5 Practical Steps to Foster an Inclusive Culture in Your Coworking Space

To attract and retain members, it’s important to foster an inclusive culture in your coworking space. To create a space where everyone feels a sense of belonging, regardless of their background or identity, you’ll need to ensure everyone has a meaningful voice in decision-making. You’ll also need to research inclusivity – something that is always evolving – and keep your finger on the pulse of change. 

How inclusive your culture is depends on how inclusive everything is – from your marketing communications and events, to your coworking space design and layout. Here are five practical steps you can take to foster an inclusive culture in your workspace. Although it’s not an exhaustive list, it could be a good place to start!

At Nexudus, we build our coworking tools with community and inclusivity in mind. We have several features that can help you to make your workspace better for everyone. We’ll reference these features throughout the article, so keep an eye out for them.

1. Make your building accessible

Making your coworking building accessible means that anyone can use and navigate it, regardless of ability – including people with physical, sensory, cognitive and neurodiverse needs. As a basic level, you’ll need to comply with any legal requirements in the country you’re operating in. For example, in the UK, the Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments to remove barriers for disabled people.

Step-free access can make your space more accessible for wheelchair users. Provide leveled, ramped or lift access to your main entrance. Ramps should have non-slip surfaces and handrails. Ensure all walkways are free of obstructions and the width complies with up-to-date regulations. In lifts, install audible floor announcements and tactile/Braille buttons for people with visual impairments. 

You must have at least one unisex accessible toilet on each floor, containing horizontal and vertical grab rails, and an emergency alarm cord. Other accessible emergency provisions include evacuation chairs at stairways and trained staff or procedures in place for personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs). Again, this information is by no means exhaustive, but it’s a good place to start. 

You can also consider building baby changing and feeding facilities. It’ll make your space more inclusive for parents and help tackle gender inequality by reducing barriers to work, while making caregivers feel more accommodated. Coworking spaces with childcare are becoming increasingly popular, providing a practical solution for parents who need to balance their professional responsibilities with family life.

There are also many things you can do to make your building more inclusive and accessible for neurodivergent people. For instance, designate quiet work areas with soft lighting, minimal noise, and low visual distractions; create clear signage, consistent layouts and easy-to-navigate spaces with visual maps; and provide a variety of work environments, such as private booths, open desks, standing areas. 

Options mean members can choose what suits their sensory and cognitive needs.

Nexudus enables you to create detailed member profiles with customisable fields, helping you to understand and accommodate members’ needs, preferences and accessibility requirements. A member can specify a need, such as sensory or communication preference, dietary restrictions, or any special requirements, which can assist your team in becoming more responsive to a diverse set of needs.

2. Communicate inclusively

You can’t have an inclusive culture without communicating inclusively. But what does that mean, exactly? Well, there are a number of things you can keep in mind while crafting inclusive content. Ultimately, you want people to be able to connect with you, and to achieve this you need to keep differing needs in mind.   

A good starting point is to focus on the language you use in communications. Try to write in plain language and avoid slang. This can benefit non-native speakers as well as people with cognitive disabilities. Offer translations where possible. 

The Nexudus CRM supports multiple languages, helping you to create an inclusive space for non-native speakers. Providing content in a members’ mother tongue can make it easier for them to engage with information and feel included. 

In terms of graphics, such as images and videos, remember to include descriptive alt text to make the content more accessible for people with visual impairments. Similarly, you could include captions and transcripts for video and audio communication, enabling accessibility for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Even colour can be important when it comes to accessibility. Before implementing your brand colour scheme on your communication channels, check that it contains enough colour contrast. Don’t use colour on its own to denote important information, as this might not be discernible for visually impaired or colour blind members. 

Be mindful in your marking to feature people representing different identities in your images, testimonials, etc. This helps to send a message that your coworking community is open to people from all walks of life, not just a particular group. Include people from different ages, ethnicities, abilities and genders when promoting your space.

3. Take a flexible approach

Flexibility is baked into the coworking ethos, and it plays a big role in accessibility and inclusivity. Offering flexible membership plans that allow members to access the building outside of standard business hours can be key for parents or carers, as well as people with health conditions or additional responsibilities or needs.

Wherever possible, enable members to choose coworking hours that suit their lifestyle, needs and schedule, whether these hours are in the evenings, weekends or the early hours of the morning. Make it easy for members to switch between part-time, full-time and pay-as-you-go options, to cater to those who might need to change their membership type due to health, family or other factors. 

You could also include inclusive extras in your membership plans, such as noise-cancelling headphones and adjustable lighting. Modular noise-cancelling furniture can help members to personalise their space and make it comfortable. Again, provide quiet areas for those who experience sensory overload.

Knowledge sharing is also important – don’t keep it to yourself! Make sure staff understand and can respond to differing member needs. Providing a high and personalised level of customer support will help members feel that their needs are being met thoughtfully. As a result, you’re more likely to retain them as customers. 

4. Focus on the community aspect

You can’t have an inclusive culture without building and nurturing an inclusive community. There are so many ways to do this – and perhaps you’re already excelling in some (or all) of them. Organising events, workshops and social gatherings, and considering workplace diversity in the planning of these is key. 

As a coworking operator, you can organise and manage events using Nexudus. Foster inclusivity by making your descriptions accessible, provide sign language interpreters on the day, or offer virtual participation options for those who can’t attend in person. Here are some more ways to create an inclusive community:

• Inclusive communication – Value and promote open communication and feedback channels, including both in-person and anonymous options, to make sure everyone feels valued and listened to. 

• Diverse representation – Create a calendar to celebrate cultural and religious holidays from across different cultures, and mark these through in-person/ online events and content features/ spotlights. 
• Diversity & inclusion training – Provide professional training for yourself and your team members on the topic of workplace diversity and inclusion. 
• Mentoring opportunities – Offer mentoring programmes that pair experienced professionals with people seeking guidance and career development. 
• Forge local connections – Focus on local partnerships and community initiatives to build a strong sense of belonging within the community. 

5. Make inclusivity a work in progress

An inclusive culture is one where all individuals feel respected, valued and able to fully participate. Fostering an inclusive culture in your coworking community is a work in progress, and this requires a lifelong learning approach. Real inclusion involves meaningful change in culture, policy, and practice, which takes both time and commitment.

Nexudus’ analytics toolkit can help you on your mission to maintain inclusivity.  

You can use reporting and analytics to identify any patterns or areas where accessibility may be lacking, enabling you to make data-driven decisions to improve the inclusivity of your coworking space. For example, event attendance data can help you identify who’s engaging with even programming – and who’s not. This can guide more inclusive and targeted event planning.

If you’d like to learn more about Nexudus and how it can help you foster an inclusive culture in your coworking space, get in touch or book a demo today.