An Adhocratic Workplace Culture: Why Work.Life Has Adopted One

At Work.Life, we believe that traditional hierarchical structures don’t always fit today’s fast-paced, ever-changing business landscape. That’s why we’ve embraced an adhocratic workplace culture – a system that prioritises adaptability, collaboration, and empowerment over rigid bureaucracy.

An adhocracy might sound unconventional, but for us, it’s been the perfect fit for our growth journey. Here’s why we’ve adopted it and how it could potentially transform your organisation too.

What is an adhocracy?

An adhocracy is a flexible organisational design built on adaptability and creativity rather than rigid hierarchies or structures. Instead of confining team members to predefined roles and processes, adhocracies enable people to come together as needed to tackle challenges, drive innovation, and deliver results.

In an adhocratic workplace:

• Decision-making is decentralised and pushed to where the expertise exists
• Collaboration is fluid, with team members contributing based on their skills and passion rather than job titles
• Innovation thrives because bureaucratic barriers don’t impede creative thinking
• Responsiveness to change becomes a core organisational capability

Why we chose an adhocracy at Work.Life

When we founded Work.Life, we set out to create something different – not just in the coworking spaces we design but in how we operate as a business. An adhocratic approach reflects the values we want to embody every day.

1. Adaptability in a fast-moving industry

The flexible workspace sector is constantly evolving. From the rise of hybrid work models to rapidly changing customer expectations, we’ve had to pivot and adapt quickly throughout our journey. An adhocratic structure gives us the agility to stay ahead of market shifts and respond to opportunities faster than more traditionally structured competitors.

During the pandemic, this adaptability proved invaluable as we quickly reimagined our spaces and services to meet new safety requirements and changing work patterns.

2. Fostering workplace innovation

We want every team member to feel empowered to share their ideas, regardless of their position or tenure. Our adhocratic approach removes hierarchical barriers and encourages everyone to think creatively about improving our member experience, workspace design, and business operations.

Some of our most successful initiatives have come from team members who spotted opportunities outside their formal responsibilities but had the freedom to pursue them.

3. Putting people first

At the heart of Work.Life is the belief that happy teams create exceptional experiences for our members. Adhocratic organisational design is fundamentally about trust, collaboration, and giving people the autonomy to make decisions. It’s a culture that prioritises people and their capabilities over rigid processes and control mechanisms.

How an adhocracy looks in practice at Work.Life

Here’s how we make adhocracy work day-to-day:

•  Fluid teams and project-based collaboration

Rather than sticking rigidly to job descriptions, our team members often wear multiple hats and form cross-functional teams based on the challenge at hand. If someone has an idea or a skill to contribute, they’re encouraged to step up, whether it’s their “official” responsibility or not.

For example, when launching a new location, we bring together team members from operations, marketing, sales, and design in a temporary project team rather than managing it through separate departmental silos.

• Empowered decision-making

We trust our people to make decisions at all levels of the organisation. From designing marketing campaigns to resolving member issues, decisions aren’t held up by layers of approvals. This decentralised decision-making empowers our team and keeps our operations nimble.

Our community managers, for instance, have significant autonomy to create location-specific events and initiatives that respond to their unique member communities.

• Encouraging experimentation and calculated risk-taking

Adhocracy is all about trying new approaches. We embrace a test-and-learn methodology, recognising that failure is often the first step toward innovation. 

Whether it’s launching a new membership type or redesigning a workspace feature, we encourage experimental approaches backed by rapid feedback loops.

The business benefits we’ve experienced

Our adhocratic approach has allowed Work.Life to grow in a way that feels authentic to our values. It’s not always straightforward – letting go of traditional control mechanisms can be challenging – but the benefits have been substantial:

1. Accelerated problem-solving: When challenges arise, our teams come together quickly without bureaucratic delays. During the early days of the pandemic, this enabled us to implement new safety protocols and communicate changes to members in a matter of days rather than weeks.
2. Enhanced innovation: Our adhocratic culture creates space for new ideas to emerge from anywhere in the organisation. Many of our most popular workspace features and community initiatives began as suggestions from team members who weren’t in “innovation” roles.
3. Stronger team engagement: Our team members consistently report feeling trusted and valued, which has translated to higher retention rates and performance. Our collaborative work environment fosters a sense of ownership that traditional hierarchies often struggle to achieve.
4. Improved member experience: The flexibility of our organisational approach allows us to be more responsive to member needs. When feedback comes in, we can quickly assemble the right people to address it without navigating complex approval processes.

Is adhocracy right for your business?

Adhocracy isn’t universally applicable. It requires:

• A high degree of trust in your team’s capabilities
• Comfort with ambiguity and emergent strategies
• A culture that values collaboration over control
• Team members who thrive with autonomy
• Clear shared values to guide decentralised decisions

For companies in dynamic industries or those looking to foster innovation and agility, it can be transformative. However, organisations with highly regulated operations or those requiring strict standardisation might find a hybrid approach more suitable.

Implementing adhocratic principles in your organisation

If you’re interested in bringing elements of adhocracy to your business, consider starting with:

1. Identifying areas for experimentation – Begin with projects or departments where flexibility would add the most value
2. Building trust gradually – Incrementally increase team autonomy as confidence grows
3. Creating clear guardrails – Define the boundaries within which teams can make independent decisions
4. Celebrating initiative – Recognise and reward those who step outside their formal roles to contribute
5. Developing collaboration skills – Invest in training that helps people work effectively across traditional boundaries

Final thoughts

At Work.Life, we’ve built more than just coworking spaces – we’ve created a flexible organisational culture that embodies our values. Adopting an adhocratic approach has enabled us to stay nimble, innovate continuously, and truly put people at the centre of everything we do.

If there’s one piece of advice I’d offer to other founders and business leaders, it’s this: don’t be afraid to challenge traditional organisational structures. Whether you choose a fully adhocratic model or incorporate elements of flexibility into a more traditional framework, what matters most is building a culture that aligns with your mission and empowers your people to thrive.

Let’s embrace organisational innovation together. After all, reimagining how we work is the first step toward reimagining what work can be.

Interested in experiencing our adhocratic culture firsthand? Book a tour of any Work.Life location and see how our approach to flexible working could benefit your business.

Want to learn more about Work.Life and what we have to offer? Explore our locations and membership options today.