Over the past few years Telework International has presented summaries from BTV (business television) broadcasts on alternative officing. On November 11th ,1996 the latest broadcast entitled: "About Place: The Strategic Payoff and Communicating It" was sponsored by Steelcase, IIDA (International Interior Design Association), IFMA (International Facilities Management Association) and IDRC (International Development Research Council).
The premise of the presentation is that many organizations are now moving past the downsizing phase and are now placing a new emphasis on growth strategies that focus on potential returns for all corporate assets. One asset that traditionally has been ignored is space. This will no longer be the case. Space is typically the second or third largest cost in an organization and is now being studied with renewed vigour.
The broadcast presented a simple model for how to connect space to the overall corporate strategy. The process includes defining whether space is an asset or an overhead; integrating facilities management, information technology and human resource strategies (you've heard this many times before in Telework International); anticipating change; evaluating success; and communicating results.
The definition process helps organizations determine whether space is an asset or an overhead. If it is an overhead then you should consider cost-cutting, outsourcing and re-engineering. If it is an asset then you need to manage it, have it contribute to the bottom-line, have it effectively perform and ensure that the space pays dividends. The key to making this judgment is to tie space back to the corporate vision, goals and objectives.
The next process is the integration of key business strategies. This will typically include human resources, facilities and technology but may also include marketing, research and development, etc. The key is to ensure that the space design is able to support these other strategies and that it is able to leverage from the other strategies to take workplace to a new level.
The anticipation process focuses on anticipating change and planning for it. This process must involving planning for changes in business strategy, communicating to employees, staying abreast of change within the organization and developing contingency strategies to deal with success and/or failure of your workplace redesign program.
The next process is to evaluate your program. You need to define success, how it will be measured, how data will be collected and what related workplace data will also be collected and evaluated. This step is often most successfully performed by external consultants who can confidentially collect and process the data and present the findings in an objective manner.
The final step in the process is to communicate. Redesigning the workplace is a significant change and requires a regular information flow to employees, management and executives. In essence, the team's role must include marketing of the concepts to ensure success.
The above five steps are not new. They represent the common steps taken to implement strategic change in today's organization. The important lesson to learn is that you must follow these steps - if you choose to implement significant strategic change without all of these components you will likely fail.
As with all BTV broadcasts the greatest benefit is in hearing from organizations that have applied these concepts. One of the companies profiled was Benevia, a subsidiary of Monsanto, responsible for producing coffee/tea sweeteners. Tammy Skelton, Director, Human Resources explained how Benevia went through the process of dramatically changing their corporate culture and how they used the design of their new workplace in Chicago, Illinois to demonstrate the new culture.
Skelton explained that the Benevia business was expanding but that the focus was to "think big and act small" with the goal of doubling the size of the business in the next five years. The support for the alternative officing design came directly from the top. The CEO was fully supportive. The new design (35,000 square feet) has everyone, including the CEO, working in an open office of approximately 7.5 feet by 7.5 feet (56.25 square feet). The office spaces are acoustically private but visually open. The degree of honesty and openness is shown in the cracked glass that can be found throughout the office - the concept is to show the breaking down of glass barriers re-enforcing the corporate cultural changes.
The workplace also includes some very creative spaces. There is a pool table room which is heavily used during lunch and break times, grocery store shelves in the office which show staff how their product is displayed to consumers and a meditation room where employees can listen to a stereo, meditate or have a nap. There are also 24 enclosed spaces which are shared by all staff for "concentrated" work. There are project rooms where the teams can customize the space to meet their specific requirements. The bottom-line has been a 20% reduction in the amount of space used per person.
Skelton notes that "the space looks different and people are changed from the moment they walk in the door". She also explained that Benevia has increased the level of informal communication, improved creativity and improved the level of collaboration / team focus. Again, the key for Benevia has been its ability to turn space into an asset, to use changes to the workplace to drive cultural change.
In closing, the panelists on the broadcast had the following suggestions to start this process in your organization. Start by communicating to senior management, educate people on these new concepts, find a visionary within the executive ranks, understand the mission of the company and develop the alternative officing strategy to support business goals.
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