Flexible Work Environments

Project Name: Flexible Work Environments

Team: Jason Carlson, Andrew O’Brien, Kelly DeLiberato, Eric DeSouza

Schools and Units Represented: FAD, HBS, HGSE, HUIT

Mission:

To develop the start toward a shared pathway to more efficient use of office space and new ways of working on the Harvard campus.

What we are trying to accomplish is the beginnings of a shared pathway to more efficient office space use and new ways of working on the Harvard campus. This is a large, complex and highly political issue but one that needs to be addressed at some point. Why not now?

We plan to develop a new flexible work environment prototype and model the potential benefits across a school/unit and HU. The benefits that we will evaluate will include;
• Space – Outline the magnitude of space that could potentially be gained and repurposed
• IT – IT platform to help support flexibility and collaboration

Outcome: 

Completed space utilization studies at HGSE, HBS, and HUIT to develop recommended alternative office space model.

In partnership with one of the University’s strategy partners on furniture, they devised a plan to gather office space utilization data to understand how space is currently being used at the University. The project team identified HGSE, HBS, and HUIT as the appropriate sites for the study. The project team successfully completed the space utilization study in addition to conducting workplace attribute workshops and leadership alignment workshops. The project team now intends to continue coordination across the University by developing a conceptual plan of a proposed alternative office space model that leverages the collective knowledge and expertise gained as the University moves toward a new office model.