Month: October 2009

Gensler’s Modes of Work

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Gensler Work Modes

One of the observations Edelman’s Robert Phillips notes is the segmentation into different workstyles. He speaks of the ‘podists’ and the ‘benchists’ describing sub-groups that have formed based on personal preferences for where and how they work.

The design firm Gensler who engineered the Edelman London offices, has also published its own segmentation of work modes…

· Focus – 59%, thinking, reflecting, analysing, writing, problem-solving, quantitative analysis, creating, imagining, reviewing, assessing.

· Socialise – 6%, talking, laughing, networking, trust-building, recognition, celebrating, interacting, mentoring, enhancing relationships

· Collaborate – 22%, sharing knowledge and information, discussing, listening, co-creating, showing, brainstorming.

· Learn – 4%, training, concept exploration and development, problem-solving, memorising, discovery, teaching, reflecting, integrating, applying knowledge.

This appreciation of the diversity of both the workforce and the workplace is central to the notion of Dynamic Work. Too often when I speak to people about Dynamic Work they try to pigeon hole it from one specific mode (office work) to another (home working, mobile working). Actually, Dynamic Work encompasses all of the modes of working aligning the mode with the person with the task to be done.

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Edelman’s Velco Office

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Edelman Velcro Office    Edelman logo

An essential component to Dynamic Work is applying the principles of dynamism to the workplace itself. Much as there is too much wasted office space (lit, powered, air conditions, secured) and time in centralised offices, ‘the office’ can and does play an important role in professional productivity.

A little while ago I had the privilege of a tour of Edelman’s offices by their UK chief executive Robert Phillips. Edelman is one of Microsoft’s PR agencies who run a number of campaigns including citizenship and top level vision.

The stereotype is that fancy-shmancy innovative digs are the preserve of well-to-do companies with money to burn on such niceties. The reality of the situation is that despite the couches, the artwork, the chandelier, the leather couches, the bar, the artwork, etc., the ‘fit out’ cost of the space is in the lowest quartile of expense for London offices. A dirty little secret to office space expense is that cubicles and standardised office fittings destroy the wallet as much as the soul.

The FT has done a great overview of the workspace in the article ‘No space wasted in in the Velcro workplace of the future’:

“Breaking down barriers between staff, too, was a primary aim when Edelman HQ combined with two subsidiary agencies in the new office in June. Mr Phillips says the results are already showing through. ‘Our win rate on cross-practice pitches has gone up by 30-40 per cent in four months because people haven't sat in silos,’ he says…Each part of Edelman's office, which was created by Gensler, the international architecture and interior design firm, is multifunctional. This accords with Gensler's model of four 21st-century work modes. Only one of these – head-down, focused work – is solitary. The others – collaborating on tasks, learning skills, and socialising for work purposes – involve interaction.”

Other details are included in the following references: Case study article and a Presentation overview on project by design firm Gensler.

 

People Oriented Architecture – Components

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SOA Metamodel

Admittedly, the adapted definition of SOA is a pretty high level, but a number of SOA architects have determined a more in depth delineation of what SOA is all about and what it includes. A number of different vendors sometimes put forward their own versions and variations and so for simplicity sake I offer up the Wikipedia version with its helpful outline of key components…

· Service encapsulation – Many web services are consolidated to be used under the SOA. Often such services were not planned to be under SOA.

· Service loose coupling – Services maintain a relationship that minimizes dependencies and only requires that they maintain an awareness of each other

· Service contract – Services adhere to a communications agreement, as defined collectively by one or more service description documents

· Service abstraction – Beyond what is described in the service contract, services hide logic from the outside world

· Service reusability – Logic is divided into services with the intention of promoting reuse

· Service composability – Collections of services can be coordinated and assembled to form composite services

· Service autonomy – Services have control over the logic they encapsulate

· Service optimization – All else equal, high-quality services are generally considered preferable to low-quality ones

· Service discoverability – Services are designed to be outwardly descriptive so that they can be found and assessed via available discovery mechanisms

· Service Relevance – Functionality is presented at a granularity recognized by the user as a meaningful service

Going forward, Dynamic Work blog will look at each of these in turn as describe how the principles which are transforming the systems world can and are also being applied in the human world as well.

People Oriented Architecture – Definition

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Microsoft SOA

As I introduced in ‘Virtual Parallels,’ one of the intriguing developments inspiring my examination in ‘Dynamic Work’ is the parallels between increasingly flexible approaches to resourcing both knowledge work and computer work. In the latter realm of systems, the new approaches are often referenced under the rubric of ‘Services Oriented Architecture.’ The key word – ‘Services’ – refers to an approach to developing computer systems that moves away from monolithic programmes designed and built to do one thing or set of things, to an approach that is more based on a ‘federation’ of ‘components’ being assembled to build the capability required.

Many definitions of ‘SOA’ abound. Microsoft has its own resources on the topic that include a handy definition:

“SOA is a standards-based design approach to creating an integrated IT infrastructure capable of rapidly responding to changing business needs. SOA provides the principles and guidance to transform a company's existing array of heterogeneous, distributed, complex and inflexible IT resources into integrated, simplified and highly flexible resources that can be changed and composed to more directly support business goals.”

One could easily hijack that definition for a description of ‘Dynamic Work’

“Dynamic Work is a standards-based design approach to creating an integrated workplace infrastructure capable of rapidly responding to changing business needs. Dynamic Work provides the principles and guidance to transform a company's existing array of heterogeneous, distributed, complex and inflexible organisation and human resources into integrated, simplified and highly flexible resources that can be changed and composed to more directly support business goals.”

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Dynamic Working Mums

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Daily Mail stay-at-home mums

Dynamic Work is all about preserving key assets: economic resources, environmental resources and social resources. Concerning the lattermost, Steve Doughty, Social Affairs Correspondent at The Daily Mail, has been running a number of pieces on attitudes and trends in two income families.

The entry of women in the workplace in the post-war era has been one of the major drivers of productivity gains of the twentieth century. Women have brought contributions to the economy, new opportunities for achievement and satisfaction for themselves, and higher living standards to their families. Doughty’s article “Number of stay-at-home mums drops 25pc in 15 years as they become 'a luxury'” highlights how much the trend has continued unabated in recent years half a century and two generations since Rosie the Riveter.

But these gains have not been with out their costs. Doughty’s piece “'Superwoman is a myth' say modern women because 'family life suffers with working mums'” highlights the stresses and trade-offs inherent in juggling work and home life. He quotes Professor Jacqueline Scott of Cambridge University: 'Some people are now starting to have second thoughts. In most cases, this appears to revolve around concerns that the welfare of children and the family are being compromised the more women spend their time at work.'

Innovative approaches to Dynamic Work is going to be one of the keys to bridging the gap between the demands for even further growth of two income families and the counter balancing demands for maintaining a healthy family life and household.