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Changing rooms: successfully managing office churn.

By: John Brewster, CEO, Genus Interiors

With the popularity of television programmes on domestic makeovers and relocation, is there any mileage in a series based around office moves?  Just think: Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen redecorates the boardroom in a modern Mexican style while Handy Andy knocks up an MDF breakout area.  Carol Smillie watches Marketing and Accounts as they makeover each other’s offices in 48 hours.  And Charlie Dimmock adds a water feature to the reception area.

Well, perhaps not! 

But joking aside, while there is plenty of domestic advice, for most of us working in an office environment, moving office is probably a more common experience than moving house.  And churn – the regular and inevitable update and reorganisation of the office or commercial space – is for many facilities managers an everyday occurrence.

Companies now operate in fast moving and competitive markets, so need to adapt internally to meet the external demands presented by customers and the market environment.  And this process will inevitably involve some degree of physical internal reorganisation. 

Managing churn

So if office churn cannot be avoided, can it be managed?  Office moves are renowned for being time consuming and frustrating for all concerned.  And there is a financial imperative: office churn is a significant investment, which has been estimated at up to £1000 per person for a typical move within a building.  And depending on the scope of the relocation, moves to new offices cost can increase costs ten-fold. 

Workplace partnering

For larger organisations with significant internal reorganisation, workplace partnering offers an opportunity to manage office churn.  The client and contractor determine agreed standard specifications, suppliers & products, quality standards and fixed costs for the basic components that go to make up maintenance and refurbishment of the built office environment.  Then, rather than issuing new tenders every time building or maintenance works are instigated, the project is undertaken according to the predetermined specification and costs. 

Workplace partnering provides stability, control and added value for the facility manager.  Benefits include:

·       Improved client - contractor understanding

·       Improved purchasing power

·       Consistent quality

·       Considerable cost savings

·       Predictable costs

·       Shorter lead times

·       Reduced client management time and expense

Two examples of workplace partnering that Genus is involved with illustrate some of these benefits:

London offices of an international press agency

The workplace partnering agreement sets out the projected level of internal churn at about £4m per year.  Because the projected usage of various supplies can be accurately estimated, regularly used items can be held in stock.  For example, the agency wanted to convert one of their auditoria into five offices over a weekend for an emergency project.  The 2000 square feet and £110,000 fit out, including partitioning, ceilings, floors, services and office furniture, was completed to the previously agreed standard specification between late Thursday afternoon, when the job was first discussed, and Monday morning, when staff moved in. 

Leading UK management consultants

The facilities management division has achieved a 20% saving on project overheads.  Previously, project managers worked significant overtime on day-to-day supervision.  After a few months of the partnership agreement, it became clear that this high level of control was unnecessary, as everybody had built up a clear understanding of standards, service, deliverables and expectations.

Workplace partnering is not a new concept - it is familiar within the automotive and other business sectors,  BUT its application to management of the built office environment offers the opportunity to manage office churn successfully and cost effectively

For more information,  on Workplace Partnering, click here.                       Back