Workplace 3.0

 

 

 

Over the past few months I have been working with Mitel assisting them in the development of their recently published White Paper on Workplace 3.0. I initially got involved by accident however the more time I have spent researching the subject the more interesting it has become.

DOWNLOAD THE MITEL WHITE PAPER: bit.ly/MitelSmartWorking
 

At _space we have recently developed our headquarters building Spaceworks into a business hub with flexible working space. This move has made us review how people work now and how they are likely to work in the future.

Today I have been at a Mitel conference where they set out their strategy to address Workplace 3.0 and how their technology will adapt. I have had a fascinating day not least because the event has been hosted in a very nice Mayfair Hotel.

Mitel are clearly focussing on solutions for communications and business which are flexible and will adapt to the changing workplace

As I have become more involved and interested in this process a few things have become apparent.  Businesses are currently looking at their workforces and how they are going to deliver services in the future.  There are a couple of issues driving change.

In the past there has been lots of discussion about flexible working and home-working.  I believe that Workplace 3.0 will be subtly different with flexible working being more than someone working in their study at home.  Flexible working will include people working on the move, in a coffee shop or taking desk space in offices on a membership basis.

Such changes are driven by the environment created by the recession.  In the good times businesses expanded and could not see any alternative to growth.  Companies committed to  long binding leases  which have subsequently turned out to be a noose around many companies necks.  Many organisations have ended up going out of business due to the commitments they have made in relation to office space.  In the future businesses will be less keen to sign long term leases and are far more likely to commit to flexible arrangements which will suit the changing nature of their organisation.

At Spaceworks we have responded to this and have developed a wide range of spaces on flexible terms to suit what business needs.  We have seen the need for desk only space through to more permanent offices.  The IT infrastructure which is imperative to allow businesses to grow and adapt quickly. 

As well as building related issues there are also cultural issues with business at present.  The baby boomers and generation X have a far more stringent approach to work.  Their approach is generally 9-5 with a  focussed work ethic. 

What we are seeing now with generation Y is a flexible workforce who are keen to have more options within their terms and conditions.  For example within our own organisation we are now seeing fathers wanting to work shorter weeks to share childcare with their partners. 

In the future we will see an increasing amount of flexibility required for the generation Y workforce and millennium generation who will require a less rigid approach to employment.

The cultural changes and financial constraints of property driven by leases will undoubtedly drive new ways of working. 

In the years ahead we will see the office environment providing a varied provision supported by a robust IT infrastructure.  I anticipate that the use of private and public clouds will continue to develop with data and applications driven by off site hosted servers.

The devices used on a day to day basis will be varied and personal.  Organisations will have to be flexible with the selection of devices used by their people.  Some may prefer smartphones others may like their Apple iPad whist others may still use the office based PC.

In the future these decisions will be personal rather than corporate.  The organisations responsibility will be to ensure safe and consistent access.

The developing culture within society along with the global economic climate will undoubtedly impact on how we conduct business in the future as we move towards Workplace 3.0 and the human cloud. 

 

 

Olympic Glory!

I

 watched the beginning of the Olympics in the UK and the last few days in Italy. For some reason Italian TV seemed fascinated by synchronised swimming .

 For the record I thought the only disappointment of the whole games was the closing ceremony. What a mess. And George Michael!

 
David Cameron has clearly jumped on the positive band wagon and is hoping for a bounce in the economy from it. Whilst I think the country was in need of a happiness boost I think the potential for growth following on from the games is thin.

 No doubt we showed off what the UK construction industry could achieve on time and within budget which must be a positive marketing message across the world.

 However it is more likely this will encourage export rather than inward investment.

Unfortunately there is no evidence that any previous games has had a positive effect on the economy or made any impact to encourage investment. It will undoubtably improve the east end and the Olympic Park will be a fantastic legacy for the area. However, unfortunately this for me is not where the greatest need is in the UK at present. The regions are really struggling and need investment desperately to encourage confidence and growth.

 For me we should use the Olympics as a positive start and look at a number of new investment programmes to stimulate growth . Housing is a good way of pumping money into the economy at every level and would be a good place to start.

 The government also needs to get off the fence with education and needs to start investing again in school buildings.

 I don't think we will ever see things returning to how they were 5 to 10 years ago but the current paralysis in the markets needs attention.

 We know about the planned cuts but I don't see a plan for growth and unfortunately a few gold medals will not be enough!

Holiday Book Review....

I've just returned from a very hot couple of weeks in Italy. With it being so hot it was a challenge to do very much meaning I could get through more books than usual.

I don't want to bore you with all of the books I read while away but there were a few highlights. Regular readers of my blog will know that my reading list is usually related to the stories of people in business.

 The first book of note was "10 words" by terry Leahy the ex CEO of Tesco. In the book he comes accross as a very humble man and really simplifies the success of Tesco over the last decade. He has distilled this down to a very clear strategy and has identified 10 simple rules for business.

 A really good story which includes anicdotes and advice. As a business leader he has to be in my top 5 and this book definitely goes into my top ten.

 The second book was a bit of a surprise. Duncan Bannatynes "43 mistakes businesses make" would not be the type of book I would normally read. It's been sitting on my iPad for a while now and with the extra time I thought I would give it a chance!

 

As it happens I think this is one of the best books I have read of this type. In typical Duncan Bannatyne style he gives direct advice to business. It is real no nonsense and highlights all of the very important aspects of business. If small businesses followed his advice they wouldn't go far wrong.

The final book was a great story and actually quite uplifting in a strange way. It is the story of Hilary Devey, the Dragons Den entrepreneur. Hers is an incredible story of a really tough life.

I have nothing but respect for her for what she has achieved and how she has managed to keep going through huge adversity. It's easy to look at where she is now and think she has it all and has had it easy. I won't spoil the book but you need to read her story.

Amongst these three good books there were others which were not worthy of mention and others which were frankly dreadful. I have now read too many books about apple and their culture and stories from people who met Steve jobs in a supermarket.

BIM....so what?

Anyone who knows me well knows that I like my gadgets. I also love technology and I continue to be excited by the advances being made.

Like many others I am often blown away by some of the clever stuff we can do with software.

As well as my fascination with technology I have always been driven by finding better ways to do things. In relation to our own industry I have always thought the way we design, procure, build and operate buildings is wasteful. However the majority of people are not keen on change so anything new takes time to be embraced.

The challenge we have with the use of BIM is that not everyone is as excited by gadgets and technology as I am and therefore may not be willing to commit in the short term to see the long term benefit. In the current marketplace who can blame those investing in buildings.

We all do our very clever show to clients demonstrating what BIM can do and how we can do lots of clever stuff in 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9D. But all of the time they are thinking so what!

I support the "so what?" thinking. Why would someone buy into how clever a consultant or contractor can be. “Look at the clever things I can do"

From a clients perspective in the short term it has to be about" Show me the money"

As designers and contractors we have to be able to put our money where our mouth is. BIM processes have to improve the bottom line and the client must benefit financially.

At this point I sympathise with contractors because it is their risk. It is all well and good the clever consultant selling the virtues of this BIM stuff but is their cash on the line.

There isn't much robust research around about the financial benefits of BIM. The evidence at present is very circumstantial. One contractor has suggested that each clash costs on average £2500 on site.

Another contractor was willing to half the risk pot thought using BIM throughout stage E.

We therefore need to get the estimators to understand and believe in BIM. They need to talk to their construction teams and talk about risk.

When settling a tender we should be using BIM to explore risk and how it can be reduced. Ultimately this needs to reduce the bottom line figure. It may take some time to get to this point as we need to be able to prove the benefits over an extended period.

Maybe then the response to "so what?" can be 20% cheaper, guaranteed! "Now you’re talking, tell me more."

BIM...another trick up our sleeves.

The Pace of Technology

Over the past few weeks we have seen some really interesting potential advancements in technology. There seems to be a race at present between organisations such as Google, Microsoft and Facebook to come up with the next big thing. They are all chasing Apple to try and discover the next big thing.

It is ironic that for most of his life Steve Jobs spent his time chasing Microsoft.

The Microsoft new tablet for me doesn’t really do anything particularly new and I suspect will struggle to challenge existing hardware and software platforms.

I do think however that the new Google Nexus is really interesting as it sits somewhere between the iPad and handheld devices. The Nexus has the potential to fill a new space in the hardware market.

Where I think the real advance is, is with Google Glass.

We have been tracking the potential of this for several months now and I think it has huge mass market potential but also has potential in the world of the built environment.

People will start to consider commercial opportunities with Google Glass over the months ahead and I think the success of how these are embraced will define the future of Google Glass.

Google Glass linked with Building Information Modelling and Virtual Environments has huge potential.

We are all working hard at the moment to develop Building Information Modelling through the design and construct phase. Once we have cracked this we will be left with high quality data from a virtual environment which has been turned into a real environment.

The ‘Holy Grail’ is to be able to transfer this data into the live operation environment and demonstrate value.

Linking this data and digital environment through Google Glass will undoubtedly provide value for building, owners and operators.

Within our own industry there is a race to find the best use of the data being generated from the design and construction process.

There are already a number of mature providers in the market place who have developed facilities management software which are either provided on-line or on PC.

We have been researching various software platforms and companies over the past few months. It is interesting to see the difference between mature organisations such as IBM with Maximo platform through to new start ups who are looking to find a niche in the marketplace.

At present everyone is working very hard at finding solutions or adjusting their existing platforms.

Fundamentally the starting point must be what do building users and operators want and then work backwards from there to find a solution from the data and information which we have.

Without doubt the next few years will be interesting and it will be great to see some of the developments which are being worked on at present come to fruition.

Enterprising North East

I had a most enjoyable evening last night at one of the Entrepreneurs Forum Members Dinner.

This is the first EF event I have attended since I have joined.  Over the past 6 months I haven’t been able to attend events due to diary commitments usually because I am not always in the North East during the week.

However on this occasion I had the chance and decided to go along.  The dinner was for a small group of about 20 people who where there to listen to Jonathan Eldridge who was the founder of the Gadget Shop in the early 90’s.

For those who have read my blog previously you will be aware that I am really interested in business stories.  Jonathan’s story is great.  From very ordinary beginnings in Hull he built a retail business with a value of over £60 million which employed 750 people at its peak.

Things then started to go wrong.  He had cash flow problems for a very short period of time and made one miss-judged call to the bank asking them to extend his facility.  They got nervous and called in the debt.  He had nowhere to go and had to bring in external investment.

There was some serious infighting between the investors which landed him in the High Court.  Cutting a long and interesting story short the business fell into administration largely due to the board being distracted by the legal issues.

From having shares worth millions he ended up with nothing.  He has since brushed himself off and started again with Red5.  What struck me was how balanced he is and how he carried no baggage from what had happened previously.  He was very philosophical about life and wouldn’t change anything which I found inspiring.

I encouraged him to write his story because I thought it has the good, the bad and the ugly.  He said he was waiting until the story was finished and wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested in the down side of his history.  I think it is the down side which makes his story particularly interesting.

Across his whole story it was obvious there was the lack of support from banks.  I always think it is difficult for banks to support entrepreneurs who have passion and drive.  Sometimes this is not tangible and we know in the current climate banks are unwilling to take risks.  His support generally came from private investors when he needed it.

Currently the Government seem to be focussing on encouraging the banks to lend money and we all know this is not working.  The Government should therefore incentivise private investment and acknowledge the importance this support plus the risk investors take plays in the ability to deliver growth.

The other interesting aspect of the evening came from the cross section of the other guests.  All ran North East businesses and all were realistic about the current market.  Everyone is finding it tough.

The interesting thing to me was that probably 70% of those around the table were from family businesses.  I have not decided why this is yet but wondered if this “keep it in the family” approach to business is preventing growth outside the region.  The other thought is do businesses retain ownership because there is a lack of talent beyond their small circle.

It is one to think about and discuss…

BIM Show Live

I have just about caught up after a very busy week last week at BIM Show Live.

We had the idea for BIM Show Live about 18 months ago and managed to put on our first event in October 2011.  We had 300 delegates on a single day.  This year we managed to attract 450 delegates over two days. 

This year’s event was a step up from the previous year without doubt.  The depth and quality of speakers was outstanding.

What I particularly liked was the networking which went on over both days.  There were events before the start of the conference, as well as a great dinner in the evening between.

It is at these sessions where the learning and connections are made and where the real value and progress is achieved.

We made the journey down by transit van, which was an experience in its own right and then put up the stand with one good arm, which was worth seeing. 

The BIM scooter made its way down to London again, not for marketing reasons, more just to irritate the organisers who particularly dislike it for health and safety reasons.

There was a great crowd in attendance and not only did we see all of the usual suspects from the UK BIM crew, but there were also many new faces.  What is becoming apparent is that constructors are ploughing their own furrow when it comes to BIM and several of them are now even employing their own modellers.  I suspect this may become an approach adopted in the future.

All was not perfect at BIM Show Live however.  I was disappointed with the central space for the keynote sessions.  Whilst the area we had was great in that it brought everyone together, trying to talk whilst there was noise on the balcony was very off putting. 

The balcony also did not give a similar level of exposure for all exhibitors, with those at the sides struggling to be seen.

I also felt that the show was a junior partner to the BFE Exhibition, which is something we were adamant must not happen with the organisers.

Still, it was great to see so many exhibitors there and particularly to see all of the major software vendors in the UK at the same event with equal billing.

All of this good and not so good information is gathered up and will be fed back into the plans for next year.

There has been debate about whether we should have another event in 6 months time, but I think it would be more sensible to wait a full 12 months so we can really review the progress that has been made across the industry.

Thanks for everyone’s support and we look forward to seeing you next year.