Community
Part of Coworking space operations
Planning coverage for a coworking manager's absence
Prepare relief ownership, decision limits, live handovers and temporary access before a coworking manager is away.
Plan a manager's absence around decisions that cannot wait for their return. Name a temporary owner for member issues, access changes, facility faults, contractor coordination and daily handover. Give them the authority and information to act, plus a separate route for decisions they cannot approve.
Key safety and compliance references for Australian coworking spaces
- Cybersecurity guidance
- Australian Small Business Cybersecurity Guide
- Work health and safety duties
- PCBU responsibilities under WHS laws
- Emergency planning
- Fact sheet for emergency plans
List the decisions the manager normally makes
Map a typical week rather than copying a job description. Which requests reach the manager? Which need a building contact, spending approval or a change to a member's entitlement? Include easily missed tasks such as confirming a contractor visit and updating members about a prolonged outage.
For each task, record the relief owner's decision limit and backup. An “acting manager” title is of little use if that person cannot reach a building contact or see the open-issues log.
| Decision during absence | Record before leave |
|---|---|
| Member access failure | Who checks entitlement, who can change access and who responds after hours |
| Essential facility fault | Who arranges an immediate response, contacts the responsible party and updates members |
| Contractor visit | Who approves, admits and checks the work |
| Membership exception | What the relief worker may resolve and what needs senior approval |
| Emergency | The current site procedure and response contacts |
Prepare a live handover
Give the relief worker the current status of open work. Include affected areas or members where relevant, next promised updates, booked contractor visits and temporary arrangements. Mark each item with its next action and check point. Include sensitive member details only where the relief worker needs them.
Check contact information before the absence: building manager, facilities contractor, access responder, senior decision-maker and emergency route. Confirm who covers each period, including evenings and public holidays if members can use the space then. A number that reaches only the absent manager is not a backup.
Set temporary system access
Provide the relief worker with their own authorised account and the permissions needed for the coverage period. Use individual accounts, limit permissions to what the coverage requires, and remove access when it is no longer needed. Confirm how temporary permissions are granted and reviewed. A shared administrator login weakens the handover record.
If the relief worker cannot change a building-controlled system, give them the approved escalation route. They should know how to explain a delay without promising a change they cannot make.
Rehearse an interruption and hand back
Before leave begins, walk through a plausible event: an after-hours entrance fails while a contractor is due the next morning. Ask the relief worker to find the member notice, access contact, approval limit and next update. Correct missing information while the manager is available.
When the manager returns, hand back each open item with its status and next owner. Remove temporary system access when it is no longer needed, and update the coverage plan where the relief worker found a gap.
