The Real Solution to Empty Offices: Community Managers

Every week, I walk through the lobby of a newly renovated office building in Manhattan. Marble everywhere, designer furniture, and fancy art. But as I watched people hurry through, barely looking up from their phones during their 20-second walk to the elevators, I thought to myself: do these lobbies help solve the return to office problem?

Throwing Money at the Wrong Things

The real estate industry has spent billions on this problem, and their solution is always the same: spend more money on nicer stuff. Beautiful rooftop spaces that look great in photos but are terrible for actual work. Amenities that wow you on the first visit but quickly become part of the background.

These features are like putting a luxury sound system in a car with a broken engine. They look good, but they don't fix the real problem. And yes, many of these buildings have high occupancy rates, but let's be honest about why. They're filled with banks, law firms, and investment companies that force people to come back to the office. It's not because people want to be there.

For small businesses, this approach doesn't just fail. It's impossible. Most small companies can't afford marble lobbies or rooftop bars. They need something completely different.

What Actually Matters: Relationships at Work

Here's what I've learned from watching successful shared offices: the magic is in the relationships. People will travel to a place where they have friends, mentors, and good conversations waiting for them. They'll pick a less convenient location if it means being part of a community that gives them energy instead of draining it.

This is where shared offices beat traditional corporate spaces. They mix people from different companies, industries, and backgrounds. The kind of mix that naturally creates interesting conversations and unexpected partnerships. But there is a little problem. Being around interesting people sounds great, but most of us feel weird walking up to that person we keep seeing by the coffee machine and striking a conversation.

We're living through what experts call a loneliness epidemic. Despite being more "connected" than ever through social media, real human connection has become rare. Starting a conversation with a stranger feels strange, even at work. This is exactly where the right person can change everything.

Community Managers Are the Answer

This is where community managers become the heroes of getting people back to offices. They're not just the people who plan happy hours and welcome members. The best community managers are relationship builders. They see connections that others miss and create chances for real professional relationships to happen.

They remember that you mentioned needing a marketing person. They know that the woman in the corner office used to work at exactly the kind of company you're trying to reach. They make good things happen on purpose.

A good community manager notices that a startup founder and a founder coach arrive at the same time every morning, then introduces them during a coffee break. Not through a random encounter, but through intentional connections. That's the kind of proactive community building that turns a workspace from a bunch of individual desks into a place where businesses actually collaborate and uplift each other.

Why Professional Community Matters

In our digital world, having real relationships with other professionals isn't just nice. It's necessary for your mental health. The benefits of feeling part of a community are well-documented, but we rarely think about how this affects our work lives.

When your workspace includes people who celebrate your wins, help with your problems, and provide the kind of casual conversation that used to happen naturally in offices, coming to work becomes different. You're not just showing up to get tasks done. You're joining a community that actually cares about your success.

This is especially important for remote workers who use coworking spaces sometimes. They're not looking for another place to stare at their laptop. They can do that at home for free. They want human connection and professional energy that you can't get through video calls.

The Heart of the Workspace

The job might look small on a company chart, but the impact is huge. A good community manager becomes the heart of the workspace. They set the mood, create the culture, and make everyone feel like they belong. They're the difference between a cold office and a place where people actually want to spend their time.

I've seen how the right community manager can completely change a space. Not through expensive renovations or fancy amenities, but through the simple act of helping people connect. They create places where collaboration happens naturally, where new people feel welcome instead of ignored, and where the workspace becomes more than just desks and chairs.

What Offices Need to Survive

As we keep figuring out work after the pandemic, the question isn't whether people will go back to offices. It's what kind of offices they'll choose. The spaces that succeed will understand that community isn't something you can buy and install like a coffee machine. It's something you build through intentional relationship work and actually caring about the people who work there.

For building owners, developers, and anyone else trying to fill empty offices, the answer isn't more expensive stuff. It's investing in people who can create the kind of place where professionals actually want to spend their time. Because at the end of the day, we're not just looking for a place to work. We're looking for a place where we belong.

The community managers who get this aren't just coordinators or party planners. They're building the future of work, one relationship at a time.