground.
You can set up your desk the way you like it, keep your everyday work essentials in one place, and avoid lugging everything back and forth each day. When the workday is over, you can actually leave work at work and return to a setup that's ready for you the next day.
Private offices provide an enclosed workspace for anywhere between two people to an entire team ,while still giving you access to the amenities and shared spaces of the larger coworking environment.
They're a good fit for small businesses, startups, growing teams, hybrid companies, professionals who need additional privacy, and businesses that regularly meet with clients. They're also useful for teams that want a consistent place to collaborate without taking on the costs and responsibilities of managing a standalone office.
You don't necessarily have to become a member to use a coworking space.
Day passes provide access for a single day, making them useful if you're traveling and need a professional place to work, your regular workspace is temporarily unavailable, you need somewhere to work before a flight or while you're in another part of town, or you simply want to try coworking before committing to a membership.
Enterprise Coworking offers day passes, so you can use the space when you need it without committing up for an ongoing membership.
Coworking spaces can also give you access to professional meeting and conference rooms without requiring you to maintain an office of your own.
At Enterprise Coworking, conference rooms are available to rent for both members and non-members, whether you need space for a client meeting, presentation, interview, brainstorming session, or team collaboration. Instead of trying to talk over a crowded coffee shop or gathering somewhere that wasn't designed for a meeting, you have a professional space built for the conversation you're having.
One of the advantages of coworking is that many of the things you need throughout the workday are already taken care of.
Depending on the coworking space, amenities can include:
At Enterprise Coworking, members can take advantage of all of the above, while also enjoying amenities like complimentary coffee and tea, a rooftop patio with great Denver Skyline views, and an on-site gym and cafe.
Instead of setting up and maintaining an office from scratch, you can arrive with what you need for the day and get to work.
If you're considering coworking, the biggest question may not be how it works, but how it compares to where you're working now.
A day in a coworking space isn't all that different from a day in any other office. You simply have more flexibility in how you use it.
You might arrive in the morning, grab a cup of coffee, and settle into your workspace before moving to a phone booth for a private call or reserving a conference room for a meeting. Take lunch up to the rooftop terrace, then head back to your dedicated desk for the afternoon. And if you hit a wall and need a change of scenery to get your brain moving again, grab your laptop and work from one of the community areas for a while.
Coworking also gives you the opportunity to meet and work alongside other professionals, but how social you want to be is entirely up to you. You can put your headphones on and focus or take advantage of the community around you. In fact, research into coworking environments has found that people working in coworking spaces report higher levels of thriving at work than those in traditional offices. And the people working nearby can sometimes become valuable connections, collaborators, or even clients. Learn more about why your desk neighbors might be your biggest business asset.
So, how do coworking spaces work? You choose the workspace and level of access that fit your needs, and the coworking provider takes care of the office, amenities, and everyday essentials.
For some people, that's a day pass whenever they need a change of workspace. For others, it's a dedicated desk they can make their own. And for growing businesses, it might be a private office that gives the whole team a place to work together.
At Enterprise Coworking, our Denver and Greenwood Village coworking locations give remote workers, entrepreneurs, independent professionals, and teams the flexibility to find a setup that works for them.
Schedule a tour of Enterprise Coworking and see what coworking could look like for you.