Flexibility is rocking the foundations of the traditional commercial real estate world. It’s entering our workforces, our offices and the shock waves are extending to the relationship between landlord and tenant. This demand for increased flexibility from the world’s workforces is due to a convergence of social and economic factors. JLL’s Top 10 Global Corporate Real Estate (CRE) Trends report predicts the emergence of a more dynamic workforce, demand for work environments that support creativity, cross-collaboration and innovation, and an increasing focus on employee wellbeing and performance will dominate global CRE strategies throughout 2018. This has major implications for both occupiers and landlords.

As a result, flexible workspaces will be in high demand with 30 percent of corporate office footprints predicted to consist of flexible space by 2030 and more than 30,000 coworking spaces opening their doors to 5.1 million members by 2022.

The knock-on effect for the relationship between tenant and landlord is startling. For example, research reveals London’s business tenants are already walking away from leases after the shortest period of time on record, as flexible workspaces cut into landlords’ bargaining power.

So, how can landlords ride this wave of change? By changing your mindset. In this brave, new world of flexible working, your building will not be judged on your lease and location – it will be judged on the level of customer service you provide to your tenants.

As a result, landlords need to re-evaluate how they work with their tenants to keep pace with the competition – or get left behind.

So, where do you start?

You could follow the example of leading UK property group British Land, which established its own flexible workspace brand, called Storey, earlier this year. It’s a bold move – but is it the right move for you?

Launching your own series of flexible workspaces is probably beyond the current operational expertise (and budgets) of most property owners. So, some landlords may consider leasing space to coworking operators like WeWork or one of its rivals.

However, such operators work on a grand scale and usually require in the region of 25,000 to 40,000 square foot of space. What if you have a smaller footprint? Or want to do something that stands out from the crowd?

It could be time to consider another way to maintain your mojo and offer flexibility to your tenants: using a Space-as-a-Service platform.