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BHDP Architecture executives rolled out a new instrument for members of the Central Ohio IFMA Chapter August 11 that the Cincinnati-based firm believes will assist facility managers and their organizations in creating a comprehensive strategy for the development of any new or renovated workspace.
The presentation was by T. Patrick Donnelly, BHDP principal, and Steve Sendelbeck, associate principal and workplace strategist, both of Cincinnati; and Vicki Simons, associate principal in the Columbus office and member of the Central Ohio Chapter, at the Fawcett Center at The Ohio State University.
BHDP believes the workplace of the future can be designed to assist an organization in achieving its business goals. To that end, the executives say, their comprehensive PowerPoint-generated program provides strategic information for the planning of a project, not tactical data for implementation. It also serves as a knowledge management tool to assist the firm’s staff in accessing the research conducted by the firm for practical application in their projects.
BHDP’s Workplace Strategies Tool was developed as a result of Donnelly and Sendelbeck’s teaching experience with CoreNet Global Learning and in connection with the University of Cincinnati and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
As co-presenters of a course entitled “Creating Corporate Value Through Workplace Strategy,” they have access to feedback from their students and noted that many felt the information presented became more powerful when it was viewed as part of a comprehensive strategy that demonstrated the interconnection of issues that were previously addressed independently.
The Workplace Strategies Tool identifies four major categories of exploration and 24 sub-categories that should be considered in order to implement an effective workplace strategy.
The major categories are: Understanding Your Organization, Understanding Your Work Processes, Trends in Workplace Design, and Aligning the Design with Your Business Goals. Some of the topics included in the sub-categories are corporate culture, visioning, sharing knowledge, performance measurement, benchmarking, virtual work, managing change, and “selling” the chief executive officer.
Sendelbeck demonstrated the use of the tool and how quickly users may navigate to specific areas of interest that range from workplace demographics to bluetooth technology.
Then, in response to an informal survey conducted prior to the meeting, they presented two subjects of keen interest to the membership. Donnelly discussed the value and two approaches for assessing organizational culture, and Sendelbeck presented strategies for managing change in the work environment to reduce user resistance and improve productivity.
“You need to understand the corporate culture of your organization because it this the foundation of a lot of your success; it is getting started on the right foot (with your project). Corporate culture is the first category in the tool and the first in my heart,” Donnelly said. By organizations understanding their corporate culture in the design process, they have an opportunity to change their culture, eliminating negative aspects and instilling positive programs, he said.
Donnelly cited a General Motors plant that went from the company’s worst performing plant to its No. 1 plant after a joint venture in a new location with Toyota. With the work ethic advanced by Toyota, the GM workers departed a culture that had incorporated product resentment and sabotage to one of personal pride and success in just a few years.
With regard to instituting change, Sendelbeck said, “The situation will only get worse if you don’t have a plan, and if people don’t understand the organization’s vision—what the change is all about. You must show incentives for change, give people the resources to implement change. Then you can develop an action plan for a successful change. Without this you will have confusion, anxiety, and gradual change.”
At the end of the presentation, Simons asked the group to suggest issues that had not been covered or included in the tool, and challenged Donnelly and Sendelbeck to address them.
Topics included evaluating the financial impact of workplace strategies, aligning competing cultures, and selling the chief financial officer. Donnelly and Sendelbeck then demonstrated how to address these issues with the tool. The tool has not been designed to provide specific answers; rather, it provides guidelines for analyzing specific situations in order to develop strategies that are tailored to the needs of the particular user.
This was BHDP’s first public presentation of the Workplace Strategies Tool, and the firm is seeking feedback on the value of this approach and how to improve the tool. It is designed to evolve as new strategies and information are developed to address the changing needs of workplace planners and users. For more information, contact Steve Sendelbeck at 513-527-0215 or ssendelbeck@bhdp.com.
BHDP also has eKnowledge letters on relevant workplace design topics available on their website at www.bhdp.com. Just click on Workplace, Knowledge, and eKnowledge to see the current newsletter, “Designing a Workplace to Attract the Creative Class,” or use the following link: www.bhdp.com/knowledge.cfm?group=workplace.