National Grid implemented a Smart Workspace project to increase office space utilization and flexibility. The key goals were to reduce costs, increase collaboration, and provide a variety of workspaces. Research found that desks were empty 37% of the time on average and staff worked in silos. The new design introduced booking systems, varied workspaces, and protocols. Results included a 15% increase in utilization, reduced empty spaces by 24%, and higher ratings for collaboration and creativity. Staff feedback was positive and new habits formed around flexible working. The project helped National Grid nearly halve space per person and achieve annual cost savings of £8-10 million.

1. Estate Strategy = flexibility ?
Simon Carter, Head of Corporate Property,
National Grid
18th October 2013

2. National Grid – who are we
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•
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Originated from the restructuring of the UK gas industry in 1986 and the UK
electricity industry in 1990 and entered the US energy delivery market in 2000
A network utility, based in the UK and the US. Our principal interests are:
– Transmission and distribution of electricity and gas
– Metering services, liquefied natural gas facilities and property in the UK
– Electricity interconnectors in the UK and US
Our Vision:
– Connecting you to your energy needs today, trusted to help you meet your
energy needs tomorrow
– Be a recognised leader in the development and operation of safe, reliable and
sustainable energy infrastructure to meet the needs of our customers and
communities and generate value for our investors…

3. Estate strategy – what & how
What:
• Efficiency and effective estate – fit for purpose and benchmarked
• Safe, reliable, sustainable and productive work environment
How:
• Business demand & estate supply analysis – total vs core
• Optimise occupancy – integrated approach, considering:
– Business continuity, Business separation, Risk
– Best performing – efficiency & effectiveness
– Estate margin
• 10 year plan and business case driven:
– Lease breaks, site re developments, sharing, purchase vs lease, workplace
strategy …
• Property asset management

4. Introduce flexibility…
•
•
•
•
There are many ways to match supply with demand
If you ‘ask the business’ there is a tendency to add ‘fat’ to manage uncertainty..
the unknown..
So having a real estate solution that provides:
– real flexibility
– reduces cost
– reduces energy costs
– maintains effectiveness and delights staff !
…… is essential
We developed Smart Workspace, an office sharing plan aimed at
getting all these in one…

5. Project positioning – Smart Workspace
Aim:
……“to increase collaboration and knowledge sharing across the businesses in
order to drive efficiencies and innovation. We believe that our buildings could be
used much more and may no longer suit the way we work today.”
Approach:
• Workplace research to better understand current and future organisational and
space requirements
• Use design, lighting levels and colours to engage people
• A pilot project will be implemented to test ideas such as greater variety of space
and desk sharing
• The pilot will be measured in a post occupancy evaluation
• Deploy excellent change management tools and processes

6. Clarity of purpose – Company & Staff Engagement
• More sustainable use of existing buildings
What’s in it for
National Grid
• Cost savings - £8-10m p.a.
• Better connected teams and more knowledge sharing
• Promote brand and culture through the work space
• Potential to increase employee productivity
What’s in it
for me?
• Choice over where to work
• Wider variety of workspaces to work from including desks, informal meeting,
project spaces and quiet rooms
• New, better quality work environment
• More buzz and quiet spaces
• Better access to leaders and each other within and across teams

7. Data collection…
Envisioning session
Informal/Ad hoc
Silent
Communicative
Focus within discipline
Face to face interaction
Focus groups
Self motivated
Lack of sharing, silos,
focused individual
work
Now
70%
Solo work
Focus across discipline
Team working,
stimulated
Future
Not obtainable
Average internal mobility:
22%
Average active occupancy:
41%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
Pausing
Individual work
Collaboration
15:00
16:00
17:00
Time of Day
Work styles breakdown
11%
9%
31%
13%
35%
Anchors
Task based
residents
Clear company
presence - bold
Unoccupied
60%
Virtual interaction
Directed by others
Empty
Average empty:
37%
80%
Residents
Identity, hidden
beneath the surface
Core day
90%
Percentage
of time
desks used
Formal/Scheduled
Group based
Observations
100%
Internally
mobile
Knowledge
workers
Externally
mobile
Strategic
Management
Managers
Percentage time spent in different locations
by job level

8. Key research themes and opportunities
Meeting culture
Increase
communication
Balance need for
concentration with team
work
Increase variety of
settings
• Mix of formal and informal meeting spaces distributed throughout floor
• Provision of project space
• Non assigned desks for some – encourage movement and interaction
• Team areas with signage and expression of identity
• Better interaction points on floor
• Easily accessible open and enclosed small working spaces
• Protocols which allow productive working in open plan areas
• Provision of different settings to accommodate various working tasks and provide less
regimented layout
Flexibility related to job
types
• Higher job grades work more flexibly than lower grades; more mobile
Provide stimulating and
creative environment
• Landmarks provided on floor to express National Grid culture
• A vibrant, modern and professional design
Increase floor density
• Potential to increase overall floor densities by up to 30%

9. Design - Menu of spaces and zoning
Legends
Cores
Hub / Social Space.
Business Lounge / Touchdown.
Bookable Meeting Spaces.
Variety of Types.
Meeting Rooms & Study Booths.
Open / Enclosed / Semi-enclosed
Collaborative Space.
Project / Mtg / Workspace.
Open Workspace
Copy / Print & Tea / Vending
General store / Comms (C)
Main Entry to Floor
Access to Lift

10. Osprey House, Nottingham
BCO Best Fit Out &
Occupation - Midlands &
East Anglia Award Winner
2013
• Osprey House
•
Follows the same design principles
•
Similar occupancy levels
•
However business separation created a
complexity to the occupation with 5 different
businesses operating out of one building, all
to National Grid’s standards
• 25,000 sq ft for ~400 staff
• ~£1500 – 2000 per head / year
• The business case is clear…

11. People - Workplace protocols
 General principles:
• Everyone will work in an open plan environment with access a range of
bookable and non-bookable spaces
• Protocols apply equally to all regardless of grade
• Everyone will have a team base to go to every day
• Team bases do not ‘belong’ to anyone
 Protocols are..
•
not hard and fast
•
shared etiquette and common sense
•
enables workspace to work
•
new desired behaviours
•
‘collective’ decision
 Today the transformed floor plates are basically self managed

12. So, what’s been achieved ?
• Flexibility and utilisation
• Collaboration, creativity & innovation
• Sustainability & Cost Effectiveness
“85% of staff when asked
said they didn’t want to go
back to their old working
environment”
“89% of staff said they
have been able to find the
workplace of their choice”

13. Flexibility and utilisation
 Higher utilisation
 Variety of settings to suit activities
 Move from territorial, hierarchical
culture

14. Achieving Higher Utilisation
• The pilot has enabled a 15% increase in workspace utilisation
• Empty spaces have decreased by almost a quarter (24%)
• The levels of ‘temporarily unoccupied’ desks has also increased by 9% indicating increased
internal mobility as people use the variety of spaces available to them
Observation study – utilisation of desks
Before:
Now:
Open plan desks and offices
37% empty
13% empty
31% temporarily unoccupied
22% temporarily unoccupied
48% individual work
33% individual work
8% collaboration
8% collaboration
Change
Open plan desks

15. Collaboration, creativity
& innovation
 Increase ad-hoc interaction and
knowledge sharing within teams
 Break down silos and increase
knowledge sharing across teams
 Support individual work and
collaboration
 Increase presence of brand values
 Support recruitment and retention

16. Supporting collaboration and creativity
• Every item in the survey relating to collaboration and creativity has improved since the move
• The pilot performs better with regard to supporting effective team working, knowledge sharing
and ad-hoc meetings
• Furthermore the pilot provides a significantly more stimulating and creative environment for
occupants
Average importance (post)
Average performance (pre)
Average performance (post)
“Sitting and working alongside
Property members that I
previously did not come into
contact with very often has
enhanced my working
relationships and aids
productivity and delivery of
service…”

17. Sustainability & Cost
Effectiveness
 Ensure IT is aligned with flexible
working
 Change habits in order to make
change sustainable
 Helps deliver a 15-18% reduction in
our (CRE) carbon foot print

18. Changing habits is more sustainable
• Comments in the survey suggest that new habits are forming which
support lasting change
• Particularly evident is the shift to clear desk policy and paper / filing
management
“Clear desk policy – it’s a nice tidy
place to work and I have identified
more efficient ways of working that
are proving effective”
“It has forced a more focussed
approach to filing and shared
document management”
“there’s greater collaboration within the
team through people moving around the
floor plate”

19. A great result ..
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•
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New UK standard for National Grid, ~4500 people now working in
transformed environments… ~500 more planned
Nearly halved the space allocation per person – benchmark performance
increased significantly – TOCS and IPD
Enabling estate consolidation:
– Increasing collaboration and engagement
– Recruitment & retention
– ~£8 – 10m per annum savings

20. Thank you for listening….