Project Workplace
Project Workplace is one of the six strategic enabling projects and is driving the transformation of our working environment to offer vibrant, engaging and modern spaces where staff can work, collaborate and thrive.
The University introduced dynamic working arrangements in the autumn of 2021 following the Covid-19 pandemic, recognising that advances in technology had allowed for more flexible working practices without a loss in productivity and service quality. Under these arrangements, staff in suitable roles are expected to spend most of their time on campus and can spend some of their time working from home (with exact ratios agreed by team Managers). On our return to the office post-pandemic, it quickly became apparent that our pre-pandemic office setups were no longer offering a desirable environment to work in, with offices half empty and no guarantee who might be in on any given day. Project Workplace has been established to allow us time and resource to think more creatively about how best to use our spaces to ensure a high-quality experience when staff work on campus.
Project Aims
- Enable professional colleagues to regularly co-locate with members of their immediate teams, without the administrative burden of desk-booking systems.
- Provide opportunities for wider collaborations with colleagues beyond immediate functional teams.
- Provide modern office environments with standardised IT equipment.
- Provide greater provision of meeting rooms, collaboration spaces and social breakout areas for staff, and the visibility/availability of these.
- Provide improved audio-visual equipment to enhance hybrid meetings.
- Enable the demolishment of older buildings that are inefficient to run, supporting our strategic sustainability aims.
- Reduce building and estates maintenance costs, allowing increased investment in initiatives that will add value and support our strategic aims.
Project Governance
| Name | Job Role | Project Role/ Representing |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Linton | Provost | Project Sponsor |
| Richard Taylor | Chief Operating Officer | Project Sponsor |
| Ffyona Baker | Deputy Chief Operating Officer | Project Director |
| Graham Howard | Director of Estates & Facilities Management (EFM) | Project Director |