If you run a small business with 3-15 people and you're tired of paying for empty desks or working from noisy coffee shops, this tutorial shows how to use WeWork All Access to cut costs, improve team focus, and keep a professional presence — fast. In 30 days you can move from ad-hoc coffee shop work to a predictable weekly rhythm where your team gets quiet focused space, reliable meeting rooms, and a business address when you need it. This guide walks you through setup, scheduling, common mistakes to avoid, advanced optimizations, and troubleshooting.
Before You Start: Required Documents and Tools for Booking WeWork All Access
Get these items ready so you can sign up, onboard your team, and track value without last-minute stops:
- Company payment method: corporate card or accounting billing information for monthly charges. Team roster with roles and typical schedules (who needs quiet mornings, who travels, who meets clients). Shared calendar system (Google Calendar, Outlook) with a dedicated “Workspace” calendar for bookings and reservations. Primary contact email and phone number for your WeWork account admin. List of locations you want access to, prioritized by commute time and client proximity. Basic security tools: company VPN, password manager, and mobile devices with WeWork app installed. Accounting tags/categories to track coworking expense lines (use a chart of accounts code like “Coworking Memberships”). Plan for mail: decide whether you’ll use WeWork mail handling or maintain your existing mail service.
Small teams should also collect any internal policies you want to apply, like maximum days per person per week or rules for client-hosted meetings. These make it simpler to measure return on investment.
Your Complete WeWork All Access Roadmap: 7 Steps to Move from Coffee Shops to Productive Office Days
Follow this roadmap over 30 days. Each step includes quick tasks you can complete in one sitting.
Choose your plan and pilot group (Days 1-3)
Pick a WeWork All Access plan and sign up as the account admin. For a pilot, select 3-5 teammates who will commit to a 30-day test. Keep the pilot small so you can iterate quickly.
Action: Add pilot members in the WeWork app and select 2-3 convenient locations.
Create a team schedule and booking rules (Days 3-5)
Set simple, measurable rules: who can book meeting rooms, how many days per week each person uses All Access, and how to reserve desks. Add a “Workspace” calendar to sync reservations with personal calendars.
Example schedule: Marketing works Tuesdays and Thursdays; Sales takes Mondays and Wednesdays; Founders use Fridays for deep work and client meetings.
Run a two-week concentrated test (Days 6-21)
Have the pilot team use WeWork for scheduled days only — no coffee shops. Track these KPIs: utilization rate (days used vs days available), meeting hours, and perceived productivity (short daily check-ins).
Tip: Pair booking with outcomes. If someone books a morning, they commit to completing two high-impact tasks by midday.
Measure costs and compare to your fixed office expenses (Days 14-21)
Run a quick cost table comparing current office rent, utilities, and maintenance against WeWork membership and occasional meeting room rentals. Use real numbers from your accounting system.
Current Office (Monthly)WeWork All Access (Monthly) Rent + Utilities$3,000- Employee Commuting/Working Loss (est.)$500$300 All Access Membership-$750 Meeting Room Usage$150$150 Total$3,650$1,200Adjust the numbers for your market. This exercise shows whether moving to a hybrid model saves money and where you can reallocate funds.
Document operational policies and tax/accounting treatment (Days 18-24)
Create a one-page policy covering booking etiquette, guest procedures, expense reporting, and data security. In accounting, track coworking as an operating expense and attach receipts for monthly statements.
If you claim home office deductions or rent, consult your accountant on the best classification for coworking fees.
Scale to the full team and optimize locations (Days 22-27)
Invite the rest of the team and assign days based on the usage patterns you observed. If one location was consistently full, add a secondary hub. Encourage teams to book meeting blocks back-to-back to save time and room fees.
Example: Sales books client meetings on Tuesdays where a nearby WeWork has private rooms; dev team takes quieter suburban WeWork on Fridays for sprint planning.
Review metrics and commit to a 3-month plan (Days 28-30)
Look at utilization, cost savings, and team feedback. If the pilot met its goals, switch from pilot billing to a team subscription. Set quarterly targets: utilization above 60%, meeting booking efficiency, and measurable reduction in coffee shop days.
Final action: Set a follow-up meeting in 90 days to reassess locations, membership levels, and whether to keep or downsize any fixed office space.
Avoid These 7 Mistakes That Waste Your WeWork All Access Membership
Small teams often lose value because they treat coworking as a perk rather than a process. Avoid these traps.
- No booking rules: Everyone books at peak times and the membership gets clogged. Solution: enforce fair days per week and stagger schedules. Failing to track utilization: Without data you can’t show savings and inefficiencies. Track days used per person and room hours. Using WeWork only for remote socializing: If people go just to meet friends, productivity drops. Tie bookings to deliverables and meeting agendas. Ignoring location mix: Picking one location that’s convenient for only half the team reduces overall usage. Choose 2-3 hubs near clusters of employees and clients. Not managing mail and address needs: Client mail and legal documents can get lost. Set up proper mail handling or maintain a registered agent address. Skipping security basics: Public Wi-Fi is fine, but don’t skip VPN and password management when using shared spaces. Assuming meeting rooms are free: Many meeting rooms have fees or limited hours. Account for these in your budget and schedule meetings together to reduce charging fees.
Pro Productivity Setups: Advanced WeWork Strategies for Small Teams
Once you cover basics, use these advanced approaches to squeeze more value from All Access.
Rotate instead of assigning
Let desks remain floating but schedule rotating blocks for specific teams. This keeps costs low while ensuring teams can work together when needed. Thought experiment: imagine three teams of four rotating so each team has a full day together every week. How does that affect sprint velocity? Often it rises sharply because collaboration windows become predictable.
Bundle meetings into “office days”
Instead of scattering one-off client meetings across the week, bundle them on team office days. This reduces repeated setup time and lowers meeting room costs. Example: schedule all client demos on Wednesdays and plan internal work on Thursdays.
Use add-ons strategically
WeWork often offers on-demand private rooms and access to enterprise services. Buy only the add-ons you use. If you need a business address, compare WeWork mail handling against a cheaper virtual office provider.
Negotiate based on volume
If you commit to multiple members or frequent private room use, talk to WeWork about discounts or credits. Prepare utilization numbers from your pilot to back up your request.
Optimize for tax and accounting
Classify memberships in a way that keeps bookkeeping clean. For example, separate coworking fees, meeting room rentals, and mail services into distinct expense codes. This helps when your accountant evaluates deductibility and when you budget for future quarters.
Set a “meeting agenda” policy
A simple template reduces meeting length and increases room turnover. Think: what’s the goal, who owns next steps, and when does this meet again? This cuts wasted hours and simulates the efficiency of a full-time office.
Thought experiment - Dedicated desk vs All Access mix
Imagine you have 10 employees. Scenario A: one small dedicated office with 6 desks. Scenario B: All Access for all 10 plus meeting credits. Which is better? If 5-7 people use coworking on any given day, All Access wins on cost and flexibility. If you need constant dedicated infrastructure for servers, storage, or sensitive work, the dedicated office might be better. The exercise helps quantify when a hybrid mix makes sense.
When Reservations Go Wrong: Fixing Common WeWork All Access Issues
Here are typical hiccups and how to fix them fast.
- Reservation denied or full location: Workaround: switch to a secondary nearby location, or shift the meeting by an hour. If this happens often, increase the number of locations on your team’s access list. Escalate: contact WeWork support through the app and request access quota increases if your team consistently gets blocked. App not syncing with calendars: Fix: ensure the team’s calendar is shared publicly within the company and that the WeWork app has calendar permissions. As a fallback, use a shared “Workspace” Google Calendar where someone can manually add bookings. Billing errors or unexpected charges: Collect screenshots and invoices, then open a billing ticket via the WeWork dashboard. Track correspondence and immediately tag disputed charges in your accounting system so they don’t get auto-paid. Guest access problems for clients: Solution: register frequent clients as “trusted guests” in advance, or reserve a private room and list guests on the reservation. For cross-location clients, set clear arrival and host instructions to avoid front-desk confusion. Security and privacy concerns: Action: require employees to use company VPN, lock devices when away, and avoid discussing sensitive client data in open areas. For highly sensitive conversations, book a private room and log attendees. Mail misrouting: Check with the front desk and verify the mail handling option you selected. If important legal documents are involved, use a registered agent or keep a physical mailbox at a local postal store.
Sample escalation message to WeWork support
“Hi — our team (company name) has had repeated reservation denials at [Location]. We have a scheduled meeting with a client on [date/time]. Can you increase our access for that day and advise why denials are Artikel bron occurring? Attached: member list and screenshot of booking attempts.”
Keep copies of responses and add them to your internal onboarding guide so future admins can resolve issues quickly.
Checklist to run your first 30-day pilot
- Sign up admin account and add pilot members Select 2-3 preferred WeWork locations Publish team booking rules and shared calendar Run 2-week concentrated usage and track KPIs Compare costs to current office and finalize accounting codes Scale to whole team if pilot succeeds
Final thought: treat the transition like an experiment. Run it with measurable goals, iterate quickly, and use data to decide whether to keep, expand, or blend your workspace strategy. If your team values flexibility and you have fluctuating headcounts, WeWork All Access can give you professional space without the long lease commitment.
Ready to try it? Start a 30-day pilot with clear rules, a small group, and an outcomes checklist. In a month you’ll know whether you can reduce fixed office costs and give your team reliable, productive space.