Distributed Work, Research Report #31

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About This Report

Distributed work strategy is a catchall phrase for work that is spread among teams in variable locations that occurs at varying times. Though not as common a phrase as “alternative work,” it certainly is more descriptive, accurate and all-inclusive than alternative work. Simply put, taking part in a distributed work strategy is not an alternative work practice anymore, but an accepted part of the 21st century workplace.

In this latest report, Distributed Work, Research Report #31, IFMA has documented trends both in on-site and off-site distributed work strategies, as well as focused on defining the more common terms associated with these work settings. The increased participation in distributed work strategies has led to inconsistency in terminology used in this arena. We have discovered that many organizations—including those featured in the case studies—have developed their own names for distributed work strategies as applied to their organizations. For this report, we have based our definitions on those provided by HOK and have developed a glossary of terms that is used throughout the report.

Distributed Work is divided into two main sections. The first section is an overview of the results of IFMA’s survey-based research on distributed work strategies, and the second consists of 10 case studies that demonstrate distributed work in action in varying organizations. Taken together, this report provides a comprehensive resource on distributed work strategies in today’s facilities.

Executive Summary

On-Site Options
Unassigned workspace can be an indicator of the prevalence of on-site distributed workplace strategies. Sixty percent of facility professionals responding to this study report some unassigned workspace in their facilities, while 40 percent either dedicate or assign all workspace. However, only five percent of total workspace is allocated as non-dedicated workspace.

Of the 10 identified on-site unassigned workspace categories, touchdown space is the most common classification cited by respondents, with 57 percent housing this space in their facilities, followed by huddle rooms and war rooms. Even though touchdown space was the most common on-site workplace option currently used, 17 percent of non-users of this option were unfamiliar with it.

Hoteling was reported to be the on-site alternative workplace option being most evaluated or planned for in a pilot test. Reasons given by those who are considering or implementing unassigned workspaces include flexibility and an ability to accommodate more workers without increasing space, cost savings and increasing productivity.

Third-party workers, such as consultants and temporary employees, are most likely to use non-dedicated spaces followed by those working in auditing/consulting services, IT and sales.

Though facility managers reported more employees using unassigned workspaces, the amount of space classified as unassigned has not increase at a similar pace. While nearly half of responding FM practitioners noted an increase in employees utilizing unassigned workspace, only 37 percent have increased their unassigned workspace allocation.

Off-Site Options
Telecommuting was the most common off-site workplace strategy reported with 56 percent of respondents noting its use within their organization, followed by virtual office/teleworkers (37 percent) and remote telecenters (15 percent). On average, five percent of total staff participated in telecommuting programs, and two percent were engaged in telework arrangements.

Employee participation in off-site workplace options had changed only slightly over the
past two years, with 41 percent of respondents having indicated an increase and 42 percent having reported participation has stayed about the same. Job functions most affected by
telecommuting/virtual work included IT, sales and other categories (43 percent).

The top reasons for considering or implementing an off-site work strategy included flexibility, work/life balance and cost savings. The major impediment encountered when researching or implementing off-site workplace options was management’s resistance to change followed by organizational culture and technology constraints.

Off-site workplace options also were described in the open-ended question responses as a catalyst for increasing the facility manager’s role within the organization.

Implementing Change
Communications continues to be critical to successful implementation of distributed workplace strategies. Employees most often are informed of pending changes to space or work processes via department meetings. Less frequently mentioned communications venues included memos, intranet communications, town hall or similar meetings, and Web communications.

Technology has become a key tool for worker productivity working in all environments. In the distributed workplace arena (on-site and off-site), the technologies used most often are laptops (92 percent), wireless access (70 percent), PDAs (53 percent) and videoconferencing (45 percent).

As could be expected, facility managers cited employees in the under 30 years of age category as having the most interest in distributed workplace options with 71 percent of employees in this age group appearing to be receptive.

Methodology

This study consisted of two components: an online survey and case studies. In July 2008, Whorton Marketing & Research fielded a Web-based survey to a sample of IFMA members to determine the prevalence, breadth of implementation and the key benefits, impediments and issues pertaining to implementing distributed work strategies. The survey invitation was sent to a sample of 8,407 individual IFMA members, including all members of IFMA’s Corporate Facilities Council. When the survey closed, 951 responses had been received for a response rate of 11 percent.

Case studies were developed by two organizations, HOK Advance Strategies and Ratekin Consulting. Researchers contacted leading organizations known for successfully implementing distributed work practices. Companies that were selected were from a variety of industries with some operating internationally. In each case study, the researcher focused on how the studied company provided solutions that are linked to their overall business strategy and captured specific and measurable goals for implementing new solutions.

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