HOW to do a Workplace Transformation (OVERVIEW)
- Peter Stansfield
- Oct 21
- 9 min read
Part 4a of 6 of the WorkFuture.com.au blog series, “Applying the Kipling Method* to Workplace Transformation."
In previous blog posts we’ve covered What is a workplace transformation? Why do a workplace transformation? When to do a workplace transformation? Now we answer arguably the most challenging question in the series…How to do a workplace transformation?
Depending on who you speak to in the industry and beyond, they will tell you of the countless ways in which to do a workplace transformation project. I dare say that some approaches are more successful than others…
In this blog post, I will share my personal approach, which I am calling the Work Future “framework”. A model I have fine-tuned and used to deliver successful workplace transformation projects - these include large scale workplace transformation implementations for QBE Insurance, Qantas, Sydney Water amongst others across the UK and Australia.
THE WORK FUTURE FRAMEWORK IS
HOW TO DO A Workplace Transformation
I will start by stating that some organisational cultures or set ups are not conducive to implementing the framework. Sometimes those in senior leadership positions “know best” and go their own way, which is their prerogative. However, there are hidden bear traps lurking in these workplace transformation projects, and they inevitably step into them triggering (amongst other things) an increase to costs, time, business disruption, and critically noise via amplified employee change resistance.
I think it’s also important to state upfront, that the framework, whilst well established and proven, will always need to mirror the evolving needs of the workplace. The workplace is constantly evolving and fluid, and therefore the framework must not be rigid, but be flexible enough to iterate and evolve to ensure it achieves the “desired results”.
At a high level I consider the desired results to be:
The successful launch of a new, great place to work for all end users (employees, customers, stakeholders etc.) that supports them to be as productive, collaborative, and focussed as they can be into the future.
A project that delivers within the pre-agreed constraints of time, cost, and quality/scope.
A workforce and community that was actively engaged throughout the process and is bought in and supportive of the end result.
Continuing with the theme of flexibility - each organisation is subtly different (not as much as they will want you to believe), but let’s say circa 20-25% of their culture or operation is unique to them, and therefore the framework must accommodate or flex accordingly to be able to accommodate these nuances.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT WORKPLACE TRANSFORMATION?
I hear you ask…so before I share the details of the Framework, I think it’s important to share the journey and the career pathway that led me to be in a position to develop one in the first place.
I have taken a long time to get this stage of my career (15+ years specifically in the Workplace industry), where I feel comfortable and confident enough that I have built up a body of knowledge and insight that is worth sharing on the subject.
My journey has taken me across different cities in the UK (London, Leeds, Manchester), to Sydney and now Perth, Western Australia. It’s this journey that has opened my eyes to the different levels of understanding and maturity in these cities and markets when it comes to appreciating the intricacies of workplace transformation projects.
What I experienced in London especially; the best practice, the levels of employee expectation, the drive to achieve the art of the possible - has not made its way entirely to Perth. I say this respectfully, but that has been my personal experience these last 3 years in the city. There are pockets of workplace excellence in Perth, but they are outliers.
This is why I am writing this blog series on Workplace Transformation. Primarily to help educate and support the local Perth market and actively try to raise the standard of Perth workplaces one workspace at a time.
So, how did I learn How to do a workplace transformation project? As I referred to above, I started off in the UK, initially working in a bank on projects that required business transformation, process improvement, behavioural change, and move management. This then evolved to address moves that crucially involved adopting new ways of working, especially desk sharing. It was no longer enough to lift and shift colleagues and their belongings from A to B, now we had to consider a whole myriad of human emotions, feelings, and their opinions! It quickly became apparent that if these weren’t dealt with carefully, sympathetically and early on in the proceedings, then it always came back to bite at the end of the project. “Did someone say we’re losing our pedestals?!”
Armed with a sound understanding of the “people side of change”, I joined a large FMCG organisation where I was really exposed to the other side of the coin, which included the strategy, design, and fit out elements of the workplace transformation project. This FMCG company had an incredible appetite for simultaneous worldwide workplace transformation projects, the scale and volume of the pipeline was remarkable. My role as the Global Workplace Manager was to provide best practice workplace guidance, alignment to design standards and oversight to the projects that were in differing stages of completion. In a year I had consulted on over 70 workplace projects of varying sizes across 40 countries!
A large part of my role was collecting performance data at the end of the project, which allowed me to understand how the projects had performed against their CSF’s (critical success factors), the main three being:
How had they performed against their cost, time, scope/quality constraints?
If they set out to implement Activity Based Working (ABW), how successful had it been (mainly from an employee buy in perspective)?
Had they taken on more office space than they originally planned for (usually as a result of backtracking on implementing desk sharing)?
As well as post implementation reviews, I also tracked each project as it progressed. From these two viewpoints I was able to elicit trends and patterns in their performance, especially those projects that ultimately performed poorly against expectations.
The main overarching trend that I found was that regardless of country, culture, or language - the projects all struggled in very similar ways. Below are the key issues I identified at the time…
Environmental Factors:
a) Lack of initial leadership and clear vision.
b) Unclear funding models. Costs either unknown or not accurately captured/tracked. Business cases loosely written or non-existent.
Project Governance:
a) Poorly implemented or non-existent project governance establishment / set up e.g. missing meeting structures, unclear roles and responsibilities, project organisational structures incomplete etc.
b) Multiple Project Managers, sponsors, leaders all vying for position or conversely no clear project manager, sponsor, or leadership in place to steer the project.
c) Poorly / under performing project team, which never matures to become a high performing team that can demonstrate strong collaboration and togetherness.
d) Inadequate planning and risk management considerations that expose the project to avoidable time delays and associated costs.
e) Too many voices, too many opinions, and not enough control all resulting in scope creep and the watering down of initial intensions. Usually leading to increased costs and a sub-optimal outcome for the business and employees/end users of the workspace.
Delivery Model:
a) Appointing the specialists in the wrong order, creating issues around project management controls, cost management, achieving timelines, and ongoing project hierarchy issues. This is especially acute if interior designers or furniture providers are the first appointments (apologies to my interior designer and furniture friends!)
b) Rushing into design at the start of the project, without first collecting any data or requirements from the business that can then be used to influence the design and before establishing the project on a robust governance foundation.
c) Not running a clear and transparent procurement tender process for each key supplier or consultant, such as the main contractor/builder. Whilst having pre-existing connections can be useful, appointing your cousin / mate to do the fit out is not recommended, but surprisingly common!
Engagement:
a) Employees and key stakeholders not engaged early enough or at all and then expected to quickly adapt and change across key fundamentals, such as how they work - including sudden introductions of desk sharing, where they work, and who they’ll sit next to. Important factors such as commuting changes, new technologies, socialising with co-workers, facilities and amenities requirements and changes not carefully considered.
b) Poor communication and understanding between internal project team members, external consultants, and external 3rd parties that the project has dependencies with, such as landlords and asset managers. Failure in this regard can add considerable delays, especially common is to not have access to the service/lift when required.
Now, not every project I consulted on made all of the mistakes above or fell into the same bear traps every time, but they all had at least one, if not more of these issues impacting their ability to succeed.
A common thread was that once the project started and the window to set-up properly has been missed, then it was only a matter of time before the rot set in. Then the firefighting started, and the flames could never really be contained. Their ability to control the project was always slightly (or in some cases completely) out of their grasp and for those involved in the project; what should have been a dynamic environment became one that lurched along in a stressful, anxiety inducing maelstrom for months, sometimes years.
Some of the projects heeded the advice I and the team provided and changed course, but with budgets all held locally many decided and had the power to maintain their course, always to the detriment of the employee experience.
THE WORK FUTURE FRAMEWORK
By this stage I had been exposed to circa 100 projects across my time at the bank and the FMCG company. I took all of the mistakes, issues, and crisis’s these projects went through and I reverse engineered them, combined with my experience and research to that point I was in a position to create a robust framework on how to consistently and successfully manage and implement a workplace transformation project.
The Framework consists of four layers:
Environmental Factors
Project Governance Establishment
Delivery Model
Engagement
The 4 layers are supportive of each other and whilst they are sequential, you don’t need to wait for one to be established or delivered before starting the next – for example the Environmental Factors (Layer 1) and Project Governance (Layer 2) will likely overlap. The same can be said for the 5 stage Delivery Model (Layer 3) and Engagement (Layer 4).
The sequencing and adherence to the 4 layers is what provides the robustness and across the circa 100 projects I have studied or taken part in, provides the highest likelihood of success.
Environmental Factors (Layer 1) - First ensure the environment for success is in place. Does the organisation really have the appetite for cultural transformation of this magnitude? Is there a clear leader or sponsor? Can they realistically fund the project?
Project Governance (Layer 2) - Then set yourself up (and the project) for success. Build the project governance model. Resist those who desire to drag you immediately into design. Invest time and energy in building the plane when you’re on the ground and not mid-flight.
Delivery Model (Layer 3) – Apply the 5-stage project lifecycle delivery model to the project (more on this in later blog posts). Collect the data, use it to support development of the strategy and design, and appoint the project team in the optimal sequence (see pro tip).
Pro-tip: As the Project Manager leading a workplace project for the client, my first appointment is always a Construction Project Manager. Many bring them in much later, usually just before the general contractor or builder is due to be appointed, but that is a rookie move. It means you’ve missed out on all of the added value they can provide upstream in the project. Their ability to input into the business case for one, also their early appointment will set the tone for all the creatives that join the project later on. We need their creativity but ideally within the parameters of time, cost, and quality. Having the Construction PM by your side from the start will provide the necessary balance and control.
Engagement (Layer 4) – Identify all of the stakeholder groups early and engage with them early and keep the engagement going throughout the project. Invest time with middle managers, you won’t regret it. They are on the front line, fielding questions from their teams and their executives. Give them the answers and the confidence and they will repay you with their support. Flush out the naysayers and learn what they need to enable them to come around to the change. Understand that resistance to change is often a feeling of being out of control. Provide opportunities for employees to regain that control by offering ways for them to contribute and co-create with the project. Avoid surprises. Engage through authentic Change Management, Communications, and Training and watch the buy in grow.
In future blog posts I will go through each layer of the framework in more detail, but what is important to note in this overview blog, is that the workplace projects that fail are the ones that fall to the siren call of design and jump straight into Delivery (layer 3) without first having established the necessary environment (layer 1) and the right level of controls (layer 2) to shepherd the project to success. By the time they realise, it’s already too late.
The next instalment -Part 4b of 6 of the WorkFuture.com.au blog series, “Applying the Kipling method to Workplace Transformation” will focus on “Environmental Factors (Layer 1)” - and will be available soon.
This blog was written by Work Future Workplace Transformation Consultancy. We specialise in leading and delivering workplace transformation projects in Perth, WA. Contact us at hello@workfuture.com.au or +61 0435 824 305 to discuss your workplace transformation needs.
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