Shared office: flexible workplaces through shared office space

Our workplace booking system helps to efficiently coordinate shared desks.

Are you faced with the challenge of optimizing your office costs while responding flexibly to changing work requirements? Then office sharing could be the solution you're looking for. This innovative concept enables companies to make unused office space available to other companies.

At a time when hybrid work and desk sharing are becoming increasingly important, shared office spaces offer an intelligent alternative to traditional office solutions — especially if you don't want to get involved in expensive long-term rental contracts. See how office sharing could transform the way your company works.

What is a shared office?

A shared office is an office concept in which several companies share an office space. Smaller companies rent empty or unused space from other companies whose office space is no longer fully utilized — for example due to hybrid working models or home office.

This solution allows both parties to cut costs: The space provider can reduce its rental and operating costs, while the tenant has access to professional workplaces without having to enter into long-term rental contracts.

However, shared office spaces offer more than just a place to work. Common spaces such as kitchens, meeting rooms, reception areas and break rooms are used by all participating companies — this shared use of infrastructure creates opportunities for exchange between different companies.

Of course, this concept makes for smooth organization and professional room booking systems necessary. Activity-Based Working often serves as the basis for the use of space, as different teams can use different areas as required.

If your company follows the lean office principle, you can eliminate the waste of unused space through a shared office and the dematerialization continue to push ahead. Accordingly, this efficiency also contributes to sustainability in the office, as existing resources are used optimally.

What are the special features of a shared office?

In order to understand the concept of shared office correctly, it is important to differentiate it from similar concepts and to recognize its specific characteristics.

Unlike an open-plan office, where all employees of a company work together, or co-working spaces, which are primarily designed for freelancers and individuals, office sharing is aimed at entire companies or teams that need office space temporarily or permanently but do not want to commit to long-term rental agreements.

In contrast to Flex Office Concepts within a company, office sharing brings together different organizations from a wide variety of areas. It is clear that a successful shared office must be carefully planned and managed — this not only brings benefits, but also some challenges.

What are the benefits of a shared office?

Office sharing offers significant advantages for both providers and users of office space that go far beyond mere cost savings:

1. You can significantly reduce your costs by making unused office space available to other companies. Office sharing even lets you monetize unused space while reducing your rental costs.
2. If, on the other hand, you are looking for office space as a smaller company, you'll have access to professional workspaces without having to bear the high investments of traditional office rents.
3. You create natural networking opportunities when different companies share the same space with you. These encounters can lead to valuable business contacts, collaborations or even new customer relationships for you.
4. Diversity in the workplace also reaches a new level, as people from different industries and corporate cultures meet in your environment — this also brings innovative ideas.
5. You promote sustainability in your office as you share resources such as heating, lighting, cleaning, and technical infrastructure. This efficient use significantly reduces your environmental footprint per workplace and helps you achieve your sustainability goals.
6. Shared offices are ideal as an initial return to office test phase. In this way, you can gradually evaluate how much office space you actually need before making long-term decisions. This flexibility is also valuable when you want to implement new working time models.
7. It offers more flexibility than a traditional office lease. Shorter contract terms and adjustable area sizes enable you to react quickly to growth or shrinkage — an important criterion for new companies that significantly simplifies your change management.

What are the disadvantages of a shared office?

Despite the many benefits, office sharing also comes with specific challenges that you shouldn't neglect:

1. You may be facing privacy concerns as different companies could have access to your organization's sensitive information. A strict clean desk policy is therefore all the more important to ensure that your confidential documents and information are not inadvertently made available to other companies.
2. Access control is also becoming more complex, as different companies may have different security requirements. Two-factor authentication and secure IT infrastructure are therefore essential in shared offices.
3. They have to manage the organization of free spaces when several companies are competing for limited resources — conflicts often arise over meeting rooms or preferred workplaces. A shared room booking software can help ensure fairness.
4. Office sharing creates dependencies with other companies. Issues or conflicts with a partner can affect your work environment, which can harm productivity and, in the worst case, increase the risk of burnout.

Overview of advantages and disadvantages

Vorteile	Nachteile
Geteilte Miet- und Betriebskosten	Datenschutz- und Sicherheitsrisiken
Networking und interdisziplinärer Austausch	Koordinationsaufwand bei gemeinsamer Nutzung
Flexible Verträge und anpassbare Flächen	Abhängigkeiten und Konfliktpotenzial
Nachhaltige Ressourcennutzung	Eingeschränkte Kontrolle über Umgebung und Abläufe
Testlauf für Return to Office ohne langfristige Bindung	Störungen durch unterschiedliche Arbeitsstile
Professionelle Ausstattung ohne hohe Kosten	Begrenzte Anpassbarkeit an individuelle Bedürfnisse

Who are shared offices suitable for?

Shared offices are suitable for a wide range of companies — provided that the framework conditions are right. Here are typical scenarios and types of companies for which office sharing is particularly suitable:

1. Large companies with unused office space

When your company is through hybrid working models or desk sharing has surpluses of space, you can use them efficiently by sharing them with other companies. In this way, certain areas can be released temporarily without disrupting your internal processes — and you can tap into a new source of income at the same time.

2. Startups and small businesses

A Shared office is the perfect solution for young companies or flexible teams: They benefit from professional infrastructure, lower fixed costs and short contract periods. There are also valuable networking opportunities — a real advantage, especially in creative or technology-driven industries.

3. Project-based or mobile teams

If your teams only work temporarily at one location — for example for a project or a market exploration — the shared office offers a flexible, cost-effective alternative to traditional rental agreements.

4. Companies in transition or looking for a location

Whether during a change of location, when expanding abroad or as a temporary solution between two tenancies — shared offices offer flexibility without long-term commitment and help to avoid double rents.

5. International companies with a lean presence

Shared offices are ideal for companies that want to be visible in certain regions without immediately setting up their own branches there — for example, sales or consulting offices without intensive customer traffic.

‍

But there are also situations in which shared offices are not the right solution, for example for noisy work areas such as call centers or industries with strict compliance requirements — such as law firms or financial service providers. For workation, home office abroad or mobile working For individual team members, co-working spaces could be more suitable.

How we use desk sharing in our shared office

With Flexopus we have successfully implemented the shared office concept and have gained valuable experience that shows how office sharing works in practice. Of course our desk sharing software is playing a central role in the organization and optimization of shared work spaces.

Open knowledge sharing with other people who don't work in the same company has proven to be one of the most valuable aspects. These interdisciplinary discussions often bring new perspectives to our work and lead to innovative solutions that would not have been developed in an isolated environment.

The fact that we have lunch in larger groups every day is ideal for networking and has already led to many exciting contacts.

With a shared office, you can either define spaces per company and assign specific tables to the individual companies. Alternatively, you can also allow free choice of seats, similar to a co-working space.

We have personally observed that the free choice of seats always leads to a nice colorful mix in the office. New constellations of people from different companies are created every day, which makes the working atmosphere lively and inspiring.

Thanks to Flexopus, we always have an overview of the use of the meeting rooms: We can see at a glance when other companies have booked the room and can either choose a suitable free slot or switch to an alternative room in good time. In this way, booking conflicts can be avoided and shared use of space can be made efficient — but of course, separate individual offices are still available for confidential conversations.

Conclusion: Is a shared office worthwhile for your company?

Shared offices are a future-oriented answer to the challenges of modern working environments. They not only reduce costs, but also open up new opportunities for collaboration, networking and innovation. The model is particularly attractive for companies with unused office space and for small teams looking for flexible, professionally equipped workplaces.

Digital room booking systems such as Flexopus ensure smooth and transparent coordination between different tenants — without any chaos in the calendar.

Whether the benefits such as flexibility, space efficiency and interdisciplinary exchange outweigh the organizational requirements depends, of course, on your individual needs. For many modern companies, however, office sharing has long been more than a temporary solution.