magazine
businessinfomag.uk
38
New culture,
new office
In June 2016, Telia Company, a
telecommunications provider in
Sweden and Finland, moved its head
office and 3,500 employees into a
new building with half as much office
space, downsizing from 85,000 square
metres to just 42,000.
The company changed from a fixed
desk environment into an activity-based
workplace, where people share desks and
can choose between several types of
work environment depending on what
they need to do.
Speaking in a webinar organised by
the International Facility Management
Association (IFMA), Telia’s head of
architecture IT/AT Mats Mägiste said:
“One of the biggest issues we have as
an old-fashioned, 160-year old operator
is that we have to adapt to a new
generation of people with new demands.”
Telia’s own research found that
80% of employees under the age of 30
consider flexibility a key factor in the
choice of employer.
No fixed workplaces
Adopting the mantra ‘work is not a place,
it is something we do’, the company
decided that staff should be able to
select where to work depending on the
experience they want. There are now no
fixed workplaces, but instead, different
areas to suit the various levels of
concentration required.
These include distinct environments
for meetings, collaboration and
concentration, plus the ‘coffice’, a more
relaxed space with coffee machines and
seating.
All these areas have different sound
levels, different furniture and a different
work experience. “The focused area is
a silent area. There are no signs saying
this, but the furniture is placed in a way
that people should understand what it’s
meant for,” explained Mägiste.
Telia’s new agile, activity-based
working culture is underpinned by
investment in IT and technology,
including a paperless strategy and
portable work tools so that people can
move easily between different areas
of the building or work from home if
preferred.
Conference rooms
are kitted out with
collaboration devices like
the Cisco MX700 and
Sennheiser speakerphones.
Going with the flow
To unlock the full potential
of this new way of working,
Telia is using state-of-
the-art indoor positioning technology
developed by FlowScape to collect and
analyse data about room usage and the
flow of people around an office.
A key feature of the FlowScape
solution is the Flow Map, a digital replica
of the office designed to give employees
greater visibility of the workplace and
its facilities. This map, viewable on
touchscreen Room Panels or via an
app, gives an overview of all conference
rooms and other spaces, such as phone
booths.
Linked to a room booking system, it
shows:
n
Available meeting rooms or desks in
green;
n
Booked meeting rooms in red;
n
Non-bookable rooms (e.g. phone
booths), which automatically turn
yellow when someone enters them; and
n
Important equipment, such as printers
and projectors.
To book a free meeting room, all
anyone has to do is click the appropriate
space on the office map. This can be
done on a panel or through the app,
which allows people in other Telia offices
to reserve a room remotely before
visiting head office.
Other useful features for a business
in which people no longer have allocated
desks are:
Colleague Finder
, which minimises time
wasted trying to find the right person
and increases collaboration among
colleagues and departments. A map
shows the real time location of work
mates and whether they are occupied.
Invisible mode lets staff choose not to
be seen on the map if, for example, they
want to work without interruption; and
Housekeeper
, which communicates
equipment failure reports to everyone in
the office. Employees can easily report
non-functioning equipment and add an
explanation of what is wrong. As soon
as a report is sent, a warning symbol
pops up on the Flow Map, alerting the
responsible caretaker and acting as a
warning to colleagues. This speeds up the
process of repairing devices and stops
people from attempting to use faulty
equipment.
Telia’s agile,
activity-based
working culture
is underpinned
by new
investment in IT
and technology,
including a
paperless
strategy and
portable work
tools
OFFICE DESIGN
Telia is using an intelligent office management system
from FlowScape to facilitate its move from a fixed desk
environment to a flexible, activity-based workplace
