The UK government, like most governments, has a
lot of property. 13.5 million square metres in the
civil estate. 72% of this estate is offices. The
total asset base was worth £220 billion ($383
billion). And the government wants to use these
assets more wisely, with new ways of working at the
centre of a programme to transform the government
estate.
The report Working Beyond Walls sets out
the rationale for smarter working in central
government and sets out a blueprint for workplace
change, providing case studies of departments that
are progressing along this path.
Distributed working, according to the report, is
"a key response to government's policy
requirement for a civil estate that is smaller,
more tightly managed, flexible, agile,
environmentally and socially sustainable, and
that delivers value for money."
Central to the guide is the principle that the
approach to new ways of working must be strategic.
It recognises that up until recently many central
government initiatives have been ad hoc or partial
implementations - and that this needs to change.
This is essential as the new approach being carried
forward by OGC aims to to achieve up to £1.5bn in
efficiency savings annually by 2013.
The guide, however, moves beyond strategy and
vision to set out the principles for introducing new
working practices and new workplaces design, and the
practical steps needed to realise them.
Central to the new ways of working is the
effective use of technology - not for its own sake
but to liberate civil servants from their offices
and allow them to work from wherever is most
effective and appropriate.
The case studies show a range of developing smart
working practices. Some of these, such as the DVLA
and Northern Ireland civil service focus very much
on a modernised office environment that encompasses
forms of desk-sharing for a more mobile workforce,
while others such as the Ofsted case study look at
more radical change where government employees are
mostly home-based.
Blueprint for managing change
One of the most useful sections of the guide for
public sector managers looking to change the way
they work are in the 'Workplace blueprint for the
future'. This contains several checklists of
options and activities, and outlined a project
management structure and route map for achieving
change.
Finally, there is a chapter on 'Reimagining the
government workplace', which looks forward to how
the government workplace ought to be in 2020. It is
lean, green and decentralised. Whitehall is now a
campus centre for policy initiatives and knowledge
working. It is a place where:
"High-tech serviced working and meeting
spaces have brought together both internet and
baby-boomer generations to work and meet in team
neighbourhoods, non-territorial ICT labs and
airline-style club-lounges. Full-immersion room
displays and computer animated virtual
environments (CAVES) support communication
between remote teams. Life size, standup
telepresence enables people to meet and speak in
real time across the globe using hologram video
technology."
This is complemented by a network of similar
campuses around the country:
"Away from London and centred on each UK
region, alongside each campus headquarters is a
shared service centre (SSC), which enable
economies of scale to be achieved through
centralizing administrative
and transactional functions across branches of
government. Where cost and space permit,
family-friendly reception areas allow parents
access to
childcare facilities."
Extensive use of contract staff and consultants
is expected to be part of the mix. Homeworking will
be a natural way of working for most staff who want
to do so.
It's exciting that this is now a vision endorsed
by central government. The reality is - as the case
studies indirectly show - that while there are big
developments in changing government workplaces,
there's still a long way to go to change the culture
and to have the majority of government employees
empowered and enabled to work beyond walls.
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