Does choice in where and when you work improve productivity and performance? How can the workplace support this and how do you determine the approach? This outline document is designed to help.

1. workplace choice? 25th May 2011 1

2. choice? Will providing different workplace settings and spaces for people to undertake their activities and functions improve their performance? Does providing a choice of work-settings present people will improved and enhanced support or more problems and hurdles? In creating choice in the workplace, does it improve the efficiency, use, distribution and allocation of the property? By creating a workplace where there is choice for how and where people work, does this create a flexible edge which aligns to operational demands and variables? What is the format to find out the best way for your organisation to gain advantages and value from the workplace? 2

3. choice? Workplace choice? The workplace has to support an array of activities and functions. The workplace has to support different skills, emotions and cultures. The workplace has to support a variety of operational processes and methods. The workplace has to support an array of different tasks and interactions. The workplace has to support communication and technological infrastructure. The workplace has to support the basic human needs of satisfaction and comfort. The workplace has to support efficient energy consumption. The workplace has to support an economic financial model. The workplace has to provide support to your organisation and users. 3

4. The workplace allocation is often based on one form of information, basing the layout on organisational structure does not always correlate to the activities and functions practiced. Operational processes are re-engineered, technology is introduced and users’ develop different working practices which assist and improve their work processes; yet there is a conflict of where they have to do this. Organisation's evaluate technology processes, there is often resources and support already in place which can provide users with different options of where and when to work. Leadership and management are continually assessing methods and approaches to gain advantages and an edge in a global economy; trusting and inspiring users’ to innovate and develop will provide benefits. 4 Choice opinions? Why are all workplaces allocated desks or workstations? When people are moving around, interacting, collaborating, working with internal and external colleagues, researching, reading, reporting, analysing and evaluating, presenting and dealing on a daily basis.

5. Look around? As organisations change, users try to adapt to their settings in the workplace; they work around the physical barriers. But this could be transformed and formatted to align to their work practices while integrating future developments within the organisational strategy. Workplace assessments gathers information relating to the use and occupancy of your property. It allows a visual representation of how users interact with the existing workplace allocation and distribution. 5

7. Benchmarking and research

8. Physical filing and document management studies

9. User workplace satisfaction and occupancy surveys

10. User workplace workshops and focus groups

11. Organisational strategy alignment discussions and KPI’s

12. Comparables within the markets and trends for workplace forecasting

13. Workplace continual improvement models6

15. ability to transform, how and where

16. scenarios demonstrating how current work practices could have improved support

17. where there can be a reduction in workplace waste, misallocation and distribution

18. highlights other externalities impacted by the workplace findings (e.g. location, business travel)

19. develops a programme to facilitate any workplace transformation

20. interrelates with organisation’s human resource, technology and social responsibility ethics7

21. An outline? There is more; the workplace is a complex mechanism which can be unfairly underestimated in its’ position in an organisation. As economies alter goals and objectives, organisations have used property as a means to reduce balance sheets. Some with high success. Technology is allowing people to choose, where to work from even when in the workplace. Providing for this gives the organisation the physical flexibility to adjust to external and market changes. It provides them with “space” to react to global variables in a way which is faster and more competitive; no longer do they have to increase and decrease floor-space to the same level. Author: Rory Cochrane BA Msc Contact: 07768 870890 rorycochrane@btinternet.com 8