MUNICIPAL EXCELLENCE network
Practice Collection Form
General Information
Date / May 29, 2015 /Name of Practice / Flexwork Hub /
Name of Municipality / City of Calgary /
Your Name and Title / Sharon Purvis, Director, Corporate Properties & Buildings /
Phone Number / 403-268-1445 /
Fax Number / N/A /
E-mail for Practice Contact(s) / /
Mailing Address / 800 MacLeod Trail SE, Calgary, AB T2G 2M5, Mail code: 8052 /
INTRODUCTION
When completing this form, use your own words and share your practice in a story format. Please do not include any derogatory comments. Use paragraphs and bullet points to organize your practice. This is not a business case but instead is intended to be informative for your peers, showing them the processes and outcomes of your practice. Be sure to focus on what you learned so that it is helpful to the reader. Click in the white boxes to type in your answers. The boxes will expand as you type.
Abstract:What is the practice you developed or are developing (brief abstract)?
Please briefly describe the final practice developed. (e.g. if you developed a new Council agenda, list the agenda items, or if a new communications plan was created, provide a summary of the plan’s goals, objectives and highlights.)
The Flexwork Hub is a centralized, multi-functional drop-in workspace that is accessible to all City of Calgary staff. It was designed to
-support the flexible workstyles of City staffby providing technology, access to Wi-Fi and a variety of workspaces to enable mobility and productivity;
-test new shared space design concepts that will help The Corporation avoid future real estate costs;
-help develop an on-site method of assessing how space is used for accurate metrics and observations
-collect feedback directly from users to determine corporate readiness and need for similar spaces; and
-inform the development of an overall strategy for the design and implementation of future Flexwork Hubs in City of Calgary buildings across the city.
This project was the first early adopter project of the Tomorrow’s Workplace program, a five year Council-approved initiative that is building the foundations for a sustainable, collaborative and flexible way of working at the City of Calgary. Tomorrow’s Workplace projects, like the Flexwork Hub, will help The City
-cultivate an innovative and collaborative workplace;
-attract and retain the best staff;
-reduce the Corporate environmental footprint;
-avoid future real estate costs; and
-provide better services to citizens
By developing this practice, Tomorrow’s Workplacenot only provided a productive space for employees, but also demonstrated how to execute a multi-disciplinary project through strategic partnerships and processes.
Need:
Please describe (just a couple of sentences or bullet points) why you needed to create this practice (policy or process).
What issue made it necessary? (e.g. “We needed a comprehensive plan to deal with…”, or “We needed an annual forecasting tool because…”)
Originally within the longer term work plan of Tomorrow’s Workplace, the intent of the hub space was to support The City’s already mobile workforce which often moves between City buildings and needs a place to maintain productivity when not at their normal work location.
The project was accelerated due to the events and learning from the flood in 2013. A post-flood analysis revealed that displaced employees could continue to be productive away from their usual workspaces as long as they could connect to The City’s network, access the necessary files and collaborate with their teams. An alternate workspace with readily available technology was needed so that employees would be able to work flexibly, maintain productivity and avoid losing work hours due to business interruptions.
Creating Your Practice
Research:How did you obtain information to help design your practice (including consultation with stakeholders, formal and informal research)?
Please include any research documentation you can share, or give us a source reference (e.g. Web site, literature, “We reviewed the bylaws from other municipalities in the area…”).
As the Flexwork Hub was a new concept for the City of Calgary a number of different examples were looked at for inspiration. The main objective of conducting the research was to understand how this space could be used and identify what type of workspaces should be provided.
The research was conducted primarily through website searches and site visits. Local examples were gathered from well known entities such as Calgary Economic Development Business Centre and Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge and others from local co-working locations such as CoWorkYYC and The Commons Calgary as well as hotel business centres.
The project lead also did research through attending World Workplace, a conference dedicated to the management of corporate facilities where there were speakers from a nationwide co-working brand called Regus Co-working and an up-start co-working brand called NextSpace. Some work was done to contact these companies and understand the services and resources provided in these types of spaces.
HOK, a global architecture and design consulting firm was also brought on to the project and provided information about industry best practices and offered the opportunity to tour other similar spaces that they had designed.
Process:
How did you go about designing your practice? For instance, did you create a team, hire a consultant, or borrow something ready-made from another jurisdiction?
Describe briefly who did the design work and what process they followed.
Tomorrow’s Workplace is a partnership between The City of Calgary’s Human Resources (HR), Information Technology (IT) and Corporate Properties & Buildings (CPB) business units. The program was developed as a multi-disciplinary team with leads from each of these business units with the intention of pulling subject matter experts to work on specific projects. In addition, Tomorrow’s Workplace has team members with experience in communications, change management, business administration and project management. The Flexwork Hub project team was made up of a select group of Tomorrow’s Workplace team members and augmented by experts from operational groups.
As this was a new type of space for The City of Calgary, it was determined that the project team needed additional expertise with experience in delivering this type of space. Consultants from HOK, Emans Smith Andersen Engineering and Mulvey & Banani International were added to the core project team to provide architecture and space design, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering experience.
The core project team members included a:
-Project Business Owner, Building Infrastructure (CPB)
-Project Sponsor, Tomorrow’s Workplace
-Project Lead, Tomorrow’s Workplace
-Project Manager, Tomorrow’s Workplace
-Communications Strategist, Tomorrow’s Workplace
-Technology Lead, Tomorrow’s Workplace
-Construction Coordinator, Space Planning (CPB)
-Internal Design Consultant, Space Planning (CPB)
-Workplace Strategy and Design Consultant, HOK*
-Architectural Technician, HOK*
-Mechanical Engineer, Emans Smith Andersen Engineering*
-Electrical Engineer, Mulvey & Banani International*
*Denotes consultant services
Key stakeholders from internal business units were also consulted with on a regular basis to create a deeper understanding of the requirements for the delivery of the space. They included:
-Environmental and Safety Management
-Facility Management (CPB)
-Space Planning (CPB)
-Infrastructure and Information Services
-Corporate Security
-Customer Service & Communications
From the beginning of the planning phase the mechanical, electrical, furniture, technology, security and maintenance aspects of the space were evaluated equally. The shared perspective of the project ensured each expert was able to provide input to remedy any challenges that came up. Proposed designs and approaches were evaluated by the project team and the project lead communicated with Space Planning to ensure the final design was sustainable and aligned with the delivery of new space standards.
Getting Approval For Your Practice
Authority:Whose/what approval did you need to create and implement the practice?
A group of stakeholders were identified to guide the decision making for the design and implementation of the Flexwork Hub as well as the communications and branding of the space. These stakeholders were primarily from Corporate Properties & Buildings as the focus of this project was the design of the space and this would be the group responsible for sustainment. They included
-Manager of Tomorrow’s Workplace
-Program Manager of Tomorrow’s Workplace
-Manager of Building Infrastructure
-Coordinator of Space Planning
-Director of Corporate Properties & Buildings
The business sponsor and funding sponsorsupported, discussed and provided advice throughout the project. All project decisions were approved by the business sponsor and were reported to the executive sponsor for final approval.
Reporting:
How did you inform the decision-maker(s) about the practice and your need for their approval?
Please note the name of any documents provided to the decision-makers that you would be willing to share.
The project lead held bi-weekly sponsor meetings in which project status was communicated and decisions were made. The project lead updated the project team in weekly team meetings and held informal update meetings with the key stakeholder group. The overall program team received status updates from the project team.
Consultation:
Did you consult with stakeholders as part of your approval process?
If so, how? If possible, attach a copy of templates, surveys or other documents you used as part of your consultation.
The primary operations stakeholders,consisting of Facility Management, Information Technology and Infrastructure & Information Services, consulted on the design, construction, risk assessment and chartering of the project.
Customer Service & Communications (CSC) and Environmental and Safety Management (ESM) were engaged on a monthly basis as Subject Matter Experts to align the installation of digital display units and recycling/garbage bins with the construction timeline.
Facility Management was contacted bi-weekly to exchange information regarding progress to date on HVAC and lighting retro-fit-ups and potential complications from other projects on neighbouring floors. Infrastructure and Information Services (IIS) was consulted to ensure compliance with City of Calgary building engineering standards.
Environmental and Safety Management was contacted on a monthly basis to give progress on construction of the space.
Engagement was not done with City employees prior to the building of the space, other than the results from the post-flood analysis, due to the fact that the concept of a “hub” was not a known entity and the Flexwork Hub was being built to provide a tangible space for users to experience. A comprehensive research methodology was developed to gather feedback and user behaviour during the three month test period after opening. This information will be used to inform a corporate hub strategy.
Implementing Your Practice
Plan:Describe the process you went through to implement the practice. If you used an implementation plan, please note it here.
While the process of workplace planning design and construction is a typical process that Corporate Properties & Buildings executes in regular operations, the Flexwork Hub was a somewhat different undertaking. Conventional workspace at The City is designed with the expected outcome that a business unit will become the primary occupant of the space and to some degree take ownership. The hub was different in that there would be no one occupant and the workforce using it would be more transient. In order to create the Flexwork Hub, the project team was challenged to think beyond existing space standards and practices. Just as the intent of the space was to not be owned or used by a specific group, no group was given sole decision making authority throughout the implementation of the project. Guidance from the sponsors and the project lead ensured stakeholders remained accountable.This resulted in an adaptable approach that not only ensured the success of the project, but also created additional benefits for stakeholders. Below are the general steps that were followed as part of the implementation plan:
- Design
-Designed mechanical and electrical systems
-Determined finishings and choose furniture
-Developed “look and feel” for flexible spaces to ensure continuity with future spaces
- Construction
-Framed new space
-Installed finishings and furniture
-Incorporated graphics
-Installed technology
-Incorporated communications (Digital Display Units to display corporate communication and space information, norms and protocols, info sheets)
- Promotion
- Analysis/Evaluation
- Operations
-Development of an operations manual
- Future Implementation
Policy:
What changes to bylaws, regulations or procedures were needed to implement this practice and how did you deal with them?
Please attach a copy of the change in bylaw, policy or procedure.
As the concept of shared flexible workspaceswas unique to The City of Calgary, the project team had to define:
-What the space would look like
-Who would operate the space, how they would operate it and who would fund operations
-How to grant security access to all City employees who did not previously have access to the floor that the hub is located on
-How to maintain security in the space
-Who would resolve space and/or technology issues
-Who would provide information and resources to first-time users
-What kind of fire codes and procedures needed to be in place
The project team worked with their partners to develop a shared funding model that allowed innovative approaches to space design, space access, space governance, security components and environmentally efficient assets.
When:
When did your municipality begin to use the practice? Was it implemented all at once or in stages?
Construction on the space wrapped up by September 10, 2014 and the pilot space was officially open to City employees on September 15, 2014. It was observed by Tomorrow’s Workplace members for a three month test period.Following the test period, Tomorrow’s Workplace will operate, manage and continue to gather learning from the hub. Following this, Corporate Properties & Buildings will likely take over this roleand be responsible forthe delivery of future hubs at The City of Calgary.
Who:
Who was responsible for implementing the practice?
If someone else is responsible for ongoing management, who is it?
Tomorrow’s Workplaceled the research, design, construction and testing of the space from its conception to the completion of the three month test period. Following the test period, Tomorrow’s Workplace will operate, manage and continue to gather learning from the hub for the period of one year. After this, Corporate Properties & Buildings will likely take over this role; however this has yet to be fully defined as a future Corporate-wide strategy. The project team is also responsible for developing the tools (i.e. an operations manual, hub strategy, etc.) for Corporate Properties & Buildings to develop and sustain future Flexwork Hubs.
RESOURCES REQUIRED
Budget:How much did it cost you to design and implement your practice (i.e. We saved/spent $XX per year)?
What are your ongoing operational and capital costs, if any?
The project costs included:
$50,000 for Research and Design
$231,000 for Interior Fit-up Construction
$182,000 for Base Building Upgrades
$19,000 for Testing and Operations
The project team is currently monetizing the costs avoided by implementing this space but do not have finalized figures at this time.
Staff:
What human resources did you need to design, implement and manage your practice? (e.g. “It took X staff member(s) X months on this” or “This is part of normal staff duties.”)
Over the course of approximately 18 months,about 28 people were involved in the Flexwork Hub project.The core project team consisted of 12 people, the design team of four people and the construction team of 11 people. A concierge was also hired for the first 3 months of operations to help document space use and user feedback.
Infrastructure:
What “capital costs” (such as information technology, other equipment or building assets) did you need to design, implement, manage, and/or evaluate your practice?