e-mail request to the archive. To reduce the workload of the BSC, less essential files were ‘deep stored’ by a commercial contractor as were files that needed to be retained but were no longer expected to be required at short notice.


Once the effectiveness of this off-site office support service had been established the EPT returned to the Board to seek its approval to relocate other ‘semi-industrial’ processes, formerly accommodated within central offices; post, reprographics, scanning, printing, etc, to the BSC in accordance with the EPT’s original designs for the building. The EPT proposals in fact went further, suggesting that the BSC provide touchdown workspace for staff engaged in archive research or utilising a large number of files at any one time in addition to the creation of training rooms, ICT ‘back-up’ facilities and other essential services, such as emergency planning and control. Thus the BSC might operate as an alternative location for the Council to operate from should Perceval House be put out of action; an event that had occurred on at least two occasions in the preceding five years.


Measurement and ‘re-stacking’


One of the principal lessons learned during the initial phase of the BWoW roll-out was the necessity of post implementation review carried out on a business unit-by-business


unit


basis. Due to the rapid progress of the refurbishment and re-occupation of Perceval House made necessary by the demands of the service change management programme, it had been necessary to identify a common ratio of occupancy to desk provision of 10:8 with a further reduction of one workstation per 15 staff. These allowances had been arrived at by extrapolating data from the original BWoW pilot study. However following the completion of the project it quickly became clear to the EPT that areas of spatial inequality in certain parts of the building were leading to reduced effectiveness of teams and complaints made to the regular building user forum were further evidence that action needed to be taken.


Using established methods of occupancy measurement and analysis of data collected over specific periods of time, the EPT discovered that some sections of departments, particularly those carrying out ‘static’ administrative functions in, for example, financial services, were suffering from significant shortfall in the space they required to function effectively. In some cases occupancy levels of 120% were identified. By far the most common result was, however, that under- occupation was the norm in most departments with the majority recording occupancy levels of around 50% and on one occasion less than 20%! The practice of creating ‘single- person’ desks (encouraged, it was concluded, by the design of the standard workstation) that remained unused when their occupants were not in the office further increased inequalities and a sense of resentment amongst adjacent staff with, on occasions, nowhere to work.


The necessity of re-organising workspace allocation on more equitable lines presented the EPT with the opportunity to ‘re-stack’ the building, each floor being allocated to a single department where possible. This would permit departments to re-organise their own accommodation (within strict BWoW guidelines) when circumstances demanded it and removed from the EPT the unenviable task of becoming “office accommodation police”. To assist departments in the best use of allocated space, the EPT provided analysis of the data to


10


produce a series of occupancy maps that allowed sections within each department to functionally co-exist, contributing space to each other as circumstances dictated and ensuring that no groups would have fewer desks than they needed to operate at any given time.


Continuous Improvement Experiences of the immediate aftermath


roll-out led the EPT to commit to a process of ‘continuous improvement’ of the office environment.


of the BWoW Even after space


allocation inequalities had been resolved staff complaints concerning aspects such as cleaning and other ‘soft FM’ issues, the failure of multi-functional devices; combining printing, copying, scanning and facsimile and perceptions that heating and air quality were deficient in certain parts of the building were regularly heard from user networks. The EPT was able build upon the consultation structures established during the BWoW roll-out and subsequent re-stack to address staff concerns and take corrective action where necessary. Fundamental to the success of this process was the role of the departmental “champions”, established as part of the Perceval House refurbishment proposals and comprising individuals drawn from within user departments. Part of their responsibilities included mediating between improvement concepts developed by the EPT and the practical requirements of the business units that they represented in addition to advising the EPT of changes in departmental structure that might impact upon office workspace.


Jointly the EPT and


the champions obtained Corporate Board support to add a section requiring “Accommodation Implications” to be identified within all Cabinet reports. Scanning the Council’s Forward Plan for reports with significant entries in the “Accommodation” section became part of the EPT’s ‘early warning’ system. The champions also worked closely with the EPT to continually refine the BWoW model, were important contributors in achieving satisfactory solutions to a variety of subsequent challenges and in assisting the EPT in creating the pilot for a ‘final’ BWoW model.


Role of consultants


Whilst the EPT has been leading on the BWoW accommodation strategy since its inception in 1999/2000, external consultants have also played a key role in both the development of concepts and their delivery as workspace improvements. Given the absence of any coherent examples of advanced local government office practices at the time that BWoW principles were being formulated, the EPT were obliged to consider precedents observed within the private sector. Appropriate consultants were sought with experience of working with these leading companies to assist the EPT in distilling elements from a range of new workspace ideas that would both deliver the efficiencies demanded but also be compatible with the particular methods of working within local government and the requirement to consult and persuade, rather than impose, new arrangements. Once appointed, the consultants organised a number of sessions with members of Corporate Board and other senior managers to discuss ‘high level’ BWoW concepts and obtain ‘buy-in’ to their implementation.


Agreement obtained, the


next task was to engage with the pilot group of staff (some fifty members of the Property Services team) and staff-side representatives with an interest in how future developments would impact upon the workforce generally. As many readers will have experienced themselves, it is often easier for radical


THE TERRIER - Autumn 2011


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