Moving to Agile Working
Working between home and work has been a growing trend in recent years for office-based businesses, particularly those in central London and city locations where rents are higher. Businesses are increasingly reluctant to take on more office space to house growing teams without good reason given the costs involved. As studies show, actual desk occupation in any one working day is typically anywhere between 50% and 80% when you factor in time spent in office meetings, off-site client meetings, holidays and illness.
Covid 19 has globally forced all businesses to either temporarily close or deploy their Business Continuity plans to enable employees to work from home. This is creating challenges for everyone and the effects of the pandemic mean we are at the start of a period in social history which, out of necessity, will rapidly change the way we work and live.
One recent client, a medium-sized IFA firm, wanted to move office but realised didn’t know exactly how much space they needed in the new location. When we looked at the estimated costs, the difference in square footage costs was significant given their London office location so the company decided to move to agile working first to confirm the space required.
The first step was to look at the operational model in the current office to understand how this could be changed from mostly office-based to a mix of home and office. We then considered who typically can / wants to work from home or office as shown in the Mint Blue Consulting diagram below.
It’s important to remember everyone is different; typically younger / trainee staff are usually office-based during their initial months to receive training (both technical and office protocols), while more experienced staff are more likely to flex between the office and home. However, it’s also acknowledged that some people, regardless of experience and / or seniority need to be in the office environment to be at their most productive. Also some people simply like and need the routine of being in the office every day while others find working from home allows them concentrated time away from office distractions, e.g. Paraplanners. For many parents with young families, working in the office is often less distracting, while other parents find working at home actually helps with childcare arrangements (under normal circumstances).
Mint Blue Consulting set up a small project for the client to help them move to agile working:
Stage 1: Assessment of teams and job roles for agile working
Stage 2: Phased rollout for each team
Stage 3: Online survey for each team to assess the successes and any impacts
Key points
– Any changes need to be agreed with HR in advance, this affects people and the way they work
– Communication is key to managing the change and take employees through the transition
– Have an agreed rota for days in and out of the office for each team to ensure there is sufficient cover and desk space on any one day
– Staggering the transition across the teams can help manage the change and assess the impact at each stage
– Surveys are an excellent way to assess trends and highlight any individual issues
Survey findings
– The optimum balance was 3 days in the office and 2 at home
– Most found the office social interaction improved when they did meet up with colleagues
– Having the right technology at home, e.g. 2 monitor screens, enhanced productivity
– Paraplanners found concentrated time at home helped with their report writing
– Advisers were mostly working from home already but formalising this helped manage expectations across the teams
– Processes need to be clear and followed to aid productivity
– For the majority, their work / personal life balance had improved with less travelling and reduced travel costs
The project confirmed that less physical space would be required in the new office, reducing future costs, so this was a win / win situation for both the client and their employees. Also, the timing of this project was perfect as it meant that the company could immediately move to full home-working in the lockdown period ahead of their office move later in the year.
Businesses have had to rapidly adapt to 100% working online and there is a growing acceptance that a mix of office-based and online working will become the norm as offices are phased back into use. It may even see the optimum balance switch to 3 days at home and 2 in the office, but whatever happens, working patterns will see an accelerated change in 2020 and it’s an opportunity to consider and prepare for this now.
If you would like to know more, please contact [email protected]