A Stage-by-stage Approach to Master the Health of Communities While Scaling Up

There are two approaches to running coliving spaces. For the majority of operators, their growth and development happened organically: they open a small project, usually a few houses or apartments, using spreadsheets to run their finances and getting some enthusiasts into their spaces as residents. As things evolve and the company grows, processes start to emerge, people get hired and founders lose touch with residents. The original vibe and culture gets lost, and problems start to emerge – this is when I get calls like these:

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“Gui, 1.5 years into operations and problems are starting to emerge. Our residents came in for the all- inclusive package, but now we’re having a hard time having them take out the trash.”

“Back when we started, I knew all the residents by name. Today, we have more than 400 residents in our buildings and I am personally disconnected from them. They reproach me for being a real-estate company that doesn’t care about its customers, but the real problem is just that we can’t scale while remaining intimate.”

“At the beginning, the house was filled with high- quality people who aligned with our brand. Then, we started accepting anyone because we had to fill it up, and now the culture is gone: we’re having a lot of young, inexperienced residents who create lots of conflict and tension, and we don’t know how to go back.”

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These are real testimonials that were shared with me over the last year. These founders didn’t do anything wrong: they started small, scaled up and faced some of the undesirable effects of scaling.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. The other approach to running a coliving space is to think beforehand about how to create the right systems to avoid these ‘scaling crises’.

Unfortunately, there is little documentation on the subject. Over the last years, I’ve been asking myself one question: what are the right processes to implement which will enable coliving businesses to thrive without impacting the creation of communities within different buildings?

While in the last Coliving Insights article I shared how technology can help with creating systems, I am today going to have a bigger-picture look at the overall ‘user flow’ of coliving residents. I will share with you each stage they’re going through, and what type of user touch points you can create which will enable new residents to be integrated within existing communities – and existing communities to have the right processes to remain healthy.

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The 7 Coliving Resident Stages

In 2020, I co-authored a book with Matt Lesniak and Naima Ritter from Conscious Coliving, alongside a dozen community builders, called The Community Facilitation Handbook, where we showcased the 7 stages of the coliving experience. In an ideal case scenario, the longer a resident stays, the more committed they will be to the space – but that can only happen if the right experience has been created from the start.

Let’s first get an understanding of what each stage represents:

1. Discovery: this is the moment where coliving residents discover your space, usually through social media and Google searches, and end up on your page to apply.
2. Curation: once the lead comes in, there is a validation process to go through, especially in more intentional or interest-based communities, whereby a vetting and interview process takes place.
3. Onboarding: once the new resident is accepted and pays, the onboarding phase begins even before the resident is settled in, onboarding them into the rules, culture and technology used in the space.
4. Integration: this is one of the most crucial parts, namely the first weeks upon arrival, whereby the resident gets integrated within the community, its activities and culture.
5. Communal Life: most of the resident experience is happening at this stage, where the resident really experiences the core essence of coliving.
6. Offboarding: prior to departure, the resident gets special attention and thanks for their stay, and is being offboarded from the community.
7. After-Life: some coliving residents can remain involved even after they moved out, by being invited to events or being subscribed to newsletters.

In this article, I’m now going to share 10 best practices gathered from my research of global coliving spaces. Applying them will guarantee your residents to have a more streamlined, universal approach to your coliving experience. This is what I’m referring to as User Community Experience (UCX) - namely, the art of applying the right processes to integrate new residents within the communal experience.

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Stage 1: Discovery

#1: Set the right expectations

One of the major mistakes in building coliving communities happens even prior to having residents – namely, in the way that residents read and feel your brand. Most coliving operators promote the all- inclusive approach of coliving spaces: how residents will be provided with everything and don’t have to give anything in return.

But that is a wrong promise. In fact, not making expectations clear from the very beginning attracts the wrong crowd – and it is hard to set expectations afterwards. Common expectations that should be
set are the notion of responsibility and communal engagement: communicate from the very beginning what you expect from your residents, may it be hosting events, taking out the trash, being in charge of certain parts of communal responsibilities and so forth.

Remember that resident happiness equals reality minus expectations: the more expectations you set from the beginning, the less surprises residents will have. In fact, it is better to set more expectations at the beginning than none, as it’s easier to remove expectations than to add some – once you move in, giving someone the expectation to commit to more community work than they originally agreed to is really hard. The best way to communicate your expectations is in your branding and your application process.

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Stage 2: Curation

#2: Ask the right questions from the start

What type of residents do you want to attract in your space? I know that the house needs to be filled, but taking in anyone will lead to having the ‘bad apples’ – these are residents that may drag others down, and eventually lead to the most engaged residents wanting to leave.

On top of questions such as “Why do you want to live in a community?” and “Why are you a right fit for our residence?”, it’s important to dig deeper into the maturity of future residents.

Some key questions that you can ask include “How do you deal with conflict?”, “How would your roommates describe you?”, “What challenges did you have with roommates in the past?” and “What would you like to bring to the community?”.

These questions will give you insights into the way that residents deal with problems, their level of emotional response-ability (the ability to respond appropriately to conflict situations) and their level of desire to contribute to group dynamics. Remember: if you get your residents right, you will have no problem getting more residents in. It’s worth the investment to vet residents based on the core of their personalities.

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Stage 3: Onboarding

#3: Integrate the resident into the community even prior to arrival

For most coliving residents, the adventure starts when they arrive at the space. But this shouldn’t be the case – they should begin integrating with the community prior to arrival.

Making bonds with future housemates is crucial for a faster integration. This is why the best practices in this field are to have future residents already download the communal application, introduce themselves to the community and for you to introduce residents to their future roommates. This way, connections and excitement can be built up already prior to arrival, and residents have an even deeper desire to be part of your project.

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Stage 4: Integration

#4: Introduce residents to others, not the place

When arriving and welcoming the new resident in person, don’t make the mistake of introducing the resident to the place. Let me give you an example:

I onced arrived at a hostel that understood this principle from the ground up. When I arrived, the first thing they told me was: “Drop your bag and follow me!”.

I then went on a tour of people: every time we would cross someone, they would introduce me to that person and make a personal connection – often also highlighting the things we have in common

(like “Oh, and meet Daniel, he is into DJing too!”).

It was only after the human tour that I was shown the amenities and my room. Ultimately, I was then able to leave my private space and talk to others without feeling awkward or them having to come to me, as we already got to know each other beforehand.

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#5: Gain a deeper understanding of your resident needs

Community managers truly have one main job: to help activate the needs of residents.

When a new resident comes into the space, it is crucial to have a 1-on-1 talk with them to understand their needs. Why are they here? How can the space serve them? How can the people in the space help them?

Once you understand what their core needs are, you can make further connections, bring up ideas and brainstorm. For example, you can introduce a new resident who is an artist to other artists in the space, as well as offer him or her to create events such as a jam night the next week. This will make the resident feel heard and seen, ultimately leading them to feel empowered to create their own journey.

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#6: Create touchpoints to welcome residents officially

Lastly, set the right tone from an operator’s perspective and welcome the resident officially. This can be automated welcoming emails coming straight from the founder(s) to the new resident, welcoming events such as once-a-month ‘New Resident Parties’, ‘WednesdayWelcome Breakfasts’ or official posts on the communal application.

Whatever it is, give the new person the spotlight within the community!

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Stage 5: Communal Life

#7: Give residents ownership over part of the experience

The notion of ownership is a key part of the coliving experience. It’s simple: the more ownership people have, the more they see themselves as part of the project and the more they will want to take responsibility and engage across the experience.

Common ways to give residents ownership are: hosting communal assemblies, in which residents are able to express their desires and frustrations; providing communal budgets that residents can decide on
how to spend together; and creating processes for residents to get support on and ownership over creating events.

Ultimately, financial ownership over the project, in the form of “the longer you stay, the more shares you receive” would be the biggest innovation that the coliving scene needs today in that vertical. While this is hard to implement (and not always desired from an operator perspective), it would change the game dramatically and make residents feel involved at a whole new level.

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#8: Have a clear team structure to tackle issues as they come up

One of the key highlights of The Community Facilitation Handbook was the role and responsibilities of the community manager (or community facilitator).

It must be clear internally who does what. For example, the community manager should not be responsible for operations or sales within the company, as this would distract them from their main task – namely, to create a culture of community and support – and usually leads to direct burn-outs. Another example is that in case of conflict, procedures need to be known; if it’s a small conflict, residents should first be encouraged to try to solve it by themselves, but if not, the community manager can come in and facilitate. In the case of more grave situations such as drug abuse, sexual assault or physical violence, more radical measures need to be taken, and in some cases external negotiators, authorities or wellbeing experts need to come in.

In short: map out all the scenarios that can happen in a coliving space and generate clarity from your team on who does what. This will avoid many internal tensions that tend to start building up a few months after opening the space.

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Stage 6: Offboarding

#9: Celebrate the history made with the resident

You don’t want to create a double-binded culture of care at the beginning but indifference at the end. This is why it’s important to celebrate the history made with residents and think about the offboarding phase.

Some coliving communities organise goodbye parties, others give residents a signed farewell gift. Whatever it is, make the resident feel remembered and honoured for who they are – this will give them a better memory of the space, increase the chance of them sharing the space with their friends and also maintain the community dynamics in a state of gratitude instead of sadness once the resident leaves.

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Stage 7: After-life

#10: Capitalise on the emotional connection your resident has with your brand

If you think that the journey is over once the resident is gone, you’re wrong. In fact, a lot can be done after the move-out phase.

On one side, old residents might be potential residents for future spaces, including in new locations that you’ll open. But there’s more than that: use your former residents to gather feedback and data in order to improve your experience; ask them for referrals to new residents; invite them to events that are happening within the space; and if you want to go even further, create an online alumni network in which former residents remain part of the community and help their peers personally and professionally.

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Some Last Words

Let’s be clear: it’s impossible to map out the entire resident journey and touch points in 2,000 words. But the principles above will already give you a major understanding of what most operators are missing out on, and I’m sure that you will find your piece of advice in there.

My personal recommendation would be to focus on the stage that you believe you’re lacking most: define what actions you will take and implement them. Then, move on to the next stage until you have mastered implementing the right processes across the entire journey.

Lastly, work with experts like myself who have a global overview of best practices and whose job it is to help operators improve their experience, or have at least one dedicated person within your team whose role it is to continuously improve your user community experience. The road is long, but that’s the beauty about it: it never stops!

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