The Art and Science of Leadership Musical Chairs Case Study

The new collaboration strategy: musical chairs with data

How tin organisations use their data to make meaningful pattern decisions that ameliorate their collaboration and productivity? Peter Smit sifts through the tsunami of data to create a simple sequence of data analytics…

Across the world, the largest game of 'musical chairs' is currently taking identify. Every bit new role towers come up online, the spaces previously occupied by their by corporate 'residents' are being redesigned and reconfigured for the expectations of new occupants. The design of these spaces will be tailored to meet the objective of making everybody more collaborative and more productive.

The popular trend is to motion employees from the traditional assigned role environments to activity-based workspace. In the traditional environs, the boilerplate foursquare foot per person is over 150. In the new activity-based spaces, people are assigned a locker and drawer, and move almost during the course of a day based on the activity they are engaged in; in these spaces the average square footage per employee is ofttimes below 100.

Typical characteristics of the traditional model of work tin be described equally structured, hierarchical, inflexible, functional and scheduled. Whereas the 'new way of work' is: flexible, cantankerous-functional, spontaneous and agile. So, how much progress are nosotros making? Are our people becoming more collaborative and productive? Are newly designed spaces enabling people to make a meaning shift on the 'new ways of work' spectrum?

Although there are still sceptics, there is strong evidence that these new environments can both work and be effective. As Kate Lister of Global Workplace Analytics wrote in her recent commodity, The (Non So) Existent Truth About Open Offices, 'based on actual research with thousands of data points, any type of space can exist effective if information technology is well designed and the transition to it is properly managed'.

Musical Chairs with information

Applying Artificial Intelligence and auto learning to data can help create effective spaces. Information is analysed from multiple sources such as: email, instant messaging, spider web-conferencing, calendar and wifi. The information is anonymised and consolidated under proper governance, and insights are derived.

Collabogence, a Canadian intelligence firm dedicated to helping organisations measure and understand collaboration within organisations, has created a sequence of how organisations can process and empathise the information they are collected. With experience managing data on over 50,000 people, Collabogence tin can mensurate changes in behaviour, collaborative functioning and the impact workplace design implementations have on employees.

The v-step sequence of data tracking

The sequence of information tracking

To first, it is important to know and understand the personas occupying the space and how they use it. What is scheduled and planned? What is spontaneous and advertising-hoc? How practice people employ space they are assigned to? How frequently do 'guests' come up into the space and at what frequency? Who really works with whom? Which departments are closely tied to each other? This baseline provides the starting point.

From the Baseline, insights are derived which lay the foundation for both the pattern requirements of the new spaces as well as adjacencies such every bit who should share space with whom. As transitions are implemented, actual shifts in behaviour tin can be tracked. Ultimately later on 100 days in the new environments the bodily impact can be measured. How much did collaboration increment and was there a boost in productivity? Additional insights tin exist derived from benchmarking the space against other spaces as well as against other organizations. Was the change a effect of cracking design, assigning the right people together in the space, or of effective alter management?

Primal learnings

The foundation of all this is a number of algorithms which let for a series of measurements: the strength of a human relationship between ii people, likewise as between groups of differing sizes. These algorithms tin provide private network profiles and scores to requite deeper insight to the degree of collaboration within an organisation. The findings reinforce the strategies recommended by Tiziana Casciaro, Amy C. Edmondson and Sujin Jang in their recent Harvard Business Review article Cross-Silo Collaboration. Nigh all top collaborators have networks spanning both functions and spaces. Many organisations chore their leadership with breaking down silos. Through data it is now possible to develop very targeted strategies to do so, and then runway the actual impact.

'Top collaborators have networks spanning both functions and spaces…'

From a workplace strategy perspective, the greatest value comes in agreement of the behaviour and space utilisation within different spaces. From this comes the understanding of connections. Who really works with whom and what strategy should exist pursued in terms of putting people and groups together? Many organisational cultures nonetheless drive space assignment by groups and functions. Leaders nonetheless want to have 'their' people in their firsthand vicinity, irrespective of the fact that certain people may work primarily with people in other departments or functions.

Collabogence's piece of work with the Scotiabank Workplace Transformation during the class of 2018-19 revealed the affect of proximity with others on the force of relationships. If people piece of work at a given location, what can exist done to maximize the value of having others they work with in their directly proximity? The value a group derives from sharing space with others tin be measured, thus enabling the optimization of groups in spaces.

Direct associated with workplace strategy is what we call 'secondary proximity' or campus layout or 'stacking'. Which floors or spaces would benefit of being in the straight vicinity of other floors or spaces? Nosotros all know that people are not likely to go downstairs, go to another building and and then upwards to meet with someone else.

Beyond workplace strategy, these data tools bring value across the arrangement. HR can identify which leaders foster more than collaborative teams and establish whether or non their diversity and inclusion as well every bit coaching and mentoring programmes are truly effective. IT Ops can see the bear on of the implementation of new tools and run into the bear on of their newly equipped spider web-conferencing room and huddle spaces.

Greta Thunberg has at present coined the phrase 'flight-shaming'. It will not exist long earlier organisations will be made answerable for their ecology footprint. Our claiming is therefore to reduce commuting (remote work), use less office space (activity-based spaces) and travel less (telepresence), all while existence more collaborative and productive. Insights to do this can exist derived and progress against the baseline measured.

In the tsunami of information flooding workplace analytics, this year volition welcome a new testify-based decision making which will yield a greater confidence in outcome.

Peter Smit is the founder of Collabogence, a Canadian firm dedicated to helping organisations measure and understand how well they collaborate, and develop and implement strategies to get improve

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Source: https://www.worktechacademy.com/the-new-collaboration-strategy-musical-chairs-with-data/