24 Creative Ways to Use Whiteboards in Your Coworking Space

What a weird time.

We’re open, we’re not open, we might be open. Are we safe? How does this whole thing end? When will things get back to normal in your coworking space?

As frustrated as you are, your members are equally frustrated.

But all signs point to enormous growth in the coworking and flex workspace world as remote workers, freelancers, startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses move out of their homes and into shared workspaces.

Your job is to attract these people to your space and show them everything they can do as a member of your community. The majority of people in your space don’t need a desk and wifi. They need to connect, create and level-up their business.

There’s Something About Whiteboards

One of my favorite things to do in a coworking space is a good ol’ whiteboard session. There’s something about big planning on a big board that just works. Maybe it’s because I’m a visual thinker that whiteboards work so well for me, but I’m definitely not alone. Whiteboarding is a core part of life as an entrepreneur, techie, creative, startup or organization.

My favorite things to whiteboard are big picture mindmaps, content strategy brainstorms and project outlines. But there are many, many more uses for you and your members. 

To get the inside scoop and pro perspective on whiteboarding, I chatted with my friend Hanson Grant, founder and CEO of Think Board, a company known around the workspace industry (and beyond) for its peel-and-stick whiteboards, scannable whiteboard options, floor-to-ceiling boards, clear whiteboards, magnetic boards…and ongoing support of the coworking world.

💡 Coworking friends: Get 50% off your first Think Board order. Just use code “convos” at checkout.

Together, we came up with 24 creative ways to use whiteboards in your coworking space. 

Creative Ways to Use Whiteboards in Your Coworking Space

1. Sprints: Every good work sprint needs a whiteboard.

2. Project Planning: No need to settle for paper or computer screens when you can plan your project on a wall-sized board.

3. Content Brainstorm: Posty notes are nice, but have you ever brainstormed content on a whiteboard? 

4. Marketing Calendar: Use a whiteboard (or, better yet, a whiteboard calendar) to capture anchor dates and important events to create content around.

5. Lead-Gen Strategies: Go big with the ideas to connect with your target market.

6. Product Roadmap: Where do you go from here? Lay out your roadmap before transferring details to your project management system.

7. Challenges: Work it out, mate. Whiteboard those challenges, roadblocks and pains.

8. Big Ideas: What’s your big picture vision? What would you most like to do?

9. Business Model Canvas: You have done a business model canvas, right? 

10. Sales Charts: Organize and track your sales goals and metrics.

11. Member Information: Share must-know information, such as wifi passwords, with members, guests, visitors.

12. Member wall: Showcase your community on a magnetic board or whiteboard.

13. Event Listing: What’s happening this week (or month) in your space?

14. Internal Tracking: Provide at-a-glance tracking of coffee, ink, creamer, water filters etc. for your team.

15. Social Good Tracking: Track food pantry donations, clothing drives, volunteer time, and money donated to good causes.

16. Kanban Boards: Kanban your project management todos, doing and done.

17. Monthly Calendars: Keep track of member birthdays, company anniversaries and important occasions.

18. Breakout Zones: Define a space as a phone zone, quiet zone or collaboration zone.

19. Creativity Zones: Encourage creativity with wall-sized whiteboards.

20. Workshop Agenda: What’s on-deck for today’s workshop?

21. Whiteboard Tables: Don’t limit yourself to walls. Members can take notes, work on specs, mindmap and brainstorm ideas without leaving their chair.

22. Eisenhower Matrix: Help members prioritize tasks by urgency and importance.

23. Personal Productivity Planning: Whatever productivity method members use, it can benefit from a whiteboard planning session.

24. Website and App Design: Make website and app design easy on your members. Whiteboards can be printed with templates for browser, iphone and Android displays.

What have we missed?

How do people use whiteboards in your coworking space?

Message me on LinkedIn and let me know.

Thanks to Hanson at Think Board for a great brainstorming session around whiteboards. Remember, Coworking Convos participants get 50% off your first Think Board order. Use code “convos” at checkout.