Taking the opportunity presented by the acquisition
of a new building – Bidborough House – the
University sought to improve space utilisation by
moving away from a traditional ‘one desk per person’
model and introduce new ways of working.
SUMS provided project management support for the
implementation of the Agile Working project that,
overall, saw the movement of approximately 800
Professional Services staff.
Key to the success of this project was a facilitative
approach to engage and represent all stakeholder
groups and the coordination of activities across
Professional Services departments to make the
changes in working location and to new working
practices as smooth as possible.
An essential element of the project was to ensure
that staff had both desktop and mobile computing to
enable remote working and devised a set of working
practices to introduce and embed agile working.
Practical support during and after the move was also
arranged, including an IT helpdesk and occupational
health consultancy.
This is a bold programme that has potential
to deliver some big benefits for UCL.
Professional Services staff have the ability
to work in an agile way and not be tied to
a desk. The amount of office space needed
to accommodate those staff has been
significantly reduced, while their overall
working environment is perceived to have
improved. UCL also now has increased
space for teaching, improving the overall
student experience.
Jon Moon
SUMS Consultant
The project has been very valuable for UCL.
The post-implementation survey indicates
that staff are generally positive about the
change, and it has enabled us to make more
efficient use of the space we have available
than would have been possible with a more
traditional approach. The success of the
project has given us confidence in launching
Agile 2, which will see the Agile approach
extended to further Professional Services
functions at UCL. SUMS’ support was key
to the success of the project.
Rex Knight
Vice-Provost (Operations), UCL
www.sums.org.uk 57