The Workplace Experience

This episode focus on the importance of your change management investment to successful return your workforce back to the office.
 
 It is about making employees feel and know they are safe about returning to the office.  There can never be to much communication. The communication should start yesterday.
 
 Employees need to understand what new regimes have been implemented, such as disinfectant procedures, sanitisation stations, day cleaners.
 
 Plus employers need to understand how commuting patterns may have changed and how that may impact hours that employees may wish to attend the office.
 
 Then we will touch on the impacts of new social distancing requirements.
 
 This is part 1 of a two part series on this topic.

Today we will be focusing on the importance of change management and how it will contribute to the return of employees to the office while the COVID curve flattens and we move towards the new normal. 

Today we will be discussing the trends towards using the Integrated Fitout Project Delivery Model for major workplace projects.

It is definitely now more than just combining base building construction and tenancy fitout works.

Longer term integrated project models tend to have a duration of  between 2 – 4 years depending on the size of the project.

It can and will include urban design expertise real estate planning, workplace strategy, change management assessments, tenant advisory, move readiness, single source FFE, relocation management and post occupancy evaluation services which traditionally have always been provided by various different vendors.

Under the integrated project delivery model there is a single supplier that will coordinate the acquisition of all of the FFE from the various suppliers and take carriage of its supply, delivery and installation.

So what makes the integrated project model different to a turn key contract, well they are definitely not the same 

This type of delivery model is becoming more popular going forward specifically now that post COVID19 the strategy and change pieces are a critical investment by organisations to understand what their people need.

The model also has on-going advantages of the final one-stop shop model in managing the workplace asset in terms of preventative, predictive or corrective maintenance during their lifetime.

This model is exciting, its evolution is exciting.

Today we will be discussing how to achieve the best results from your project manager on your workplace project.

It is essential that the project manager that you engage has experience in workplace projects. 

 Often the contract delivery model or the ongoing requests for cost cutting, reduction in time to deliver the project and scope creep puts at risk the quality or even inclusion in the final workplace fitout. .

So lets talk about the new world of Project Management for your workplace project.

Make sure your PM is engaged early. Include a consultancy fee for the their involvement in a review of the workplace design and identify that if costs savings do need to be found where they could be extracted from in traditional building services such as plasterboard, electrical, mechanical, hydraulics and other services that have little or no impact on the functionality of the space. 

There review should also examine build-a-bility. Often there is a definite difference that occurs between the As-Built documents verses the design package.

Any other cost saving or design deviation or alternative options should be discussed early with all stakeholders around the table. 

The strategist and change team should lead these discussions.

Ensure your PM has workplace project management expertise. This will allow for them to ensure sequencing of trades are maintained to ensure the project is keep on track in terms of both time and budget. 

Now lets look at the new project management delivery model which appears to becoming more attractive to clients – design, bid and build on integrated project delivery model where base building, fitout and FFE are delivered by the one project management team. 

The integrated project model also allows for one stop for any building defect, warranty claims and rectification and other maintenance matters. 

This delivery model is popular with global organisations across a wide range of industries, commercial or industrial management funds,  institutional property owners or property development funds. 

To a lesser extent a cost plus model has also become quiet popular on smaller projects. 

The FFE procurement should be managed by you or your workplace strategist or expert workplace change manager. This will ensure that the FFE package will not be compromised on its functionality for the occupant to deliver extra profit to the project management team.

Today we will talking about the importance of workplace  design, how the specific workplace strategy is fundamental  to provide the workplace design framework, to deliver a  workplace that is functional and sustainable for the  business for the next 5-10 year.

The area of workplace design has changed dramatically over the last decade. There are two different schools of thought in the workplace design community.

As we come out of the COVID19 lockdowns and people begin to return to work, wherever that maybe clients will be looking for their spaces to be functional they need to be more than just a variety of desks types, pretty painted walls, expensive acoustic lamp shades over a collaborative desk between workstation clusters.

Other influences on workplace design thinking includes  social distancing requirements as a consequence of the 2020 pandemic.  COVID has also introduced a influencers that will force change – such as - choice of materials used in workplace designs.

It will also influence size of workstations, if you are using desks under 1800 long  x 750 wide, you will never meet the 1per4m2 for social distancing during peak pandemic periods. .

I like to suggest that new workplace design should follow a lego block principal to be able to provide flexibility in the design to accommodate changes in the demands from the business.

The design scope should now definitely include other requirements such as AV and collaborative needs, both at an individual and group level.

Organisations have learnt over time often the hard way, if your architect or designer does not have the expertise to build and recommend your workplace strategy that will provide the foundations of your workplace design, it could be costly mistake that you will need to live with for the next 5 to 10 years.

Its all about team work.

Today we will be talking about physical distancing requirements in the workplace.

 We need to emphasis here that your requirements around social distancing in Australia are set and changed predominately by your State or Territory Government, plus Public Health COVID safe plans and the guidance provided by the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC) and Safe Work Australia.

Physical distancing is the same as social distancing. 

We are encouraging our clients to design and communicate their social distancing requirements to  meet peak pandemic regulations. This is ensure that experiences of having mass employees working from home for extended periods or parts of your workplace deemed un-usable during these peak risk periods are now eliminated. 

We will discuss – limits in enclosed spaces (1 person each 4m2) – workstations clusters, meeting rooms, collaborative spaces and break out spaces. –the 1.5 metres separation between people in the workplace and to a lesser extent gathering sizes, though important for organisational town halls or periodical team updates.

Remember there is a duty under Health and Safety Laws to manage physical distancing. Each organisation should implement as risk management plan. 

It should be reviewed regularly to identify new or changing  risks that may result in changes to employee safety. 

Your risk assessment – needs to identify the risk, assess the risk and determine control measures to control the risk.

Consultation with key stakeholders is essential in the development and maintaining these risk assessments.
 
Remember floor markings and other signage to create new personal habits, these will occur over time.

Where possible contactless deliveries are encouraged and limiting people and their exposure to these third parties are key.

Face masks can be considered to be optional or compulsory depending on the setting in the workplace and where we are at in the pandemic risk cycle - high > medium > low.

Consideration also needs to be given to the flow of people in your primary and secondary circulation spaces. Any changes to the workplace must also ensure compliance with safe distance of travel under the fire provisions of the National Building Code.

Your physical distancing policies must also consider limitations on lift capacity and the impact on getting people to their prescribed floor. This may also need to be achieved by staggering employees start times or the opening of fire escapes for pedestrian travel between floors, while not breaching National Fire Regulations. 

Your risk assessment also needs to include a review of physical distancing and other practices in end of trip facilities. These shared, high traffic areas need to have strict control measures to ensure the safety of all occupants. These need to be discussed and agreed between the stakeholders.

Where a workplace uses an agile or ABW model consider if the control measure does not provide adequate comfort to an employee that they can opt out and return to having a permanent desk. It is up to the organisation to set and where possible to agree with the stakeholders on the parameters on this.

You also need to consider physical distancing and control measures for work trips in corporate vehicles where more than one person is in a motor vehicle at a time.

So there is plenty to discuss in this episode. 

Workplace Standards, Guidelines and Protocol documents  can be a great tool.
 It sets framework and parameters, not just for workplace projects, but also for the business leaders and people managers on business as usual workplace requests.

Over the last decade this document has often been referred to as a “kit of parts”. 
 
Now lets look at the definitions:

Standards: this I something that is often repeatable, harmonised, agreed and documented way of doing something. Standards contain technical specifications or other precise criteria designed to be used consistently as a rule or definition 

Policies: a set of ideas or a plan of what to do in particular situations that has been agreed to officially by a group. These can be enforceable for an organisations governing body. 

These two are implemented to protect people, from short sighted actions that might people them and their colleagues at risk.

Guidelines: a general rule, principle, or piece of advice, the first part of the word summaries the definition a “guide”

Protocols: a system of rules that explain the correct conduct and procedures to be followed in formal situations: a document that describes the details of a formal agreement between people.

During the project phase this kit of parts provides a solid reference guide to workplace designers, project managers and other professionals to ensure that the project is delivered within to the standards and policies expected.

It provides less chance to deviate from the expected or required outcomes.

It provides an education framework on why certain standards and policies exist and to provide the tools for management to explain to their employees on the reasons why certain workplace solution need to be delivered a particular way.

This kit of parts are now very extensive, and they need to be. It will include:

- The organisations intent from their workplace;
- The various settings for various activities;
- The furniture solutions available for different workplace settings;
- Technology standards;
- Collaboration Tools;
- Look and Feel;
- Minimum requirements for building services;
- Wayfinding 
- Concept Planning
- Facility Plan Request Procedure

Plus so much more. Do not underestimate the considerations of building and more importantly maintaining a sustainable workplace.

This document creates the framework for your organisations social distancing compliance, safe sharing of spaces and contactless storage solutions for your personal effects and other facilities and procedures that create a safe post COVID environment. 

In Australia over the last two weeks the importance of a Workplace Culture Audit has been in the media, for all the wrong reasons.

Rarely do organisations conduct Workplace Culture Audits if everything is ok, there is normally a catalyst of some proportion that requires a Culture Audit.

Workplace Culture is influenced by people, HR, processes, built environment just to name a few.

This pod cast will discuss this and more. If you feel like a Workplace Culture Audit is going to be like a picnic by the harbour, you maybe sadly mistaken. 

This is the second series of our discussions on investing in expert workplace change management services to encourage employees to feel comfortable about returning to work at the office.

We discuss the importance of re-education of people expectations on room capacity and creating new habits by sub-conscious reminders by subtle and informative signage.

The topic of having consistent social distancing rules in place that would meet the needs of your organisation at any peak period of a further pandemic should be adopted to provide longer term security for employees that the workplace is safe. It will also assist to ensure social distancing compliance.

If there are new facilities in the workplace, then how people can take advantage of these should be communicated clearly.

Also remember, organisations may have to adopt a stage approach to delivering their new workplace, so once the strategy experts understand what parts of the business are now predominately working from home, who is and how they are using the office then this will determine what the next step of workplace modification need to be.

When engaging with your workforce, a experienced change manager will not lead employees to an answer, but broadly ask the question to understand what the true concerns are, so it can be solutioned in the best interest of all stakeholders.

Early data is showing reduction in productivity by up to 20% for people that are not use to working from home, remembering prior to the pandemic only a small part of the working population worked from home for long periods of time.