How to deliver best practice in agile working

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Having only recently emerged from the deepest recession in living memory and with growth still very modest where it exists at all, it is not surprising that organisations are now keen to improve space utilisation as part of reducing real estate costs.

Here are five of the top issues that need to be considered on the journey from a fixed working environment to a more flexible use of space.

Specifically, we consider the issues of space utilisation measurement, the integration with booking systems and the challenges of taking staff on the flexible working journey to achieve better productivity.

1. Taking the time to understand current space utilisation, including popular and unpopular areas to enable better use of all available space
2. Reconciling booked space with space actually used for meetings. If there is a large discrepancy, then meetings rooms can be reconfigured to reflect demand
3. Working with the staff team to explain why changes are occurring, to ensure they do not feel threatened by the new office culture
4. Creating a workspace that is more of a hub or meeting point to encourage sharing of ideas to solve challenges and work more creatively
5. Integrating technology that is easy to implement and simple to use to encourage staff to engage and book and cancel desk, meeting or networking space as and when required from any mobile, tablet and desktop device.

By considering each of these simple steps, workspace can be optimised for the needs of the employees, opportunities to collaborate and break out of departmental silos are made possible and this typically results in a demonstrable increase in revenue as well as an improved sense of inclusion, engagement and morale.

Says Luis de Souza, CEO of NFS Technology Group: “While each organisation’s journey to this point, in creating a more agile working environment is unique, those that have successfully arrived will have a number of things in common.

“Firstly, they all recognise the importance of accurate data of space utilisation in making the right decisions on how space is designed and used.  Without exception, they have understood the importance of integrating the three key elements of measurement, management and control in optimising the workspace and supporting the workforce.”

Organisations should see the move to flexible working as a journey, not just a destination.  With change now the new norm the best way organisations should plan for the greatest levels of flexibility in every area of the workplace journey.

For more information on creating more agile workplace solutions from NFS Technology Group, please visit www.nfs-hospitality.com.

Supporting Multigenerational Collaboration with Technology

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The world of work is changing. Today’s workforce is more generationally diverse than ever before.

More professionals are delaying retirement — by choice or necessity — while new younger staff continue to enter the workplace. That means today’s companies can have employees with an age range of up to 50 years, and while they have much in common their values, needs and drivers can differ.

“Organisations who make the most of the diversity of their workforce can reap tremendous benefits,” says Luis de Souza, CEO of NFS Technology and recent author of a white paper entitled ‘the multigenerational workplace – five insights every CIO needs today.”

The white paper focuses in on four key areas to show how technology can promote efficient collaboration in the workplace, namely:

• Mobile: With the accelerated growth in use of mobile devices companies need policies that support the use of mobile devices and enable the flexibility demanded by the younger generations. Get it right, and the potential – both for boosting your turnover and keeping your workforce engaged and motivated – is huge.
• Digital: In all areas of business, digital media is rapidly gaining in importance as the preferred medium for communication and engagement. Companies who have moved to a truly digital workplace report a clear advantage in productivity, innovation and employee satisfaction across all generations.
• Self-Service: Using kiosks and other self-service technologies can extend a level of ease and efficiency to your business, promoting both efficient working and customer satisfaction across all generations
• Video-conferencing & collaborative technology: Many companies have invested significantly in VC technology, but utilisation is still relatively low. The key question for organisations is how best to increase VC utilisation and secure better collaboration as well as reduced costs in key areas like international travel.

Many of today’s most successful businesses have realised that a move from traditional models of authority to more collaborative styles can harness the power of the whole team, regardless of generation, to huge effect.

How to successfully implement flexible working practices

By Nick Day – Head of Corporate Sales, NFS Technology Group

Legislation has given employees the right to request flexible working and compel employers to consider and put into practice in a reasonable time frame.

Facilities Managers have been critical to its implementation, teaming up with other main groups that include IT, human resources and real estate, all working together to develop a policy that ensures employers and employees alike benefit from the right work-life balance.

Here we provide a good and bad scenario before identifying a key strategy to implement flexible working successfully.

The good

A good flexible working programme has the right underlying reasons for operating.

Employers need to ask themselves why they are making the changes, what both employer and employees will gain from them. Will flexible working improve production levels, will it provide better customer care, or will it result in more committed employees?

There needs to be wide and effective engagement with the user community who will need to accept change. Employees must be consulted. Are they worried that working part-time from home will damage their career prospects? As an employer are you worried about lack of control? Clarity of the end game is important, as you consider the outcome for each group of users.

Then there’s use of the right technology. Today’s workspace and scheduling software delivers improved room space utilisation, whilst lowering operating costs and providing the efficient booking processes needed to support flexible working.

The leadership team must embrace and lead relevant change, as

everyone works together to sell the benefits and to make sure the feedback loop is open and inclusive

There needs to be excellent communications on the project with a focus on keeping everyone informed on how change is delivering benefits. And there needs to be an excitement among everyone involved.

The bad

To make flexible working operate efficiently, its aims must be clearly articulated, and everyone from the top down needs to be involved. If the person at the top merely implements it in an academic manner without any real staff engagement, it is doomed to fail.

Failure is also the result of poor research on the impact and benefits of change on a business, along with poor communication among staff about the initiative.

For it to work, the right groups need to be engaged or aligned. Bring in the wrong people or ignore those who have the insight to gauge the feelings of the workforce and the desired results will not be achieved.

Maybe you already have technology installed to handle room and workspace scheduling. But is it the right technology for the job in hand? Does it, for example, allow for hot desking? Do your staff have tablets or laptops that will allow them to work from anywhere with an internet connection? Answer no to any of those questions and it’s time to think again about your flexible working policy.

Flexible working checklist

Here’s a 12-point checklist to help you get flexible working right in your organisation.

1. Start by identifying what employers and employees expect to get from flexible working.

2. Think about the needs of your specific business.

3. Plan changes well in advance.

4. Make sure employers and employees keep in constant contact to identify what works best for all.

5. Research, research, research to find out what works best for everyone concerned.

6. Don’t be afraid to change your mind if research turns up something that you didn’t foresee, or didn’t initially approve of.

7. Set up a task force to implement policies.

8. Distribute a questionnaire about the suitability of flexible working, and listen to what the recipients have to say.

9. Examine how flexible working will impact on areas such as production, staffing, supervisions, contracts, satisfaction and overall efficiency.

10. Check that your flexible working policy is within the law as it was instigated in the legislation of 30th June 2014.

11. Trial changes before implementing them.

12. Keep a watchful eye on progress and continually monitor how the changes are working out.

For more information on implementing flexible working practices with the use of technology, please visit www.nfs-hospitality.com.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAMS – DESIGNED TO FAIL?

by Justin Hughes Managing Director at Mission Excellence

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People sit on senior leadership teams (SLTs) ‘wearing 2 hats’ simultaneously.  On the one hand, they are invariably the ‘heads of something’.  Each is the senior person representing a business unit or support function.  However they are simultaneously part of a team with a wider responsibility for the whole business, independently of their own function.  This dual responsibility can (and usually does) pose something of a dilemma.

The SLT members generally spend about 90%+ of their time on the functional responsibility and so less than 10% on their SLT role.  The functional job is often the one which defines what they are measured on, and probably some or all of their bonus.  And by the very nature of having risen to be the head of something, they probably enjoy that role and responsibility and like to be in charge – a team full of people with those sorts of natural behavioural traits would not necessarily the balanced group you would design with a blank sheet of paper.  In summary, they have 1 role which requires leadership and which they are better suited to, spend 90% of the time on and get measured on.  Are they likely to be more effective in that role or the other role which actually requires followership more than leadership?

So what’s the solution?  SLTs need to develop the individual and collective self-awareness to recognise the potential incompatibility, and even conflict, of the 2 roles; individuals also need to develop the ability to choose a behaviour appropriate to role.  The behaviours required to head a function are not necessarily the same required on SLT business.  A successful career progression to that point does not buy immunity from the basics of team development for the top team.  Other than personality clashes, the drivers of effectiveness in teams are fairly agnostic to age, seniority and sector, but ignore them at your peril.

And of course you will get what you reward.  If you measure and incentivise one job or set of behaviours at the expense of another, it’s self-evident which will dominate.  People often hold military and sports teams up as examples of great teamwork however one significant difference between those environments and many commercial teams is that in the military and sport you are only really measured on collective performance.  The team all wins or all loses together.  An outstanding personal performance is largely irrelevant if the team loses.  To reframe the issue of collective responsibility another way, it’s amazing what you can achieve when you don’t care who gets the credit.

The performance of buildings

by Johnny Dunford, Corporate Real Estate Director at BNP Paribas Real Estate

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The performance of buildings is an emotive and popular subject for debate.  Commonly used measures are cost of occupation, service charge, yield or something similar – normally based on the performance of the building as an asset.

It’s easy to overlook the human element – commercial buildings only produce rent when occupied and to be occupied they need to be functional, attractive and provide a sense of achievement, satisfaction and purpose for the workforce.  Increasingly businesses recognise that the building they occupy needs to do more than just be a physical home and workplace, it needs to project the brand and plays an important part in the battle for talent, attracting staff and in turn retaining them.

But what does good look like and how do we measure performance ?

BNP Paribas Real Estate have been working on this for some time and is now producing a simple analysis of what good looks like for an occupier, this is an analysis of how well the building performs for the staff within and how productive the staff are as a result. This then prompts discussion on what needs to be done across the portfolio to improve productivity.  At one end of the scale it may be that nothing is required and good practices can be exported around the portfolio, at the other end of the scale it may be necessary to completely revisit whether the property is working for the business.

BNP Paribas Real Estate experts are able to make the difference in all cases.

Creating the perfect workplace? Let’s talk about Change Management

by Mark Bradshaw – Director, Property & Workplace Consulting at Capita

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In my last blog, I discussed the benefits that strategic workplace design can bring in delivering appropriate workplace environments and settings which support the different activities of modern day work.  We discussed the need for these settings to have purpose, be connected to the activities within the office, and most importantly, be evidenced by the way in which the organisation operates both today and the future.  Whilst I hope you agree with my view you will also recognise that the perfect workplace environment cannot be created on the CAD machine or drawing board (for the more mature readers); fundamental to the success of any new workplace  is the provision of a structured change management programme, supporting the workforce during the transition and the leadership in managing, maintaining and growing the performance of their business and/or teams.

As strategic workplace consultants, we use techniques such as ‘syntax analysis’ and office snapshot observations to study the movement and interactions of people around workplaces. Understanding how the client is using their space serves as a ‘health check-up’ for their workspace layouts, highlighting areas for improvement and how spaces can be linked to improve the ‘buzz’ and integration around the office. We layer evidence from various studies and define the spatial foundation for the business.

For example, the DEPTHMAP software developed by UCL’s Space Syntax Laboratory was used to study office floor plate shapes and core layouts. The outcome of this analysis helped us to identify the natural integrated and segregated spaces on the floor or building, based on its layout. This type of technology enables us to understand whether existing spaces are being used efficiently and for the right purpose, and to identify opportunities to enhance layouts using the buildings natural activity zones to accommodate appropriate work settings. This means we can follow a strategic and informed approach to planning workspaces, considering the potential of office space to integrate staff efficiently and provide optimum layouts.
Studying the science of the workplace allows us to design creative, comfortable, healthy and effective work environments.  We do however recognise that this is not enough – the key ingredient, often overlooked, is the delivery of effective people engagement and change management activities. It is these activities, focused on how we use and behave in the workplace, that  can change a selection of work settings and spaces into a business transforming workplace.

In a dynamic business world, the ‘steady state’ of the workplace is a comfort factor when things around us are in constant flux. If we make changes to this ‘steady state’, or they are imposed onto us, we must be prepared and plan to manage the ‘fall-out’ – the negative aspects of change which are often met with resistance.

“A change to any physical environment we occupy, is a stress-inducing situation.”

As human beings, we are driven by habits and rituals, our brains hard wired to translate these into ‘unthinking’ actions which enable us to concentrate on the more important aspects of everyday life. For example, we don’t think about how we change gears in a car because we concentrate on the road conditions around us. Break these habits, such as by driving a left-handed car, and basic things become more stressful – that is, until those things become embedded habits. A change to any physical environment we occupy is a stress-inducing situation.
To minimize this stress, the people engagement processes should always begin at the start of a project in order to include the users in the project definition process, allowing them to co-create the solution therefore securing early buy-in. Early engagement, involvement, and effective and timely communication are the precursors to effective behavioural change. Community involvement in the design of a place improves acceptance and reduces resistance to change – it becomes ‘our’ space, rather than ‘their’ space, much in the same way as how we change the magnolia walls in a new home to ‘make the place our own’.

Furthermore, whilst we have established that different workstyles benefit from appropriate workspaces to support the delivery of that work, an adaptable workforce is also required in order to deliver it. For example, within the corporate world, ‘presenteeism’ is still accepted by some as a way of monitoring employees’ performance. Employees have to be seen to be working – overseen, physically, by ‘management’. However some employee’s work may be more effective if undertaken in a work setting not in physical proximity to their team or management. Another example may be an organisation’s desire for more collaboration. But collaborative spaces are never collaborative until people have been empowered and encouraged to use space for different ways of working. Thus, workspace design must strike the balance between a focus on designing the workplace to suit the client, and educating and empowering the workforce within it to use it to their benefit.
To learn more about the change management we deliver and to read our case studies, click here.

MJF Records Management Solutions

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Our highly flexible, tailored records management solutions help save office space and solve archiving problems.

We reduce exposure to cost and risk by ensuring that your data is accurate, secure and available. We protect and store archived documents and provide box storage for organisations across the UK including law, banking, finance, insurance, accountancy firms and many more.

Security and access control is vital. Each of our freehold data management facilities is equipped with the very latest security protection.

MJF Records Management is part of the MJF Group, a UK wide organisation, with four divisions, which aim to maximise business potential and performance. We’ve operated in the UK since 1989, in: Furniture, Design & Build, Relocation and Records Management.

Today the MJF Group is worth €65 million. Our backbone of trust, reliability and financial stability stem from years of developing long-term relationships and achieving success.

Need to get your office relocation right first time?

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Every day, our professional team help organisations relocate across the UK and around the corner. From the simplest crate move to a multi-site project involving thousands of people, our dedicated relocation business offers flexible solutions.

We offer a secure, complete removals service, with straightforward and complex projects in the public or private sector. A seamless business move with zero business downtime.

MJF Business Relocations is part of the MJF Group, a UK wide organisation, with four divisions, which aim to maximise business potential and performance. We’ve operated in the UK since 1989, in: Furniture, Design & Build, Relocation and Records Management.

Today the MJF Group is worth €65 million. Our backbone of trust, reliability and financial stability stem from years of developing long-term relationships and achieving success.

Bring your Living Office to life

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Work has changed. Most offices haven’t.

Get creative. Learn. Be inspired. As Herman Miller’s longest standing dealer partner in the UK, we’re proud to work across commercial, education and government sectors for hundreds of diverse organisations. Living Office can make a strategy live and breathe. We work to create environments where employees can connect, interact and add to personal productivity and organisational growth. Alongside Herman Miller products, we work with other quality furniture manufacturers across the UK, Europe and the world.

Our team can work with you through the process of creating great places to work. Living Office helps you make a shift from standard workstations and generic meeting rooms to a diverse landscape of purposeful, settings. With innovative thinking from Herman Miller, we’re here to help you design, source and deliver best quality, environmentally friendly, interior space – ‘Space that Works’.

 

At MJF, we work with hundreds of organisations in a variety of public and private sectors including: Harrods, Horizon, TK Maxx, Thames Water, Cardiff University, Gilead Pharmaceuticals and many more. Take advantage of our new vision for better spaces to work and strengthen your individuals and your organisation.

Space to work. Space to think.

First our workspace design specialists help you understand space utilisation and create an office where everyone wants to be. Then our office fit-out experts specialise in innovative office design, project management and construction to make it happen.

MJF Office is part of the MJF Group, a UK wide organisation, with four divisions, which aim to maximise business potential and performance. We’ve operated in the UK since 1989, in: Furniture, Design & Build, Relocation and Records Management.

A healthy organisation thrives on prosperity and growth. Today the MJF Group is worth €65 million. Our backbone of trust, reliability and financial stability stems from years of developing long-term relationships and achieving success. Your business is unique. Your office should be too. Living Office helps create an office where everyone wants to be and where everyone can do their very best.

What are the constituents of success? Is it as simple as making a good cawl?

by Jonathon Poyner, Strategic Director – Business Operation at Wales Millennium Centre

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The Queen has awarded Wales Millennium Centre the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development.

The Centre is only ten years old this year. So what has contributed to the level of public recognition this Welsh institution has gained in a relatively short period of time? What are the secret ingredients? Is there a recipe for success that others might follow?

From its very inception, the Centre was a big idea. Great people, visionaries, saw the need for a world class building that would serve as the focus – the cauldron if you like – for Welsh culture. Initially a home for our internationally renowned opera company, WNO, the addition of our residents has seen the Centre grow into a truly creative hub and centre for cultural excellence. I have seen documents going back to the sixties and seventies describing a visionary and inspiring place. But that was in the days before plans and funds existed for the redevelopment of the Bay. These were the base ingredients, however, the initial building blocks in the development of the Centre; enabling circumstances (land and money in this case), big ideas, and bold determined visionaries.

It was with the arrival of the Assembly, our own identity, and a renewed confidence in what it means to be Welsh and live in Wales, that gave the heat necessary for our creating. We are British, and proud, but, as the old saying goes, ‘to be born Welsh is to be born privileged; not with a silver spoon in your mouth, but with music in your heart and poetry in your soul’. Those brave people, grappling with the levers of the new processes of power, believed in what the Centre could mean to a ‘new’ nation. They added further ingredients; bravery, placing culture at the heart of a nation.

So, the time and the place, the vision, the people, the funding, and the political will were right. What then? Well, as with all recipes, you need something to put the ingredients in – a cauldron – as the now famous (dare I say ‘iconic’?) inscription on the front of the Centre tells us. The people of Wales got a world class building, their own cauldron. Jonathan Adams, Arup, SRM, the men and women who toiled on site for many years, overseen and supported by politicians, civil servants, Arts Council Wales, and our own on site and office team, all ensured that it was so. More ingredients, world class ingredients: world class design and the engineers and builders, contractors and staff, all with belief in the vision.

Next you need a sustainable business model. You need to aspire to do great things, to make a difference. However, if your books don’t balance, you won’t be doing so for long. You also need to be mindful of the environment, and not waste finite and hard gained resources. You need to endeavour to reinvest savings back into the community, the social fabric of the society. These are the next ingredients – the social, financial and environmental aspects of the business – added in careful balance, because as every good chef knows, too much of any one ingredient will spoil the flavour of the cawl!

But there’s still one ingredient missing, the vital ingredient, and that is world class people; people who work as a team, people who believe, people who care, people who have pride in what they do.

Is that it? Not quite – just as salt and pepper bring out the flavours of the cawl, and with it all the care, time, attention, and effort that has gone in to its making, The Queens Award adds a similar distinction, bringing to the fore all these qualities, all these ingredients, that have made the Centre what it is today.

And so, on behalf of all those who work at the Centre, and who have contributed to its success over the ten to fifteen years of its development, thank you, Your Majesty. Ma’am, you make a great cawl!