Phase 3: Optimising Spaces, People and Process

• Have you implemented governance procedures for the project and consulted all relevant guidance/documentation in this area for your industry and market?

  • Have you allocated project sponsorship to an appropriate executive?

  • Have you nominated project managers / leaders?

  • Have you allocated budgets?

  • Have you nominated project champions?

• Have you determined whether you will use internal or external resources for the following:

  • Architectural plans

  • Construction

  • Interior Design

  • Workplace Consulting

  • Change Management

  • Technology

  • Audio Visual

  • Building and Environmental Systems

• Have you evaluated your potential external suppliers or talent to ensure they are able to deliver on the goals you seek?

  • Have you set up a request for proposal / tender process as part of this project plan for the use of any external services?

  • Have you consulted the relevant outsourcing guidance or documentation for each type of external provider?

• Have you commenced a communication program with employees that clearly outlines who will be involved in the project among the broader workforce and explicitly articulated responsibilities and time frames?

  • Do you have materials available to employees in an easily accessible location that communicate the project’s goals, processes and impacts?

  • Have you established steps for regular updates to the workforce on project progress?

• Have you taken steps to ensure each stream of the project is working holistically and collaboratively with other streams to keep the whole project together and working towards the same vision?

• Have you worked collaboratively with the architects and interior designers to agree on the number and type of spaces that are suitable for your organisation?

• Have you compared the building and space design to industry best practice and benchmarks? (I.e. Looking at metrics such as floor space per employee and/or the ratio of workstations to employees)

• Does the building and workspace design assist the organisation to achieve its goals while also creating an inspiring, safe and environmentally friendly environment in which to work?

• Are the spaces barrier-free and accessible to all, including those with disabilities?

• Have you considered contemporary and/or novel furniture for your workplace such as standing-only workstations or other unique designs?

• Have you included an environmentally friendly lighting and air flow plan in the office design?

• Have you made allowances for agile software development and DevOps IT approaches that often utilise fixed spaces in the workplace plan?

• Have you established an approach for how official mentoring programs and ad hoc knowledge exchange between employees will be pursued in a flexible working space when employees can change seats freely?

• Do you established policies for supporting out-of-hours events that could be held in the offices such as hackathons or charity fund raisers?

• Have you implemented steps for assisting employees to find other people in the ABW office when nobody has a set seat and could be working from anywhere?

• Have you established team neighbourhoods which act as staff base areas to help with retaining team spirit and providing sense of belonging?

• Have you established communities of remote workers to offer the same sense of belonging and team spirit to teleworkers that is available to those present in the office?

• Have you established a comprehensive change management program?

  • Does this program include training employees in any new office technology?

  • Do you have tech advocates nominated for any new or upgraded IT?

  • Does it include training for those in managerial positions in outcomes-based v “bums-on-seats” approaches?

  • Does it include immersion sessions to help employees acclimatise to new spaces and mitigate the potential for reversion into old work habits?

• Have you identified what processes will be affected by the digitisation required when moving to ABW and/or other flexible work styles like telework?

  • In collaboration with business unit leaders and operatives, have you established steps for first optimising these processes, then automation and mobilisation?

• Have you assessed all processes for potential inefficiencies and commenced steps for improvements during the opportune time of a workplace change like ABW?

• Have you established policies and allocated resources for enabling tours of the ABW office for clients and other interested parties?

  • Have you implemented systems that allow you to capture data from any tours to help with client engagement (i.e. satisfaction, brand perception, purchase intent, etc) and future workplace strategy planning?

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