How it works
Flexible workspace ranges from pay-as-you-go to multi-year. At one end, an employee books a coworking desk or a meeting room by the hour or day. In the middle are memberships with a set number of days or desks. At the other end, serviced and managed offices give a company private, furnished space run by an operator, on terms shorter and simpler than a standard lease.
Large organizations typically use flex alongside their own buildings. The core portfolio covers steady demand, and flexible space absorbs the rest: teams in cities without an office, project teams, growth that may not last, or swing space during a move or refurbishment.
The operational challenge is visibility. When people work across leased offices and several flex providers, workplace teams need one view of bookings, spend and use by location, to know which spaces earn their cost and whether a permanent office in a city would be cheaper.
How to measure it
- Spend per location per month, against the cost of a comparable leased office.
- Use by location and team, to find where demand is steady enough to justify permanent space, or where it has faded.
- Booking policy compliance: who can book what, where, and within which budget.
Examples
- A company with no office in a city lets its sales team book coworking desks and a meeting room near clients for a weekly team day.
- During a refurbishment, one department works from a managed suite for six months instead of crowding another floor.
Common mistakes
- Letting each team buy flex space separately, so spend and use are invisible to the real estate team.
- Comparing flex cost per desk with lease rent alone, ignoring the fit-out, services and commitment a lease also carries.
- Using flex as a permanent answer for steady demand, where a lease may cost less.
How Kadence helps
Kadence Flex lets employees book on-demand desks and meeting rooms in coworking locations worldwide through the LiquidSpace network, from the same Kadence app they use for their own offices. People can see where teammates plan to work and set up team days at a flexible location, and booking data across leased and on-demand space sits in one place.
Flexible office space · Bringing teams together guide · Hybrid working coordination
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between flexible workspace and coworking?
Coworking is one kind of flexible workspace: shared desks and rooms in a space used by many companies and independent workers. Flexible workspace is the wider category, which also includes bookable meeting rooms, serviced offices and managed suites taken on short or flexible terms.
What is a flex workplace app?
A flex workplace app lets employees find and book desks, meeting rooms and other spaces from one place, in the company's own offices and in some cases in coworking locations. Workplace teams use the same app to see who is booking what and where, and to manage rules and budgets.
When does flexible workspace make sense for an enterprise?
It fits demand that is small, uncertain or temporary: teams in cities without an office, short projects, growth that may not last, and swing space during moves. Where a team uses the same location most days for years, a lease is often cheaper.
Is flexible workspace cheaper than a traditional lease?
Per desk, flex often costs more than rent alone, but it includes fit-out, furniture, services and no long commitment. It is usually cheaper for small, variable or short-term needs, and more expensive for large, steady demand. Compare total cost against actual use, not headline rates.
Related terms
- Hub-and-spoke office model An office network with a central headquarters hub and smaller satellite offices or flexible spaces closer to where people live.
- Real estate footprint The total space an organization occupies, owned or leased, across all its offices, floors and sites.
- Workspace booking Reserving any bookable space at work, such as desks, rooms, lockers, pods, parking or coworking space, from one system.
- Hybrid work model The specific rules an organization uses to decide where and when people work, from flexible to office-first.
- Swing space Temporary workspace people use while their permanent space is refurbished, reconfigured or not yet ready.
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