4. THE ‘OFFICE’ IS DEAD!THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT WORKPLACES
THE ASSIST CONFERENCE
5. THIS IS A TRUE STORY
THE EVENTS DEPICTED IN THIS PRESENTATION TOOK PLACE IN THE UK.
AT THE REQUEST OF SURVIVORS, SOME CLIENT NAMES MAY HAVE BEEN CHANGED.
OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE DEAD, THE REST HAS BEEN TOLD EXACTLY AS IT
OCCURRED.
6. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
SO, WHO AM I?
We are the UK’s
leading office design,
fit out and workplace
strategy specialists.
And I am are here to
change the way you
think about your
office.
8. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
What is the
biggest cost
centre of your
business?
QUESTION
9. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
COST CENTRES
PEOPLE AND PROPERTY ARE THE BIGGEST COST
CENTRES FOR ANY BUSINESS
PEOPLE FACTORS PROPERTY FACTORS
ATTRACTION
AND
RETENTION
BETTER TEAM
COLLABORATIO
N
MODEL
BEHAVIOURS
AND
PRACTICES
BUSINESS
CHANGES
FASTER THAN
SPACE
PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT
EFFICIENCY
DRIVEN
10. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
YET, THERE IS A BIG DISCONNECT
££££££££
££
COMMUNICATION
PERFORMANCE
CO-WORKERS
CUSTOMER
CENTRICITY
IMMEDIATE
MANAGER
INFLUENCE
INNOVATION
RATE DRIVEN
BASIC
ONE SIZE FITS ALL
INFLEXIBLE
NON-EXPRESSIVE
11. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
COMMON THEMES
LOW UTILIZATION OF DESKS: THE DESK
IS CONSIDERED THE ONLY PLACE TO DO
INDIVIDUAL WORK
MAJORITY OF SPACE IS JUST DESKS
AND MEETING ROOMS: THIS BINARY
VIEW OF SPACE PLANNING DOES NOT
MEET THE NEEDS OF THE WORKFORCE
12. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
CONCENTRATIO
N
IS AN ISSUE!
INFORMAL CULTURE
IS IMPORTANT, BUT WE ALSO NEED PRIVACY SOMETIMES,
TO CONCENTRATE AND GET SOME
WORK DONE
COMMON THEMES
13. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
Number of employees
Annual employment cost (London
average no senior managers or
directors)
18% of time lost to
distractions (Morgan
Lovell's survey
benchmarking)
Business saving if
distractions reduced by
50%
50 £2,076,470 £373,765 £186,882
150 £6,229,411 £1,121,294 £560,647
350 £14,535,292 £2,616,353 £1,308,176
1000 £41,529,408 £7,475,293 £3,737,647
2000 £83,058,816 £14,950,587 £7,475,293
WHERE DOES YOUR ORGANISATION SIT?
14. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
>10%
observed
meetings had only
one person
Meeting Room and Seat Utilization Detail
%Observed
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Meeting Room
GA0301F (8) GA0701H (6) GA0703H (4) GA1805P (4) GA2005Q (4)
Ground
Meeting room utilization per day
<5%
of space allocated
to informal &
unscheduled
collaboration
Time/Day
%Observed
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
27% utilisation
MORE MEETING ROOMS?
15. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
SUPPLY DOES NOT MEET COLLABORATION DEMAND
• Open
• Enclosed
• Formal
• Informal
• Scheduled
• Ad-hoc
DEMAND
SUPPLY
16. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
C-Suite or IT whizkid
Workplace mobility
Employee
TECHNOLOGY
• Workstreams not aligned
• Mobile technology rolled out top down
• Internal mobility ignored
• Gimmicky & costly technology has made
you risk averse
Residents = 20%
i.e. at desk >80% of time
Internally Mobile = 60% i.e. at
desk 20 – 80% of time
Externally Mobile = 20% i.e. at desk
< 20% of time1.
2.
3.
17. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
Have you
experienced
some of these
issues?
QUESTION
23. The organisation
wants me!
Engagement: I want to
bring the whole of me to
work
I want: recognition &
work/life balance
I want: choice in when,
where & how to work
We want:
A unique, casual and
collaborative workspace
Rise of the Individual
24. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
ENGAGEMENT AND OWNERSHIP – GOOD TO GREAT
Communication
Feeling connected to
news and information
Co-workers
Places to connect
and celebrate
Customer centricity
Space aligned
with brand
Immediate manager
Inviting and accessible
Influence
Control over
your environment
Innovation
Environments that
support inspiration
26. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
1960’s 1980’s 2010’s
…THE PHYSICAL OFFICE HAS NOT EVOLVED MUCH
“Offices and their interiors still speak
more about the past than the future”
28. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
IT IS IMPORTANT FOR WORKPLACES TO BALANCE MEASURES
EFFECTIVENESS EFFICENCY EXPRESSION
EFFECTIVENESS EFFICENCY EXPRESSION
29. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
1
Cellular
space
workstation
individual
Full non-
territorial
environment
NEW WORKPLACE MODELS ARE EMERGING
Model
Government
DCSF, GSA, BBC,
Enfield Council
Consulting
Accenture, IBM,
E+Y, Delloite,
Blue Rubicon
Technology Microsoft,
Nokia, Cisco, Autodesk,
ThoughtworksFinancial Services
Citigroup, Capital One,
Deutsche Bank, Prudential,
JP Morgan, Barclays
Pharma and Industry
GSK, Pfizer, Unilever,
Lindt, Costa Coffee
Most
workplaces
still sit here!
Activity-Based Working
2
Open
plan
3
+ communal
support spaces
4
Breaking the
link between
workstation and
individual
5
Full non-territorial
environment
31. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
Better support our employees
wherever they work
Continue to attract and retain top
talent
Improve collaboration and
productivity
Reduce carbon footprint
More efficient use of our real estate
portfolio
Increase workplace buzz
VISION TO REALITY
JOURNEY
33. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
Activities/Tasks
Brainstorming Project meetings
Informal discussions Analysing data
Video conferencing
Problem solving 1:1’s
Exchanging ideas Advising team
Talking on
the phone
Co-ordinating
people
Scheduled meetings Reviewing/ reading
Teleconferencing
WHAT DID WE DO DIFFERENTLY?
Settings/Spaces Landscapes/Environment
Workstations
Tea point
Offices
Meeting rooms
Touchdowns
Phone booths
Informal seating
Project spaces
Quiet rooms
Gallery lounge
Cafeteria
34. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
POST OCCUPANCY EVALUATION RESULTS
88%
Felt the new office
expressed the culture of
Autodesk (up from 35%)
Satisfaction with access
to colleagues (up from
49%)
92%
Over
saved in real estate costs with
9,000 sqft space reduction
£1.7m
+88%Satisfaction with ability to
have a private
conversation (88% vs.
45%)
78%
agreed the ability to
concentrate improved
from 44%
35. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
Support workstylesSUPPORT WORKSTYLES & CULTURES
VARIETY OF STAKEHOLDER GROUPS: WITH
DIFFERENT NEEDS AND ENVIRONMENTAL
REQUIREMENTS
VARIATION IN SUB TEAM CULTURES: TEAMS
ARE MANAGED VERY DIFFERENTLY
36. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
TO PROVIDE THE RIGHT WORKPLACE EXPERIENCE
Individual
Work zone
Buffer zone
Team zones
Dynamic zone,
full collaborationTeam zones
OpenTeaming
Touchdown
spaces
Emailing
Open workspaces
Emails, phone
calls, exchanging
ideas, training,
reading
Enclosed quiet rooms
Reading, analysing
data, report writing,
private phone calls
Open team tables
Emailing, phone
calls,
Informal breakout areas
casual meetings,
brainstorming,
Semi-enclosed project
space
Discussions, informal
meetings, explaining,
presenting, incident
management,
Advising team, co-
ordinating people,
brainstorming,
Breakout spaces
Informal discussions,
brainstorming
Enclosed meeting
rooms
Presenting,
teleconferencing,
video conferencing
37. THE ASSIST CONFERENCE @SAM_SAHNI
HOW TO THINK ABOUT WORKPLACE TRANSFORMATION?
Challenge! And always
connect to broader
organizational initiatives
Important to gain senior
leadership endorsement
and support
Why not create staff
excitement through
engagement? Apply
tools & a
communications
campaign
Creativity is supposed
to make you
uncomfortable!
Experimentation is
powerful approach!
Remember, not
everything good is
expensive
42. 42
Outline
Background
Systematically planning the creation of an assistants
handbook; what should it cover?
Utilising the skills of a wider team; how taking
ownership can help you grow
Working successfully across global locations/time
zones
Outcomes
Takeaway points
What
will be
covered
43. 43
Background
About me: Over 9 years’ experience; from
Postgrad in Law to administrator, and now
EA to CEO of Earthport, Hank Uberoi.
Earthport are an international cross border
payments company headquartered in
London, with offices in New York, Miami,
Dubai and Singapore.
How I became involved:
Led the development of a
handbook at my last Global
Company, which was rolled out.
Small admin/assistant team at
Earthport with different reporting
lines. Need for standardisation &
clarity. Lack of user guides –
volunteered! Add value.
Challenges:
1. Time - lack of hours & time zones
2. Lack of resources – handful of staff
involved in creation
3. Gaining support from other departments
Motivations:
1. Support others – varying experience
levels within team
2. Standardise processes & procedures to
benefit bosses and assistants
3. Clarity on systems - one place for all user
guides
4. Clarity over expectations
?
44. A B C D
44
Policy &
procedure:
User Guides:
Planning the Handbook: what should be covered?
HR issues
Absence/holiday
Health & Safety
T&E policy
AML Reporting
Expenses
“Salesforce”
“People”
“AMEX”
Microsoft
tips/shortcuts
Best Practice:
Minutes & agendas
Business development
support
Travel schedules
Presentations
Relationship management
Other:
Templates
Networking guide
List of associations
Contact lists
Brand Guidelines
Country etiquette guide
Who will use the guide? Audience?
Completion date/time frame?
How will we delegate?
How will we obtain the information?
Who should proof read the document?
Will information differ per location?
Will HR need to sign off?
Will the project content affect our review
process & objective setting?
Can other departments use this information?
Should we disseminate?
Should we share with our Executives?
Who will update the guide? How often?
Key
Questions:
45. 45
Devise project timeline, circulate
Gantt chart
Schedule progress/status calls
Liaise with HR
Final proof & edit the document
Best practice/other sections
Contact list
HR policy
User Guides
Tips/tricks
Co. overview
LDN EA:
Utilising the skills of a wider team: Delegation & Management
Amy’s strengths: leadership,
experience, creative
Strengths: HR
experience, contacts,
free time, methodical
Brand Guidelines
Events/travel
Associations list
Strengths: Marketing,
travel, knowledge
Best practice
Templates
Salesforce
T&E Policy
Strengths: Publishing,
new starter, experience
LDN Admin:
Strengths: Longevity,
knowledge, analytical,
practical
London EA
Project lead (Amy):
NY EA:
Dubai EA:
Use your team’s skills/strengths!
Motivating
Development
Focuses on achievement
46. 46
Time zones: Bi-weekly
progress calls at 09:00
EST/14:00 GMT/18:00 GST.
Set aside 1-2 hours a week
for working on the project
Respect local holidays and
plan accordingly
Writing style: all guides
checked and edited to local
spelling/language
convention (US English for
USA, UK English for all
other locations)
Consult main admin
contact in each office for
local etiquette guide
Individual responsibility for
updating Gantt chart with
progress in shared folder
Working across borders
47. 47
Great
feedback from
Executive
Team
Opportunity
to review &
improve our
methods &
practices
Benchmark for
standards &
annual reviews
Other
departments
utilised
user/program
guides
7 Chapter
Guide with
123 pages
Better
understanding
of individual
needs &
strengths
New expense &
travel providers
following review
Bosses now
have oversight
of the volume &
type of work we
do!
Leaner working;
fewer questions,
less waste,
better
understanding
Team profile
raised within the
organisation
Outcomes: just some of the positives!
48. 48
Chance to improve skills outside of everyday remit such as; editing, proof reading,
delegation, leadership, management, design, creative writing, decision making,
teamwork, mentoring, Microsoft packages, project management, networking etc.
Better understanding of Earthport, inside & out of a support function. Able
to contribute ideas, offer feedback. Increased understanding of the financial
sector, improved business acumen. Gained knowledge of various
department functions & larger company goals.
Development of gravitas, raised profile,
strengthened relationships; likely to be involved
in higher level projects as a result. Feature in
company newsletter. Attend company events.
Standard setting for & leadership
of Global team – now a manager
with a direct report!
Outcomes: Career Development
49. 49
A joint project to
consolidate
standards &
information will not
only assist new
starters, it will help
your existing team
work in a leaner,
more unified
manner
Sharing a
completed guide
with your
bosses/executives
will provide them
with a solid
overview of the
service you
provide, and can
raise the profile of
the team within
your organisation
Handbooks are an
evolving document
from which you can
drive change –
Earthport now have
a new T&E policy &
expense tool
following our
project
Leading or
contributing to a
Handbook Project
can help refine &
improve your skills,
whilst developing
your career
Takeaway points: What I hope you’ve gained!
Thank you!
74. What happened next …
Fantastic meeting,
great location,
endless food and
loved the games
Another great
event Karen –
when you are
involved I know its
going to be great
Another brilliant
meeting Karen –
how are you going
to better this one ?
Thoroughly enjoyed
the event Karen, loved
the photo booth, going
to use that idea for a
family party coming up
– can I borrow the
props please?
Hello and welcome to the second Assist Conference.
As you can imagine I am very excited to have you all here and finally get to say hello! I have been totally blown away by the popularity of this year’s conference. We hoped we would get 100 of you here but I can’t believe we have actually sold out. We literally can not fit any more of you in here!
When I chose the space I wanted to make sure that it was informal and would help ensure the atmosphere was nice and relaxed. I think we have achieved that with the Forge. We want you to learn from the content but we also want you to learn from each other so please do make use of the refreshment space to chat and get to know each other a little more. We can teach you guys a lot but you can teach other a lot too!
Clark Kent, wakes up in the morning, with an S on his chest. Flies to work and what comes out of the other end of revolving door is a man with grey boring suit, who sits on desk all day and cannot bring the whole of himself to work. What I am going to talk about in the next few minutes is – what can workplaces do to help superheroes, shed their skin and bring all of themselves to a productive working environment.
Thinking about it…people and property are the biggest cost centres of any organisation. People much more than property in fairness. They say that in London, people factors such as productivity, attracting and retaining the right talent, absenteeism, average salary levels etc can be upto 80% of the cost of a successful business
Yet when it comes to the workplace, we are seeing a big disconnect between people and property. After all, people make workplaces to house people. But what drives the workforce – factors such as communication, performance, co-working etc are not as much, prime drivers of a physical office project. In lack of a better metaphor, we are seeing the expectation of a business from people is to be able to perform like a smartphone. Yet the property model is efficiency/rate driven, one size fits all and somewhat binary.
In fact, more that often we see meeting rooms being actively utilised less than 30% of the time. And for a good proportion of that time, we see one person using a medium to large meeting room space by themselves. That poor Clark Kent who is trying to concentrate or conduct a conference call with no other option.
The reality is that collaboration is different shades – open, enclosed, ad-hoc, scheduled, formal, informal. And meetings are shifting from rooms into social settings - within and outside buildings. People often say lets grab a quick coffee, spend 5-10 mins, make a decision and get on with things. So the demand looks a bit like this. Yet the supply is binary…….
And finally, technology is a little bane of your organisation. Roll out of mobile devices is hierarchical rather than by the needs of the workstyle. The reality is that we see high internal mobility, i.e. people in the office but not at their desks, yet their tech allocation is a fixed PC. So one may ask, why build a highly expressive … i.e. cool workspace, when people aren’t supported by technology in every single space?? Are we creating more Clark Kents this way?
…we see workplace as the intersection of the physical, the virtual and the psychological. These are the enablers to connect people and property. Let me give you an example – we worked on a POE for a client who did not go through this process and jumped straight to design. They provided brilliant looking, yet expensive high back sofas. In the 2 weeks we were there, not a single person used that setting…lack of culture and relevant technology. And talking about technology, here’s some news…..
In fact we are under predicting what the future may look like. In 1954, they said the home computer of 2000 would look like this. 10 years later they suggested this, and we have this out in market mid 2005….
We thought that technology was gonna do this to us. If you have seen wall-e, you know what I am talking about…but the picture is appearing to be quite the opposite..
Thanks to media, we are now questioning our sedentary lifestyles. You must have heard about ‘Sitting is the new smoking’ conundrum. I am not saying whether the concept is right or wrong. What I am saying is it is making the society think and question certain aspects which were taken for granted all this time…
Whilst we are seeing a rise in disruptive tech. The apple watch went on sale last week with pre-orders in the region of 2m just in UK. What I am saying is that things such as ‘sit less…put some distance’ etc are the worst nightmares of a presenteeism led manager!
There has been huge rise of the individual. We are seeing less 9-5 mentality as individuals are interested to bring the whole of themselves to work. They want choice, autonomy, feel integrated, feel the sense of purpose, balance work/life and play….
In 2004, Hewitt associates, management consultants from the US studied 2000 most successful organisations in their sectors to understand what made them go from good to greatest – other than pay, strategy, career and benefits, they found out that these organisations were driven by a different set of intangible factors. The staff felt they were more connected news and info, worked with colleagues where they could celebrate success & early failures, customer centricity was at the heart of thinking, progressive innovation was there in everything they did and people felt they had a relationship with the immediate managers. Last year itself, a famous recruitment consultancy surveyed those who had contacted them for a possible change of job – 77% reported ‘lack of access to immediate manager’ as the main reason for their new search!
The physical office has not evolved much. Other than some change on what goes on the desk, the physical office pretty much looks the same…..
The challenging aspect is the growing awareness about the world of work. We live and work in a very mature market in the UK. Thanks to mainstream media – the awareness is rising rapidly. Its great but also poses an interesting challenge….
That is because all businesses are committed to make most out of their cost centres. And have common denominators such as ensuring staff are given productive environments, they are connected to the vision and values, are agile and offcourse contribute to the bottom line of the business. You want supermen to behave like supermen rather than house a number of Clark Kents. And let me in you on another secret from a workplace consultant….
They challenged the notion of binary open-plan to progressively shift towards other workplace models that supported the needs of their people – individual working, concentrated working, collaboration, contemplation etc.
What they did differently was to very early on identify what activities their superheroes undertake, what are the best settings that support those and how could we accommodate those activities in a landscape that was measured on efficiency, effectiveness and expression.
And you can start today. All you need to do is to gather relevant data to identify who are your real customers, what are their barriers and opportunities and what do they need to be able to perform.
Once you have done that, create environments that provide you with a wholesome workplace experience. It isn’t about that boring binary one size fits all approach anymore…
My name is amy smith and I am an executive PA at Skyscanner.
Sky scanner is a global travel search site. Not only do we source the best travel options for our users, but we also use the tool internally to plan our business travel. Despite having a great tool…
> BOOKING TRAVEL SUCKED
But why did it suck? Let’s take a look
While Skyscanner is a great tool, the problem was our booking and approval process. It was complicated. It involved a lot of back and forth and cross platform data entry. It was time consuming and there were too many opportunities for mistakes.
>CLICK THROUGH
Clearly our process was flawed. The process I’ve just shown you, from the moment started the travel request to booking took a massive
> 4.5 hours.
That’s per person, per trip! But this is just the tip of the iceberg, let me add some context to this…
PAs at Skyscanner support 4 execs each. Here are my lot >
Now, our exec team will do an average of 40 business trips per year. >
4 people, doing 40 trips a year is 160 travel requests for each PA.
But what does that mean in terms of time…well
>
160 trips
>At 4.5 hours a trip
>Is 96 days a year booking travel
Something had to be done
The developer team started looking into building an in-house solution to corporate travel, but they needed key stakeholders on board – Like the PAs
I met with the team individually, and as a group to discuss pain points, what was working, and what we wanted the process to look like. As one of the busiest travel bookers, I was asked to test and provide feedback on the tool, and was available for the developers to bounce ideas off throughout the project.
I was thrilled to be involved in something that was not only going to make my life easier, but other people’s within the business too. I quickly became a brand ambassador for the team and the tool they were building, travelpro.
The tool is being used in Skyscanner and in many other businesses across Europe too. The Skyscanner PAs continue to provide feedback on the tool, and we seek feedback from our external PA users too, to truly make it a collaborative PA tool.
This is something built by PAs, for PAs and it’s amazing that PAs from different countries and companies continue to influence and shape TravelPro to improve it further, it really is an outstanding example or PA Power.
So, how has my role changed?
I’ve had the chance to work with another team within the business, and I’ve gained new skills, and learned a lot about corporate travel.
I’ve had more “free time” to focus on driving other initiatives and projects for Skyscanner, which has lead to public speaking opportunities. I have also been able to focus on personal development, and have been able to spend some time working on gaining a Microsoft master certification
I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without the changes we made to the travel process.
What was the biggest lesson I learned?
I am learning that if you experience issues or pain in doing a task, others probably are too, and talking about it is the first step to fixing it. Often PAs underestimate themselves and what they can contribute, but we have something of value to offer. Not only to our execs, but to the business too. This project has allowed me to expand my horizons and lead exciting new initiatives at Skyscanner, and I’m more valuable to the business as a resut.
I’d like to leave you with just one thought today… we have valuable insights to offer, we know our subject areas and can absolutely contribute to make a difference.
So, remember; “If you change nothing, nothing will change”