Agile Working in Professional Services at UCL A vision of the future
What is Agile Working in Professional Services? In keeping with the UCL 2034 vision of innovation and the key enablers of valuing staff and delivering a sustainable estate to meet the University s aspirations, Agile Working fits well with these themes. A key vision for the future of Professional Services in UCL involves a review of current working practices to make improvements in the way we work together both collaboratively and individually in our respective Divisions. Cultural change is needed within Professional Services to embrace new ways of working to allow us to work smarter and to maximise our productivity and become a more Agile workforce. Adoption of flexible working practices will embed Agile Working values
What is Agile Working in Professional Services? What does Agile working mean? The ability to work in variable locations to complete the tasks necessary to your job on any given day. This may be in an office at a desk with your team, breakout area, in a library, in a café or at home. The ability comes from being given the appropriate practices and processes to allow you to work in a variety of locations. Removes desk ownership: A clear desk policy will apply to all. What does Agile working NOT mean? Contracted Homeworking The transition to agile working will not in itself mean a move to contractual homeworking. Working from home on an ad-hoc basis with the agreement of your line manager but without any change to contractual terms and conditions may be part of an agile working solution.
What is Agile Working in Professional Services? Key objectives Supporting the 2034 Vision for UCL and a number of its key enablers Contributing to financial and environmental sustainability Making efficient use of space and ISD capability to enable an agile workforce that can work in more than one location
Key benefits of Agile Working Agile Working has a number of benefits and is not just about reducing the footprint that Professional Services occupies. Freedom to work in the best location making the best use of time and resources Reduced time travelling by avoiding having to always return to your desk Will utilise the latest ISD developments such as desktop@ucl Allows teams to work more flexibly and improve cross-divisional collaboration Encourages the development of new working practices that allow client facing teams to spend more time with their clients around the university Making time together count - in many cases enabling people to be more flexible in how they work means that when they are all together it encourages better use of that collaborative time and maintains team cohesion.
How to make Agile Working work New ways of working both in-house and remotely Meeting in touch down areas (less formal) Virtual meeting technology Go to Meeting, Powwownow, Microsoft Lync, Skype etc. Conference calling Document sharing made easier through new ways of storing data via Desktop@UCL to be rolled out across Professional Services
How to make Agile Working work New protocols need to be decided by each Division including: New ways of managing: Team etiquette e.g. local filing / booking systems Building management e.g. clear desk policy and room bookings New ways of working: Individual etiquette e.g. diary management, opportunities for learning new ways of working with additional resources. Taking individual responsibility to maintain team and customer communication and continued collaboration.
Implementing agile working Within Professional Services, Estates, HR, PACE and CAM are moving to a new UCL building known as Bidborough House The move to Bidborough offers a unique opportunity to introduce an agile working approach as part of the move to new premises Following the move to Bidborough House, other Professional Service staff will be moving to or around Torrington Place and Maple House. It is expected that agile working will also be introduced as part of these moves However the focus of this presentation and the current work is on the initial move into Bidborough House. Detailed work on the introduction of agile working into the departments moving in/around Torrington Place or Maple House is not expected to start before May. But those departments may wish to consider what agile working will mean for them including discussions with their staff about the concept.
Implementing agile working Phase 1a: Initial occupation of BH by PS staff (HR, Estates, PACE, CAM) and the adoption of agile working by those groups May 15 Phase 1b Decant of Laws to BH June/July 15 Phase 1c Move of Registry to TP, Restack of Finance in TP and move of Finance staff to TP/Maple House TBD
Bidborough House is a modern, open plan six storey office building which is located a short distance from Gower Street at 38-50 Bidborough St, Kings Cross, London WC1H 9BT Bidborough House Acquired by UCL in 2014 Approx. Travel Times by tube: Victoria : 15 mins Paddington : 20 mins Waterloo : 20 mins London Bridge: 20 mins
Agile Working in Bidborough House Example floor layout Team A Neighbourhood Team B Neighbourhood Centrally shared space Static Desks Flexible Desks Informal Spaces (e.g. Kitchens and Breakouts Meeting Rooms Alternative Workspaces/Drop ins
Bidborough House The Bidborough House relocation programme marks the first step in a phased repositioning of teams that will start in May to help facilitate the Agile working in Professional Services and support our new agile workforce
Project activities so far: Bidborough House Project Board formed made up of all the PS Leadership Team (Sep 2014) Bidborough House Project Team formed (Oct 2014) Nominated departmental champions: Finance and Business Affairs - Liz Mooney, CAM - Rachel Anderson, DARO - Jennie Campbell, Estates - Valerie Cooper and Ian Wright, Student Registry Services - Andy Saffery, PACE - Steve Cross, HR - Anne Skinner and Annie Watts, and ISD Darren Livermore (Oct 2014) Briefing on space moves and flexible working from Rex Knight (27 Nov 14) All Professional Services staff communication inc. report sent (w/c 24 Nov) Open Day at Bidborough House 100+ visitors (18 Dec 14)
Project activities going forward: Bidborough House Desktop@UCL to be rolled out to Professional Services (from late Jan 15) Director and Manager briefings (Feb 2015) Distribution of manager s briefing pack and drop in sessions (Feb 2015) 1-2-1 meetings with staff (Mar 2015) Detailed planning for occupation of Bidborough (Apr 2015) Phase 1 move to Bidborough House (May 2015)
Professional Services staff 1-2-1 sessions Preparation for Managers Conducting 1-2-1 Sessions Start with an introduction to divisional director s/senior management (Tuesday 10 th Feb) and an introduction to managers (Thursday 12 th Feb) Workshops for managers with the project team Each manager will attend one of the six workshops with the project team to discuss any questions or concerns before doing the 1-2-1 consultations with their staff Managers will be provided with questionnaires and materials to support their 1-2-1 sessions Workshops run over two weeks from 16 th to 27 th February 2015 Managers will run the 1-2-1 sessions during March Project Team Drop-In Hours Throughout March, there will be a schedule of sessions when the project team will be co-located and available for anyone to drop-in to discuss issues, questions or concerns
Professional Services staff 1-2-1 sessions Why have staff 1-2-1 sessions? Managing the change to agile working: The staff 1-2-1 sessions offer an opportunity to discuss new ways of working directly with your teams Discussing individual circumstances and preferences Determine whether the individual needs static or flexible working arrangements Developing new management protocols that work for your function The staff 1-2-1 sessions will assist the Project Team with: Building preparation Ensuring that ISD resources and hardware is allocated to each employee in Phase 1 Ensuring that any ergonomic furniture in use is captured and provided for each employee Identifying training needs
Professional Services staff 1-2-1 sessions New ways of managing Managing new ways of Agile working involve greater sharing of schedules with colleagues and managers, and updating about work-in progress. Adopting new working patterns where appropriate options can include: Flexible working hours Ad hoc working from home arrangements New ways of working Teamwork protocols to be established where appropriate options can include: A requirement to let others know where and when you are working Clear reporting structures Sharing of calendars and schedules Use of electronic document management systems, to ensure work is easily accessible Ensuring equality through flexible working practises Etiquette in online communications, and behaviour in virtual meetings Signposting availability for phone contact or online discussion Fairness in use of space when in the office.
What is the difference between STATIC and FLEXIBLE? STATIC: Need to use the same desk whenever they are in the office because: They require access to very specialised technology or equipment located at a particular desk They have assistive technology or equipment that cannot easily be moved between desks FLEXIBLE: Can use any available desk or workspace because: They are not static workers
Professional Services staff 1-2-1 sessions What will be provided to staff? Static Workers will be allocated a permanent desk at Bidborough House together with: A pedestal for storage A replication of current PC set up will move with them to Bidborough Desk is not owned. There will be a clear desk policy to allow desk to be flexible when not in the office due to holiday, training, sickness or being offsite for the day. Flexible Workers will be provided with: A laptop if they don t already have one Shared desks setup with standard monitors, keyboards, mice, docking stations and phones A personal locker space (in lieu of a pedestal) Similar facilities and equipment will be provided to subsequent moves to Agile Working where appropriate.
Professional Services staff 1-2-1 sessions What else will be included? Desktop@UCL The new desktop setup including modern applications, more data storage and a remote access facility will be rolled out shortly to all teams in Professional Services which will be helpful for both Static and Flexible workers Team storage Current storage situation will be audited in Feb 15 and where needed team filing will be provided. Additional storage required will also be captured during staff 1-2-1 session with managers. Environmental Sustainability Prior to the relocation teams will be encouraged via their Green Champions to store only essential filing in their new location, aided by the Desktop@UCL service that will provide more easily accessible electronic storage Clear desk policy Clearing away your desk at the end of the day will be required to facilitate agile working across the office. If a static worker is away (annual leave or sickness) their desk can be used by flexible workers if needed.
Agile Working case studies Part of the proposed staff 1-2-1 sessions will involve exploring new ways of managing staff and training that may be available. Examples taken from our own staff where successful roll out of Agile Working has been experienced I am better able to support the teams who deliver the sustainability outcomes if I m based with them. In my case it means that I need to be in Hampstead Road in order to work with the Procurement team and in Torrington Place to work with Facilities Services. Given that I also hold the role of Estates Division Safety Office flexible working becomes essential rather than desirable. Once you get used not being based in one location it becomes really liberating. Time and attention become valuable resources which I can now use to achieve more but with much less stress! - Tony Overbury On balance we found that a very small number of people required a fixed desk in order to carry out their responsibilities, even people with adapter chairs could be flexible within a zone because chairs can be moved around the office. This, however, was the most difficult aspect of the change, staff became very stressed and concerned when their longestablished working styles were challenged so a robust, transparent and fair set of rules for everyone concerned was required. Once we moved in to the new space, staff settled very quickly and began to appreciate the benefits of open plan working and the opportunities it presented to integrate across teams etc Derfel Owen.
Professional Services staff 1-2-1 sessions Further Information A dedicated web page will be set up on Transforming UCL to support the plans, which can be used as a resource for mangers and staff with helpful local information, a timeline, maps, etc. FAQs Image of Form Links to Resources regarding agile working practices, including e-learning modules Contact details for project team members and area champions
Next Steps You will shortly receive an email asking you to sign up for a preparation workshop. If you have any further questions: Contact Lee Jenner lee.jenner@ucl.ac.uk Or your Agile Working Champion: Finance and Business Affairs - Liz Mooney, CAM - Rachel Anderson, DARO - Jennie Campbell, Estates - Valerie Cooper and Ian Wright, Student Registry Services - Andy Saffery, PACE - Steve Cross, HR - Anne Skinner and Annie Watts, and ISD Darren Livermore