Unwired, February 2007

New Pressures: New Solutions

Paul Statham, Director of workspace management specialists RNM Systems, discusses two new pressures in the corporate world, and how technology can be harnessed to address them.

In recent years, a hurricane of technological development has brought huge change to the office environment. Work styles & the work process are being revolutionised in a way not seen since the invention of the light-bulb, elevator & typewriter, back in the 1880s. Broadband, WiFi and VoIP have enabled worker mobility, and with this mobility come the toys: Laptops, Blackberries, Smart-phones and the sundry tools of mobile working. If previous technologies chained us to our desks, the newly emerging technologies are setting us free. This freedom is allowing a much more flexible use of space, and freeing us to work in the environment most suited to the task: the office, home, a client site, and so on.

Where working outside the office used to be the privilege of the few, it’s now within the reach of most knowledge workers.

But what has this left behind? Most city based companies have a fleet of empty desks, rarely occupied, sat within some of the world’s most expensive real-estate.

It’s worth looking at some numbers: The average cost of a 10 square metre workstation in London, taking into account rates, rent, furniture, etc, is put at around £9,000 per annum. Several organisations have established that the average occupancy of a workstation in London is slightly less than 40% per day. In other words, we’re not there 60% of the time.

Based on these figures, an organisation will waste £5,400 per workstation per year. So an organisation with 1000 workstations could reasonably be said to waste £5.4 million pounds per annum, on underutilised workstations. Applying this theory to the city of London as a whole, and the waste tops £1.5 billion.

Against this background, property and facilities managers are under increasing pressure to use the real-estate more efficiently, in order that the organisation can rationalise its portfolio, to use the space for creatively, or to provide expansion space without the need to acquire additional real-estate.

The second pressure brought about by our increased mobility and low workspace utilisation concerns CO2 . The corporate world is under increasing pressure to act responsibly and manage energy conservation to governed standards. Soon the UK government and EU are expected to begin legislating for carbon emissions. Today only 6% of FTSE 250 companies set targets for their carbon emissions, but this apathy is not reflected in the FTSE 100, where 81% are now reporting their carbon emissions. It’s clear there has been a surge in business consciousness, and forward thinking companies are now reviewing practices and processes in order to create working conditions that respect and protect the global environment.

You may have made the connection already – One of the main areas that companies are reviewing is how to make the best use of office space, and 40% utilisation of workstations has a massive impact on the carbon footprint of a company.

So here we have two contemporary pressures on business; expensive under-utilised real-estate, and responsibility for its carbon footprint.

A rising tide of organisations are responding by implementing ‘Smart Working’ practices, where employees can reserve a desk or other resource, whenever it’s needed, in whatever location suits their movements or the task in hand.

This isn’t the now discredited ‘Hot Desking’, a discredited free for all, and a leap which many took before the technology could adequately support it. Instead this is ‘Hotelling’, a controlled method of providing more flexible working space, while helping to maximise the available office space. Technology, particularly innovative software applications, are a vital enabler for hotelling.

How does it work? First we must consider the enabling technologies. For data, WiFi has enabled access to the LAN from anywhere in the office (or outside the office if you can’t resist the call of the caffeine on the ground floor…) For voice, technologies such as DECT, VoIP and their converged cousin IP DECT, mean that we can pick up a handset at reception and be connected to our ‘fixed’ line wherever we lay our hat for the day. People are not calling a piece of furniture, they’re calling you.

Workspace management software, such as Condeco from RNM Systems, underpins and brings order to smart working. These applications can include desk booking, meeting room booking, car park booking, catering and equipment scheduling, visitor management and advanced central reporting in order to gain real data about how space and resources are being utilised.

The overall effect is clear and compelling. The organisation can reduce how many desks it provides and in turn, enabling desk-sharing and resource sharing, which brings huge real-estate savings and a reduction in carbon emissions.

There is another less tangible benefit: As we continue our shift to a knowledge based economy, interaction, knowledge sharing and collaboration are key. A hotelling work environment will strongly support and encourage that collaboration, by providing a mixture of environments: Formal and informal meeting zones, fixed PCs with enhanced functions, open areas with nothing but a desk and WiFi coverage, etc.Crucially, this environment allows employees to choose their space according to whatever they need to get done, and which colleagues they need to work alongside.

It’s worth noting that while the business case is normally simple, the change management within the organisation may be rather more complex. Hotelling, still associated with hot desking, may be a difficult sell amongst workers fearing the loss of their personal space, with no obvious recompense. Organisations must devise an effective strategy for change, with three core components:

The first is senior level buy-in, including continuous communications to explain the rationale behind the changes. The second is linking the separate IT, HR and property organisations and needs (three workspheres with limited understanding of each other). Finally, implementing a software system that enables and underpins the new workstyles, that integrates with other infrastructure systems (such as the phones) and is simple to operate at the end user level.

With these components in place, it’s likely that the organisation can revolutionise its working environment. In doing so, it will bring substantial bottom line savings and play its part in reducing the environmental impact of how we work.

Press contact:

Ms Lynda Lowe
RNM Systems Ltd
225 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9FW
Email: press@rnmsystems.co.uk
Tel: 020 7001 2023

To find out more or to arrange a demo call
020 7001 2055 or complete a contact form.