US imports such as hot desking and serviced offices are combining with wireless technology and mobile communications to create a revolution in working practices. But some jobs will buck the trend, writes Amanda Sutton
Americans pride themselves on being ahead of the rest of the world in technology, and with high-tech-driven changes affecting work practices, it seems that they’ll end up changing the way we work, too.
Flexible working practices, such as hot-desking, are now as common here as in the US, but they are suitable only for particular professions, say property professionals, and should be used primarily because they make working easier.
Peter Vernon, partner in management consultancy at PricewaterhouseCoopers, explains: “Hot-desking will suit particular companies, and within corporations some functions will suit hot-desking better than others. For instance, agents are out of the office a lot and can work quite comfortably in a hot-desking environment, but for functions like finance, which are mainly office-based, there’s no point.”
But Vernon, who has been with PwC for 12 years and has seen many changes in working methods, warns that practices like hot-desking should be used only to improve working conditions, not to save money. Working practices should support the job.
He comments: “Providing non-territorial space because it suits the business and uses time more efficiently is fine, but starting hot-desking just because it saves on property costs is wrong – you can’t change the nature of the job to suit new working practices. I think other supply-and-demand factors will have a greater effect on property, and the rate of growth in the economy is a bigger factor in driving demand for space.”
Serviced offices could be used more widely if companies wanted to cut their property costs and if serviced offices suited their business strategy. In the US, serviced offices provide a wide range of offerings to clients, not just PCs and telephones.
PwC’s Vernon comments: “Some of the innovations surrounding the internet and e-business will be used to provide more services to workers. Providers of space should be thinking of how they can use e-working to make the working day better – like providing staff with an intranet from which they can order products and have them delivered to the office.”
Gensler design consultants work in the UK and US and are designing a 32,515m2 (350,000 sq ft) serviced office building in Chicago. Simon Jackson comments: “It will be a serviced office with everything – chairs and fans are included – and there will be an amphitheatre for conferences. It’s aimed specifically at dot.coms.”
Geoffrey Howison of serviced office provider Abbey Business Centres says: “We’ll see the trend from the US of providing more services to occupiers in serviced offices. They’ll act as meeting places for consultants, venture capitalists, and technology providers, as the accommodation will suit them.
“There will also be a whole new forum for business development with the use of ‘incubator’ offices. This is happening in the US, and we’re starting to see it in the UK. New companies can use the high-value technology based there without having to make a huge investment into property.”
The majority of workers who do choose to work from home set themselves up with a PC and fast internet access. Often, work e-mails can be accessed remotely too. But the logistics of actually bringing home all of the necessary paperwork and phone numbers can put people off. Also, calls on mobile phones can mean as many interruptions at home as at work.
Matthew Purser, head of corporate services at Lambert Smith Hampton, comments: “I worked from home yesterday, and with the amount of calls and interruptions I got, I would have been better off going in to the office.”
One difference between the US and the UK is in the area of mobile communications. LSH’s Purser says: “Our GSM system is much better than America’s and there is more use of mobile phones in business in this country. When people go into a meeting in the UK, it’s like the showdown at the OK Corral – everyone slaps their phones down on the table!”
LSH’s American associate JJ Studley already uses a hand-held pager-like device called a ‘blackberry’, which has a keyboard enabling the user to send and receive e-mails instantly. Purser says: “Studley is very advanced in the way it uses technology. The firm manages to create a team environment even when its staff are working in different places.”
Studley uses the internet as an integral part of their business. Purser continues: “When they go out and pitch to a client, they’ll go back to the office and send an e-mail to the potential client with a hyperlink attachment. When he opens the link, he’ll be sent to Studley’s website and will pull up a personalised page, welcoming him and directing him to relevant information on the website.”
However, not all real estate companies are this advanced. JLL’s Ho continues: “Middle America is actually behind the UK in the way it uses space. The vast majority of working space in the US is made up of small cubicles with tall screens where workers are almost penned in.”
Jeff Finn, president and chief operating officer in NAI Gooch Webster’s New Jersey office, comments: “We believe there is a definite trend towards efficiency driven by technology.
“People will realise that the web can give everything, and once there’s sufficient speed and bandwidth to receive detailed information, there will be a migration to online real estate services.
“But you’ll still need the face and voice to give advice during the decision-making process. We don’t want real estate to turn into a database.”
Mobile phones, e-mail and the internet means that we are never far away from the office – even on holiday. LSH’s Purser concludes: “You’re not even safe if you’re abroad, and the 9-5 day has gone.”
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NAI Gooch Webster Online services are the key Jeff Finn, president and chief operating officer in NAI Gooch Webster’s New Jersey office, says: “It seems that everyone in the property industry is a mobile office. “We use a Palm 7, which is like a pager, but can access the net and e-mail. The office seems to be where you are.” Finn also sees the trend towards more business being carried out over the internet. He comments: “The primary trend is online delivery of services, the ability to initiate and manage projects online through integrated work teams.” He continues: “The really interesting thing is that commercial real estate is one of the slowest businesses to re-engineer its working processes and make services more efficient. “In the mid-1980s we had a distributed database management system that let clients manage properties and upload and download information, but the technology was limited. “Now we’ve moved this to a much more robust system online where we can send documentation and pics, so it’s not just a database.” This is the fourth generation of NAI’s transaction management strategy and the firm spent a considerable amount on IT last September. Finn continues: “Even with everything we’ve done, there is more opportunity to provide greater service and efficiency. “We are a web-enabled commercial real estate service, and in the future there will be no differentiation between the online and offline service.” |
Jones Lang LaSalle Towards the wireless office KK Ho, national director of facilities management at Jones Lang LaSalle, comments: “There’s a lot of interest in wireless technology. There’s even talk of flexible keyboards that can be rolled up and moved around the office more easily. “It’s not so much hot-desking, but more being flexible, and in my opinion I don’t think individuals will have their own desks in the future.” Ho adds: “We’ve been working on a project with BT for about four months to enable staff to move freely around the office with their computer and phone. “We’re trying to create a wireless office and are hoping to experiment with phones that are internal when used in the office, but can be used as mobiles outside the office.” Jones Lang LaSalle is keen to be at the forefront of changing work practices because the firm needs to know what changes in the specification of buildings are likely. Ho thinks that, because of wireless technology, formerly redundant listed buildings will now come into use. Ho says: “The use of small, palm-type computers is a significant trend in the US for work and home. The marriage of work and leisure has also come over from the US.” JLL also uses palm pilots in the UK, but Ho says that their use is not driven by commercial necessity, but more by the need to have the latest gadget. |
