5.3 Using space to work differently
As an organisation you have limited power over a ‘remote’ location that you do not have direct responsibility for, and you need to consider ways you can encourage your employees to take responsibility for reducing their carbon footprint.
One approach to understand more about your organisational needs is to run test-and-learn experiments with spaces and engage all your stakeholders in these conversations. The Open University has approached this by designing creative hubs – known as ‘Show homes’ – to explore the different ways of using space and how teams can come together with accessibility and inclusion at the forefront. Dr Nick Barratt, the Director of Learner and Discovery Services at The Open University, explains the approach and insights the OU hopes to gain from this approach.
Download this video clip.Video player: hyb_1_2022_sep121_ou_show_homes_nick.mp4
Transcript
NICK BARRATT
We’ve decided to build a few show homes across The Open University. We’ve got some in Milton Keynes and also another in Wales with more planned. Now this is to bring to life some of the testing and work that we’ve been doing. The pandemic, as everyone knows, was a bit chaotic, getting people off-site very quickly. But over a longer period of time, just trying to think about how we’re going to work differently. Holding some of the bits of online working that obviously work well, but trying to think about what certain teams need, and thus the idea of show homes were born.
So it’s a bit of an experiment. A few areas have gone first just to see how different environments will support different ways of working. So we’ve got some of the traditional desk-based activity. But we have more bookable desks. So if you want to just pop in for a day or two to be around colleagues, you can do that. But there’s also far more open plan meeting space, there’s some soft seating, so you can have a more relaxed-style conversation, some soundproof booths if you need meetings.
So we’re just looking at a range of different environments to see how this can ideally influence other teams to think about their ways of working. So they’re fluid spaces. We will learn by watching how people interact with some of the objects and the spaces, how they move things around to better suit their working environments.
One of the things we’ve noticed over the last, well, two years or so is that people miss coming together as people. Not necessarily to do meetings, we’ve got Teams and Zooms and other things for transactional meetings. Not even necessarily to do the thing that we do to create content in our computers, but to work sociably. And that’s where we often have great ideas, conversations, social chats, that should be part of what brings us in together and we’ve missed that.
So knowing when colleagues are going to be together will actually give more of an incentive to come in, but we need to design spaces that will make that a really welcoming experience. So it’s great that people are beginning to start to think about workshops or training sessions or strategy sessions where we come together, we do a bit of brainstorming, all that management speak. What we’re doing is just talking to each other in a very different way.
So by creating different spaces, we can see what works best. And if it works well, great, we’ll continue that, if it doesn’t work, we’ll stop. And that’s all part of a different way of working, experimentation. But I think one of the great concerns is that we have spent two years working mainly in a remote environment, and that’s really impacted people’s mental health and wellbeing.
And so part of building new spaces is just to encourage people that it’s safe to come back, and that actually, you can enjoy yourself, have fun at work. I mean, goodness, perish the thought, but if we’re enjoying ourselves, we’re often far more creative as a result. So that’s partly why we’re trying to do this.
Something we need to look at both as an Open University, and in many ways, all organisations, is what is the basic level of equipment, an office in a box, if you like, that should be provided, or should be at an employee’s disposal, shall we say, to make it a suitable working environment? Now in the old days pre-pandemic, you’d come into work, you’d be given your desk, your laptop, your screens.
You’d have a safety assessment to make sure you were working safely. Everyone would know where the fire exits were, there’d be fire marshals, and, of course, we need to keep some of that going as we start to move to a more hybrid balance between on-site and off-site. But, of course, what about people who are forced to go home and work and possibly didn’t have the right equipment? Or they had cramped living conditions?
There’s an inequality, an inequity, if you like, that we might have built in. So we need to be fair, we need to be equal, and we need to put safety at the heart of what we do. So it’s going to require a new set of skills for people who are signing up to an organisation, for line managers, and people in charge of health and safety just to check that someone isn’t struggling at home, or whether it might be better for them to be given the support that they need in an on-site environment because otherwise, we’re going to be building further problems.
So checking in with staff is really important. Have you got the right equipment for your job? Is your home environment, if that’s their preferred or required space of work, suitable for that work? And if not, what alternatives can we provide? And that way, we can begin to describe what that basic package looks like that everyone is entitled to so they can do the job to the best of their abilities.
We’ve tried to think of as many different environments in our show homes as possible, because we don’t really know how people are going to use them. We’ve taken as much feedback as we can from our units, and just got a sense of what needs to stay the same, what we can introduce? So you will still see banks of desks with docking stations, and screens.
So you can book a desk, or if you’re pretty much on-site the whole time have your own allocated desk. So that will look familiar and very much the same. But you will start to see more open plan meeting spaces. So tables, where you can just grab some time with colleagues and have a chat. There’ll be quiet zones so that you’re not disrupted, or the noise levels get too much. So you’ll find some soft seating, often enclosed in screens.
You might find something that’s a bit of a hybrid between a standard desk and just somewhere where you can sit, think, do a little bit of typing on your laptop, whatever you might want to do. And then there are almost meditation booths, where you can have some really quiet time just to gather your thoughts, take that quiet moment. There are rooms where you can go where there’s beanbags and comfy seating if you just need to chill out for a little bit, meditate, think.
If you’ve got a particular issue that you’re working through and you don’t need to be around other people, there were all sorts of different spaces that we will build, and hopefully, will improve people’s experiences of being on-site. But the only way we’ll know what works, is if people come and use them, and tell us, and change the spaces and make it work for them.
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about coming back and spending time with people, is it gets the creative juices flowing in ways you can’t do with just a screen. We tried various techniques. We had an experiment with Miro, for example. Kanban boards, which work pretty well online. But actually, the good old-fashioned whiteboard, or durable walls or things where you can just put your thoughts down and play around with them, and people can add to it, that just shows what we’ve missed.
And even with some of those online tools and having run various strategy or planning sessions online, you’ve got good outputs, but we’ve got more done in one afternoon with a whiteboard and a group of people and lots of caffeine, that helped a lot, just simply to connect in ways that we didn’t previously. The iteration of ideas, the development of ideas, and just setting things out in a logical sequence. Maybe it’s just the way my brain works, but everyone seemed to get a real buzz out of it. So that’s something we’re looking to explore again, building those creative spaces, not just to work, but to really be creative again.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
Remote co-working hubs
One of the challenges for hybrid working is that the infrastructure and wellbeing of remote workers can be variable. The Welsh government ran a survey in 2021 to explore the desire for remote working hubs and has set a long-term ambition of 30% of the Welsh workforce to be based away from a traditional office. The aim is to help town centres reduce congestion and cut carbon emissions. (Source: gov.wales [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] ) They now have over 30 remote working hubs throughout Wales. Find your local remote working hub
The result of this has been the release of funding to create remote working hubs. Collaborative working spaces are not a new concept. Most organisations do not own their premises and lease shared offices and spaces, often in large office blocks that house numerous organisations. These shared spaces are likely to become more popular as organisations re-evaluate the space needed for their workforce.
Smaller co-working spaces existed prior to the pandemic, but were predominately used by small business owners or the freelance community. However, they offer those who now work remotely for larger organisations an alternative to working from home or travelling to the office, which may be useful if their domestic situation makes working from home a challenge.
In the video Llinos Neale from Welsh ICE talks about how the use of remote working hubs have evolved since the pandemic.
Download this video clip.Video player: hyb_1_2022_sep122_co_working_hubs_welsh_ice_llinos_neale_english.mp4
Transcript
LLINOS NEALE
A co-working hub is somewhere that people can go and work together. It’s flexible space. So there’ll usually be booths. So there’ll be a desk, standing desks, loads of different options so people can work however they want. It’ll have lots of facilities. So there’ll be places that people can use printing. And there might be a reception. So we have a reception here at Welsh ICE. There’s lots of facilities with that just to keep people as productive as possible so that they can keep working without any interruptions.
Welsh ICE has been so agile during the pandemic. It’s had to be because obviously, we’re a physical space, and physical spaces were just places people didn’t go during the pandemic. So we needed to make sure that we were still offering the businesses based here access because they needed to get important pieces of post, that kind of stuff.
But we also needed to make sure that the community and everything people were getting that wasn’t physical space from this all went online. Now the hub has evolved and grown to respond to what people need post-pandemic. So people need to be way more flexible. So they’re going to be needing space where they can do things online as well as in person. And this has to be a way more dynamic space for people. So we’re just evolving to respond to that.
We’ve had a lot of changes from the pandemic. People want flexibility now more than ever. So before, people would start on one membership, and they would stay on that membership maybe for a few years until their business changed whereas now people want to be able to travel when they need to go to different places, work from home sometimes, but also have the option for hub working, maybe work in a cafe.
People are more willing to work where people are instead of going to head offices. So it means that our memberships have got to be really flexible so people are swapping between memberships a lot more. We had to introduce day passes so people could come and use the space every now and again when they wanted to. And we’ve got a lot more like loyalty schemes so that people can still get all the benefits without maybe being so tied down because the flexibility is super important now.
Hybrid working is something that we’ve always had to answer to. It’s something people did pre-pandemic. But now it’s something that is expected across the board for every organisation to be factoring in. So what we used to have small amounts of-- we would have a call booth, or we would have space that people could go and take calls. And then we also had memberships where people could come in part of the week.
So we have to answer to that now even more because there’s huge organisations coming here and saying, we’re going to have five employees all sharing this kind of membership, and they’re going to come in and use the space. So we need to make sure that they’re all getting, one, the same experience and that they’re all getting what they need.
It also means that we’re going to have a lot more different people coming through the hub. So the community changes a little bit. It’s great because it also mixes new businesses with established businesses. So that means you’ve got people who are trying to find bigger clients that they could never have access to before, but now they’re in the same space. So it really gives people that edge to be able to network with people they couldn’t meet otherwise.
SPEAKER 1
One of the biggest benefits is the huge community here and the ability to meet up, network, and meet other businesses who can offer you help, advice.
SPEAKER 2
It’s more than just networking. It creates genuine relationships and friendships.
LLINOS NEALE
There are countless benefits to Welsh ICE. So there are loads of different ways that you can come and use the space. If you’re at home, you have distractions. So you could be in a back bedroom. There could be kids. There could be internet problems. There could be family visiting.
There’s loads of different things that could be impacting your workday whereas here, you know it’s going to be consistent. You know that there’s going to be a receptionist, that there’s going to be really fast internet, and that tea and coffee is never going to run out. So you have all of those things you can rely on. And you know you can come here, and none of that will affect your work.
Challenges that people face when they’re starting a business or using a hub or going freelance, all of those things are things that we’re experts in. So we know the kind of challenges people are going to face, what kind of things they’re going to ask like, how do I get my business online, why am I not getting the engagement I want online, is there a place that I can go that I can be more productive?
So we’re prepped and ready to answer these questions. And we can make sure that we know. And when they do ask those questions, we’re all here all the time. We also know the challenges that people are going to face on their mental health and the fact that going it alone is really scary. So instead of going it alone, when you come here, you’re not alone anymore. And you have a community around you of supportive people who know what it’s like. So with that, it’s just a real game-changer for people.
SPEAKER 3
I used to be an employee. And because I got so involved with the people at ICE community, I got empowered. I got confident at starting my own business.
LLINOS NEALE
For specific advice that people want, we have events like Meet the Experts. So we’ll stick an expert in a booth for hours where they can just drop in and chat to someone about something specific.
We also have a host of workshops. So there’s business support workshops. We also have workshops around mental health and wellbeing and being resilient and having a growth mindset. We also provide workshops for people who are looking at growing their business. So any point in the business journey that you are in, there is support here for you to access.
There aren’t as many challenges with digital security as people might think there would be. We are a very secure building. So there are pass controls all around the building. So we know who’s here. We know who’s using this space. All the people here have registered, and they’re members. And we know all of their details and all their business details.
And the Wi-Fi is secure. The password is really secure, and it’s changed regularly. And the people using it, we know and have their details. So it’s really secure. Obviously, there is going to be cybersecurity things. You want to think about locking your screen when you leave your computer to pop to the coffee station. And there’s going to be loads of little things like that that are just a consideration, which is great for data anyway.
But it’s so much more secure than, say, working in a cafe where you don’t know who’s accessing that Wi-Fi and you don’t know who you’re working next to and who’s going to overhear your phone call whereas here, at least you know everyone’s a professional working on their businesses. And that is a real game-changer for when you’re working somewhere that isn’t your home or in the office.
Wellbeing is so important when you’re starting a business, when you’re freelance, when you’re working remotely where you don’t have that place of work anymore and that routine. So wellbeing is all geared towards supporting people in that workplace. Now, if that’s changing and it’s becoming more flexible and hubs have to respond to that, we make sure that we are supporting those people as much as possible.
If you can’t go to work and you’re self-employed, no one’s going to cover you. So we need to make sure that we do as much as we can. We do that through-- we have a safe space for mental health here. So we have somewhere you can go if you’re having a tough time and just get away from it all and have a breather. We also have to make sure that our staff and all of the people that we can meet regularly are Mental Health First Aid trained. And then we can support people who are having a tough time.
We run a AB program called the 5 to 9 Club. The 5 to 9 Club is run between 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM. So you can do it alongside work, college, anything you might have during the day. And it covers a different topic every time. So we’ll have getting your business online, legal structures, funding, everything that people worry about when they’re starting. And we cover it all and get you ready to start your business.
We try and facilitate networking as much as possible in the hub. So we do that in the funnest way we possibly can. So we found that the best outcomes are when people actually form real friendships and real bonds with people. And you do that by sitting and eating lunch together. So we have a lunch table every day that people will sit around and chat about literally anything, usually not business.
We also have a Friday quiz that we run. We do Friday drinks after work. So we unwind, ready for the weekend, and chat about our weeks together. And a lot of really important collaborations and advice and peer-to-peer support happens in those moments. So we try and do them as much as we possibly can.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
Activity 17: Think about how you can use both onsite and remote space more effectively
Timing: 15 minutes
Read the following articles, which provide insights into how larger organisations approach reimagining the office.
- Reimagining the office and work life after COVID-19
- Coworking Post-Covid: WeWork’s Predictions for 2022
Consider what you have learned in this section and think about how you can use both your on-site and remote spaces more effectively, and what you can do to make them more sustainable.
Here are few areas you may wish to consider:
- Green spaces
- Catering facilities and provisions – do you ban single-use cups?
- Who is in your supply chain – what is their commitment to sustainability?
- What are the expectations for new builds and retro-fit projects?
- How accessible are buildings?
- What are your travel policies?
- Guidance for remote workers on setting up their home office environment.
- Guidance for remote workers on how they can reduce their carbon footprint within the own location.
- Impact on your local community, both benefits and negative impacts.