FlexForward Recap: How Flex 3.0 is Shaping the New World of Work

This is a recap of FlexForward, the online industry event we hosted on June 10, 2021 to look at the future of flexible workspace. We shared where the flex space market was heading and previewed OfficeRnD Flex features built to help operators and landlords work in the new world of work.

Flex space is pre-built, move-in-ready office space rented on short, flexible terms rather than a traditional multi-year lease. The recap below covers the keynote, the product announcements from the day, and the Q&A. You can find OfficeRnD’s flex space conference series, FlexWorld, here.

Here’s what you’ll find in the post:

• State of Flex Keynote with Ben Munn of JLL
• Introduction to OfficeRnD Analytics
• Introduction to OfficeRnD Marketplace
• OfficeRnD Floorplan Booking
• OfficeRnD Partnership Program
• FlexWorld: OfficeRnD’s flex conference
• OfficeRnD 2021 Roadmap Updates
• Q&A Session from the event

State of Flex Keynote with Ben Munn of JLL

How will the demand for office space change?

The demand for office space will change drastically over the next few years. During the event, Ben stressed that as demand comes back, it will come back in the shape of flexible demand.

If the last 18 months have taught us anything, we can’t predict the future. Businesses shouldn’t try and predict the future, and part of that is not wanting to sign a 10 year lease and instead moving towards flexible products. 18 months from now something will absolutely be different within an organization.

At the time of the event, JLL predicted the flex space market would return to pre-pandemic levels by the second half of 2021. Owners of office space are being more proactive than ever searching for experienced operators. As much as landlords want to, they are not going to become operating companies with a focus on hospitality overnight – though many have tried.

How will CV-19 change the future of the flex space market?

Going forward we will see more owners partnering with operators, and we will also see new operators in the market such as JLL – integrating flex space with property management and experience management. There is a growing awareness of what flex means for owners and investors – more than ever before. That is a critical part of the puzzle.

Forward thinking owners will realize that when the market demand comes back it is going to be VERY competitive. There is going to be a spectrum of choice for customers. The seeds of change are being planted and owners are making plans.

Ben is now seeing a lot of strategic deployment of flex across office assets. Asset owners and landlords companies are thinking about how to support these different models that will be required post-pandemic and investors are understanding more how this works and helping to underwrite these changes.

This new era of office will be designed by customer demand – which is the best part about this shift. The voice of the customer will be heard in the office part of the real estate industry that it hasn’t up until this point. Going forward building owners realize that flex space MUST be a part of every office building, no longer just an exotic thing in some spaces.

What do you think is the role of the brand in the flex space?

Ben stated that brand is about loyalty, confidence, experience, stickiness, and it is about consumer feeling towards a product.

There is no one right answer – I look to the hotel market for comparisons. That is how the consumerized version of office product will go. Where you have a specialized place or destination that has its own sense of self.

If you get a good brand that can build local demand, build a community and bring customers from different locations into a building you will find success. Like the hotel market, the flex industry will have more levels that target specific customer segments and price points.

In the market so far today we have not seen significant elasticity. The pricing of flex space at the moment doesn’t have the same range of pricing as rent in residential today and that will likely change in the future.

What’s the role technology plays in these integrated workspaces of the future?

The opportunity for technology to drive support performance and be a differentiator exists within the flex sector in a different way compared to how it sits in the traditional office market.

Volume of inquires, volume of customer engagements, volume of touchpoint – whether thats requesting services, booking a space, choosing what and why and when I buy. These touchpoint are in the thousands on a daily basis for flex operators, as opposed to traditional lease management when the operator traditionally takes a back seat.

Now tenant experience apps are coming in. The entire tenant experience does impact whether people want to stay in the building and creates opportunity for spaces to impress customers.

There are 3 core areas where Ben thinks technology can make a key difference.

Operational Excellence

Operational excellence speaks to cost management, the ability to manage your spaces cost-effectively, the number of people you need at each location. Strong operating technology in place allows you to do that efficiently. It allows you to focus on the stuff you do need for the customer. Lower cost of operations increases your space’s profitability.

Customer Experience

How simple should the experience be as a customer? Think about your experience of booking a holiday trip or buying things online. We are very comfortable with how we do that online – we don’t have to talk to a lot of people, and there is lots of info on the screen.

The easier those decisions are, and the more pleasant the experience, the more trust there is between the customer and the client. Technology can support the experience of the brand you are trying to build, and it can amplify that brand and experience that the physical spaces on their own cant do.

Technology also allows you to think about additional services and revenue streams you can deliver through your app and the technologies you employ.

Data Analysis

What is the data that we have? How are we performing in terms of overall profitability? How are our occupancy levels? What are our marketing costs? How much are we paying for these customers? Are we managing these costs effectively?

As a good operator, your technology should let you manage these datasets in one place. Investors and owners are going to want to see that data to learn and understand what partners are best to work with going forward.

Flex 3.0 is about the integration of the experience across a much broader range of products than just office space – this could be amenities, event space, smart suites spec suites, the traditional lease space as well! Flex 3.0 is truly a fully integrated workspace experience!

Introduction to OfficeRnD Analytics

OfficeRnD Analytics gives your team the information needed to run your space, with detailed dashboards tracking revenue, traffic, occupancy, bookings, and utilization. So you spend more time making decisions and less time making reports. Analytics was announced at the event as available for all users.

• 5 premade dashboards focusing on the KPIs operators care about most
• Drag and drop widgets to create a custom dashboard
• Filter reports by date, location, resource, revenue account, and more

Introduction to OfficeRnD Marketplace

The OfficeRnD Marketplace lets you add custom stores into a digital marketplace. Occupiers view these stores through the member portal to purchase goods and services. At the event, Marketplace was announced as available with the Premium Branded Apps.

• Create branded storefronts for your occupiers to browse
• Categorize goods and group similar products
• Allow members to purchase products from mobile devices

OfficeRnD Floorplan Booking

Floorplan booking gives your members the ability to easily select a floorplan view from the meeting room calendar and book a desk, room, or office visually from the floorplan. This feature was on the roadmap for release at the time of the event.

• Display your floorplans to members easily
• Allow members to book rooms/desks from a floorplan view

OfficeRnD Partnership Program

The OfficeRnD Partnership program creates an ecosystem of partners who support flex space operators, landlords, and property managers in setting up and running flexible workspaces.

We partner with consultants, technology vendors, and proptech companies to build a dedicated OfficeRnD community.

If you are interested in being part of the partnership program, please contact us.

FlexWorld: OfficeRnD’s flex conference

The future of work is flexible. Choosing where to work from, and managing that complexity, is a challenge for everyone running a flex space, from operators and community managers to landlords.

FlexForward grew into FlexWorld, OfficeRnD’s flex space conference. It now runs as an annual series where operators and industry experts share coworking and flex trends, and where we preview what’s next across OfficeRnD Flex. You can catch up on past sessions and register for the next one at the FlexWorld hub.

You can sign up for the next edition at flexworld.io.

OfficeRnD 2021 Roadmap Updates

At the event, the OfficeRnD product team shared its focus for the rest of 2021:

• More improvements to OfficeRnD Analytics, to open up the data inside OfficeRnD and turn it into actionable insights.
• More updates to OfficeRnD Marketplace, to improve vendor management and add options to integrate POS systems.
• Plans to add more integrations and extensibility, including Accounting, WiFi, CRM, and Access control inside the mobile app.
• Multi-country and multi-brand management improvements, to centralize administration of a multi-country or multi-brand portfolio.

Q&A Session from the event

Will Analytics and Marketplace be included with my subscription?

Everybody gets Analytics Dashboards. The OfficeRnD Marketplace is available to customers who subscribe to the Premium White Labeled app.

Are there any plans for a booking calendar admin view on mobile?

Not in the near future – the admin platform is best utilized on Desktop. We are looking at ways we can introduce core admin tasks into a mobile, we are still not sure on the best way to implement this – but we are looking to improve the most commonly performed tasks by front of house staff on mobile.

Will OfficeRnD be adding a mail platform to keep track of customer mail in the future?

Definitely – we’ve made the first step with OfficeRnD Reception but we are looking to expand on this functionality. This is absolutely something we want to do sooner rather than later.

Will teams be able to book individual desks in their office using floorplan booking?

Absolutely yes – even now, you can create custom resources and limit availability for a specific team in a specific office. This floorplan view will further improve and visualize the booking process. It can be used for normal rooms and desks as well as custom resources.

Will there be a way to check in Member packages?

We actually have an app called OfficeRnD Reception that does this now. Mail workers or front desk managers can check a package in and the member will get a message notifying them that their package has arrived.

Does OfficeRnD have plans to integrate with call center technology?

We will look into this, but we haven’t made any decisions into the near future. It is one of those things that are out there and we need to tackle at some point. Looking into our open APIs and external integration partners might be the best route for this currently.

Will we be able to share floorplan availability via API or on our website?

This is a really cool idea – we have not built this out for the first version but this is absolutely something we would like to enable in the future.

Will the Analytics dashboard be available to everyone or only certain teammates?

Analytics will have the same permissions as reports. If the team member can see the reports section they will be able to see analytics.

Would people be able to use the Marketplace to sell furniture?

Yes, we built Marketplace to allow operators to sell anything. It is more focused on food and beverage in this first version but you can absolutely add furniture and sell to customers.

FAQ

What is flex space?

Flex space is pre-built, move-in-ready office space rented on short, flexible terms instead of a traditional long lease. It covers coworking, private serviced offices, spec suites, and on-demand desks and meeting rooms.

What is Flex 3.0?

Flex 3.0 is the idea that a flex operator’s product spans more than office space. It ties together the member experience across amenities, event space, spec and smart suites, and traditional lease space in one integrated offering.

What was FlexForward?

FlexForward was OfficeRnD’s online flex space event on June 10, 2021, covering the state of the flex market and new OfficeRnD Flex features. It became the FlexWorld conference series, which OfficeRnD now runs each year.

What is OfficeRnD Flex?

OfficeRnD Flex is the coworking and flex space management platform that handles members, bookings, billing, and the member experience across one or many locations.