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Land Securities Trillium's experience of introducing flexible working. Local Government FM Network. Land Securities Trillium. Clients DWP DVLA Norwich Union MOD BSF Local Government Services Asset Management FM Services Capital Projects. transactional knowledge work. group
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Land Securities Trillium's experience of introducing flexible working Local Government FM Network
Land Securities Trillium • Clients • DWP • DVLA • Norwich Union • MOD • BSF • Local Government • Services • Asset Management • FM Services • Capital Projects
transactional knowledge work group process high individual routine work focused study Interaction low high Autonomy What is Flexible Working? • Contract • Time • Space • Allocating space according to need rather than status • Optimised work-settings design for specific activities – therefore wider range of work-settings • Reduction in space ‘owned’ by individuals • Increase in shared or pooled space • Using IT to support internal mobility • Emphasis on team work • from ‘free address’ to ‘team zones’
What is Flexible Working? • Den • Cell • Hive • Club • Commons • Caves • Non-territorial working • New ways of working • Flexible working
What is Flexible Working? Flexible Working Traditional working Primary Workspace Desk, chair, ped, secondary circulation Ancillary Workspace Breakout space, filling space, printer/copier, teapoint Support Workspace Conference room, training rooms, reception DEGW
Broad agenda for change explicitly linked to strategic imperatives • Locating the move to sharing space within the context of a wider business transformation project is critical. • The project must have broad based project objectives supported by a coalition of business units. • The transformation requires significant management input at all levels in the business and across all business units. • It is usually impossible to mobilise managers to make the necessary commitment to deliver a purely property driven project. • Through discussions with the rest of the organisation, identify strategic objectives critical to other parts of the business that could be delivered through the ‘transformation’ project • These objectives should be agreed and form part of the business case for the project. • The project can then be driven forward as a broadly based business transformation project with a strong property element. • Without an agreed broad agenda for change the ‘flexible working’ project would have to proceed at risk.
Management Focus • Changing established behaviours is difficult and without clear leadership almost impossible. • The project team will need a sponsor on the management board who can, with a single call, ‘unblock’ any obstacles presented by those resisting change. • Securing this level of management support is difficult and most easily accomplished if you have ‘a broad agenda for change’ clearly linked to the organisations wider strategic objectives. • Ideally this should be make-or-break for the senior sponsor’s career. Unless project failure has clear and unavoidable personal consequences , they are unlikely to provide the support needed. • Without clear commitment from the most senior levels of the business the project will be proceeding at risk. • Management at all levels will have to be committed to deliver this transformation. • Project success has to be delegated to the middle tier of business managers within the operational business functions. • The delivery team provide technical support and advice like external consultants. They cannot own the project.
Example: Project Structure Steering Group Objectives • Ensure that proposals meet the requirements of organisation as a whole and of the individual teams • Ensure that key stakeholders within understand and endorse the proposals • Ensure that the project delivers the maximum benefit Project Champion Flexible Working Group Strategic User Group Technical Workstreams Operational User Group
Resource • There is never enough • If the organisation wants to do this then it must accept the costs. • Avoid offering quick-wins and low hanging fruit, rarely as easily picked as supposed. • Shifting a significant part of the business from owned to shared workspace is not a trivial task. • Potential benefits will only be realised if the project is properly resourced. • Remember: the resource required from the specialist delivery team is only a small fraction of the overall resource commitment required. • Ask what the business is not proposing to do this year to ensure that sufficient resource is available for this project. Project Jarvis will take a time from every manager in the business if fully rolled out. Whose target is going to be sacrificed this year for your project to succeed. • Get external help – advice may seem expensive until you have measured the cost of ignorance
Understanding the business, data analysis, and information • Successful projects are built on good data and a thorough understanding of the existing context. The greater understanding the team have of current demand, supply, workstyles, and space utilisation, the greater the prospects for success. • Working patterns need to be analysed so that overall staff numbers can be divided into workstyles. Each workstyle will have a different requirement in terms of space and technology. Staff requirements in terms of team support, mentoring, and team building need to be carefully considered from the outset. • For each workstyle/business unit, appropriate spatial, technological, and ‘soft’ solutions need to be developed and costed. • Use the lead-up team to project kick-off to improve the accuracy of data on space utilisation spare capacity, actual demand for space. • Site visits are an extremely powerful means of establishing a shared vision/understanding.
team spaces solo-workstations filing Matching space and activity
100% Average Utilisation 49% 80% Empty 60% % of time utilised Temporarily Unoccupied 40% Occupied 20% 0% 08:30 09:30 10:30 11:30 12:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 Time of day Research • Space utilisation • Meeting room utilisation • Catering • Cleaning (increase in shared space) • IT • Building constraints • Business practices • Work patterns • Soft issues
Hearts and minds • Start with your team. Talk to them about their fears doubts. Spend time ensuring that all the delivery team share a coherent vision before engaging with wider staff. Invest in training, go on site visits together. • Build a coalition for change with likeminded business leaders – be an evangelist. • Prepare your FAQs and circulate them opinion formers. Have the answer before they ask the question. Ensure that staff receive a coherent response to any questions and concerns. • Have a communication plan and use all available media including workshops and meetings. Look for opportunities to get on the agenda at management and staff meetings. Invest time in converting the early critics – they should be converted and become your future evangelists. • Avoid patronising ‘change management’ speak.
Steering Group Project Champion Flexible Working Group Strategic User Group Technical Workstreams Operational User Group Communication
agree outline solution develop full solution agree full solution design development change management refurbishment May April July March June October January February November December September Plan • You cannot achieve your goal if you do not have a set of clear steps that will take you there. • Planning activities and tasks is the only way to identify the level of resource needed to deliver. • Recognise that the plan will be obsolete as soon as it is written as you will end up using sub-routines from the plan.
Pilot • Do a properly resourced pilot with a rigorous evaluation methodology. • Exploit the pilot by getting managers and staff to visit. • Publicise the pilot.
Evaluation • Simple user satisfaction surveys provide little useful data. • More granular approaches yield more interesting results. • Post project evaluation needs to be benchmarked against pre-project objectives Evaluation tool developed by Nigel Oseland and Paul Bartlet of Swanke Hayden Connell and Office Productivity Network respectively
Psychological and sociological dimensions • Individuals need to belong • Loss of personal space can increase insecurity • Do staff have sufficient trust in the organisation and management not to perceive flexible working as another attack on them • Desk sharing must not damage team cohesion. • Flexible working typically increases the need for team away-day type activities, formal and informal. • Managers have to be leaders
Paul WheelerDirector, Capital Project GroupLand Securities Trillium140 London WallEC2Y 5DN paul.wheeler@lstrillium.com