Workplace Trends Research Summit 2022

Our Research Summit returns on 31 March 2022 in London, accompanied by a virtual stream for worldwide access.

In Person Tickets

The event will showcase the best of the latest research into work and the workplace and how it can be applied for practical benefit.

Virtual Tickets

About the Workplace Trends Research Summit

This is a workplace event with a difference. It lies somewhere between a full research conference and our glossy London October event, and showcases  the best of the latest research into work and the workplace and how it can be applied for practical benefit.

Aside from a couple of guest slots, the presentations have been selected for their robustness and relevance from our recent call for abstracts, and so attendees will have access to some of the most up-to-the minute research and thinking.

One Tree Planted

We’re proud to announce that we’ve partnered with One Tree Planted and will plant a tree for every delegate booking.

Delegate List

Registered delegates receive access to a full delegate list ahead of the event so they can prepare to meet old and new connections.

If you haven’t booked yet, you can view a list below of organisations who have one or more delegates attending.

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In Person Delegates

Company	Role
3edges	Co-Founder
3edges	Co-Founder
3g Smart Group	Architect / Founder
Ablesky Ltd	Director
AECOM	Senior Workplace Consultant
AECOM	Senior Change Consultant
Agilita	Agile Product Specialist
Atkins	Associate Design Researcher
Atkins	Architect + Design Researcher
Avison Young Avison Young	Director – Workplace Project Management Workplace Consultant, Workplace Arts & Culture
BMG	Managing Director
BMG	Consultant Director
CallisonRTKL	Principal
Colebrook Bosson Saunders	Insight Program Manager
Cushman & Wakefield	Workplace Consultant | Architect
Cushman & Wakefield	Head of Total Workplace EMEA
Cushman & Wakefield	Senior Workplace Strategist
Cushman & Wakefield	Partner, Total Workplace
Cushman & Wakefield	Partner, Total Workplace EMEA
EMCOR UK	Head of Workplace
EMCOR UK	Marketing Communication Manager
EMCOR UK	Marketing Executive
EMCOR UK	TBA
EMCOR UK	Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
EMCOR UK	Account Director
EMCOR UK	Senior Account Manager
EMCOR UK	Account Director
Facilitate Magazine	News Editor
FiD	Director
Flexibility.co.uk Ltd	Director
FMJ Facilities Management Journal	Editor
Freespace by Workplace Fabric	Marketing Director
Freespace by Workplace Fabric	Brand Lead
Freespace by Workplace Fabric	Workplace Consultant
Gabriel	Field Sales Manager A&D
Human Connections	Human Factors Ergonomist & Chartered Physiotherapist
IWFM	Head of Research and Insight
Journal of Biophilic Design	Founder
KI Europe	Sales Director
King’s College London	Associate Director of Workplace Management
King’s College London	Senior Workplace Manager
King’s College London	Director of Estates and Facilities
King’s College London	Senior Workplace Manager
King’s College London	Head of Sales and Marketing
King’s College London	Director of Space and Workplace Transformation
Kingsley Symes Consulting Ltd	Director
Kingston University	Director of Estates
KKS Savills	Director
KKS Savills	Workplace Strategist
Lanpro	Director of Architecture
Larch Consulting	Managing Director
Leading People in Change: A Practical Guide	Author
LID Business Media	Associate Publisher
LOGOVISUAL	Marketing Manager
LOGOVISUAL	Director
London’s Global Office Economy: From Clerical Factory to Digital Hub	Author
Magenta Associates	Consultant
Michael Laird Architects	Consultant
MillerKnoll	Director, Global Insight Group
MillerKnoll	Sales Manager
MillerKnoll	Sales Manager
MillerKnoll	Sales Manager
MillerKnoll	Workplace Specialist, Global Insight Group
NATS (National Air Traffic Services)	Corporate Moves & Changes Manager
NATS (National Air Traffic Services)	Facilities Management Business Partner
NFS Technology Ltd Osmond Ergonomics	Head of Corporate Sales Managing Director
People & Transformational HR Ltd	Founder & Chief Energy Officer
Rockfon	Global Acoustics Ambassador
Saint-Gobain Ecophon	Concept Developer
Smarter Working	Co-Founder
Spaceology	Workplace Strategy and Change Consulting
Steelcase	Applied Research Consultant
Steelcase	Director
Thames Water	TBA
The Elemental Workplace, Elemental Change	Author
The Good Plant Company	Accounts Manager & Photographer
The Good Plant Company	Founder
The Human-Centric Workplace	Author
TTSP	Director of Interiors
Undiscovered Workplace	Co-Founder & CEO
United Utilities	Head of Property
Workplace Futures Group	Head of Marketing
Workplace Trends	Owner
Workplace Unlimited	Workplace Consultant

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Virtual Delegates

Company	Role
360 Workplace	Managing Director
3g office	TBA
3g office by 3g Smart Group	Project Director
3g Smart Group	Communication & Business Development
Aalborg University Avison Young	Architect National Communications Manager
Baillie Gifford	Senior Workplace Designer
Baillie Gifford	Property & Design Manager
Bettina Therese Indretning	Space Designer & Workplace Consultant
Brightstone Creative	Director of Graphic Design
CBRE CBRE CBRE	Architect / Director Change & Transformation Consultant Director, Workplace
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia	Facilities Planner
Claremont	Workplace Psychologist
CPMG Architects	Director
Culture By Design	Founder
Delivery Hero	Workplace Strategy
Diana Winzer Business Consulting	Director
Drees & Sommer Durham County Council	Workplace Expert Corporate Programmes Team Leader
EMCOR UK	Director of Business Improvement
EMCOR UK Fabric Space	Head of Business Services Architect
Global Workplace Analytics	President
Hassell	Researcher
Herman Miller	Insight Program Manager
Herman Miller	Head of Education
Herman Miller	Product Manager
Historic England	Head of Facilities Management
HOK	Director of WorkPlace
Interior Stories	Interior Designer
John Robertson Architects	Associate Director
KKS Savills	Associate Director
KKS Savills	Director Interior Architecture
MillerKnoll	Regional Lead Europe, Portfolio Strategy
MillerKnoll	Global Account Manager
North Northamptonshire Council
Office Principals Open Room Consulting	Marketing Director Change Manager
Philip Morris International	Project Manager Innovation
Plan B Solutions Ltd` PLP Architecture	Workplace Consultant Architectural Assistant
ReSearch Consultancy	Organizational Development Consultant
Saint-Gobain Ecophon	National Concept Developer
Saint-Gobain Ecophon	Project Specifications Manager
Southern Danish University	Faculty of Health Sciences
Space Sense	Workplace Consultant
Space Solutions (Scotland) Ltd	Associate Workplace Consultant
Space Solutions (Scotland) Ltd	Senior Interior Designer
Space Solutions (Scotland) Ltd	Director
Space Solutions (Scotland) Ltd	Studio Director
Space Solutions (Scotland) Ltd	Group Director Consultancy & Design
Statsbygg	Senior Architect
Studio LIST, d.o.o.	Marketing and content manager
Studiomint	Director
Sunshine Interiors	Founder
Tarkett	Director of Workplace Strategy
Thales Group	Performance Program Director
University Properties of Finland Ltd	Manager, Customer relations
Vantage Spaces	Director
WellVal	General Manager
Work&Place	Director
Work&Place	Director
Working Mums	Journalist / Editor
Workplace Insight	Editor
Workplace Scotland	Director
Workplace Team	Workplace Partner | Chief Wellbeing Officer
www.i-FM.net	Managing Director

Content

Speaking sessions were filled with the highest ranked submissions from a call for abstracts of published research. Submissions were reviewed on the following criteria:

• Original idea and content
• Credible research methodology
• Backed up by good evidence/data
• Independent unbiased research
• Interesting content
• Non-commercial content
• Relevance to Workplace Trends audience
• Speaker’s presentation experience and style

Reasons To Attend

There are good reasons why so many workplace professionals return to our events and conferences time and time again. Here’s just a few of them:

• Meet and network with like-minded workplace professionals.
• Mingle with established thought-leaders in workplace.
• Gain access to the latest research that can be applied for practical benefit.
• Non-commercial, relaxed environment.
• Quality, pitch free presentations.
• Delegate access to video recordings after the event.
• Support the environment – we plant a tree for every delegate place booked.
• Award-winning sustainable venue.
• Complimentary post event drinks social.
• All in a non-commercial, relaxed environment.
• CPD certificates available on request.
• Join our exclusive LinkedIn Group for all our past and present delegates.

Programme and Speakers

Click each line below to expand for full details.

Programme and Speakers

• 0900 Registration and Coffee
• 0955 Morning Chair's Welcome

  • Nigel Oseland, Workplace Unlimited
  • 

    Nigel Oseland

    Workplace Unlimited

• 1000 Strategic Workforce Planning in the Era of Working From Anywhere

  • Perry Timms, PTHR

  How can we show we really value people by planning more cohesively and supporting them better? Ultimately we can achieve better results and a more flourishing experience of work for all.

  Is this Utopia? Maybe. But it shouldn’t be a moonshot.

  Now we also have the added complications of the role of the workplace and the perceived biases around those employees who are present, those who are remote, and the fudging that’s going on with hybrid solutions.

  And what can we do for those who don’t have a choice in where they work?

  Employing some of his current research, Perry Timms lifts the lid on the often woeful current state of work and the workplace and examines how we can better report and show appreciation of the value of people in their work.

  • 

    Perry Timms

    PTHR

    I'm the Founder & Chief Energy Officer of PTHR, with 30+ yrs of experience in people, learning, technology, organisation change & transformation. In 2021 I was named 2nd Most Influential HR Thinker by HR Magazine. My personal mission is to see more people flourish through their work, and help shift organisations as a force for societal good (not just profit machines). PTHR's mission is defined as "Better Business for a Better World".

• 1030 Return to the Office: A Hybrid Workplace Story

  • Ian Baker, Head of Workplace, EMCOR UK
  • Sian Taylor, Head of Property, United Utilities

  Throughout the pandemic many organisations have made bold statements about their return to workplace intentions. These statements have often been polarising, ranging from leaving their offices completely and moving everyone to a remote working strategy; to the polar opposite, where organisations have mandated that their employees must return to the office.

  In between these, we have Hybrid working.

  As the Facilities Managers for water utility company ‘United Utilities’, we have a unique opportunity at their campus site in Warrington to conduct research on how employees engage with returning to a purposefully designed space, one that reflects the suggestions of the majority of workplace professionals; that when we return to the office, it will be for collaboration, innovation, reflection and learning; with focussed work being completed elsewhere.

  With an empty floor (circa 6,000 sq ft) located in one of their campus buildings, we identified this space as being an opportunity to influence their occupancy strategy and with insight on how Workplaces contribute to organisational performance, workplace experience, customer experience & employee engagement, the opportunity to use this space as research for post pandemic working was grasped.

  • 

    Ian Baker

    Head of Workplace, EMCOR UK

    Ian is Head of Workplace for EMCOR UK, a leading facilities management company. Heading up the client facing workplace consultancy, he's an advocate of how workplaces can contribute to an organisations productivity, employee engagement, health and wellbeing. A strategic thinker and agent for change, Ian combines data with his knowledge and skills as a workplace leader to promote evidence-based designs that improve workplace performance.

  • 

    Sian Taylor

    Head of Property, United Utilities

    Head of Property at United Utilities, Sian is responsible for managing UU’s extensive property portfolio, which includes all operational buildings and office and depot locations including the Head Office campus at Lingley Mere. Sian’s team covers the whole property life cycle from the purchase and rental of land and buildings, to maintenance and management through to sale and development of redundant assets at the end of their operational life. These activities ensure site standards are kept high, and our people safe and well, as well as contributing to UU’s sustainability ambitions.

• 1100 A New Era of Hybrid Work

  • Cara Sugrue, Steelcase
  • Anisha Patel, Steelcase

  Since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, Steelcase has conducted 12+ studies with over 57,000 employees and business leaders to understand the impact it’s had on how and where people and organizations will work in the future. Join us as we share insights from a global study designed to measure the current mindset of office workers and investigates their experiences, needs and expectations for working at the office and at home, with new data collected in Autumn 2021.

  • 

    Cara Sugrue

    Steelcase

    Cara leads a portion of the UK / Ireland region for Steelcase focused on helping clients define, discover and implement their workplace strategies. With experience across the world in helping clients, Cara has a deep appreciation of the complexities facing many clients with multiple geographies and diverse teams. She is energised by the innovative thinking and insightful workplaces coming to life after a particularly challenging 18+ months we all faced.

  • 

    Anisha Patel

    Steelcase

    Anisha is part of the Steelcase Applied Research + Consulting Group developing user centered work experience strategies for organisations across EMEA. She has over 10 years' experience helping multinational organisations to design work environments through a spatial, social and behavioral lens and a deep understanding of workplace trends and insights.

• 1130 Morning Break
• 1200 A Holistic Framework for Assessing Workplace Experience

  • Ian Ellison, 3edges Workplace Ltd

  In this presentation we will introduce a new framework for assessing workplace experience holistically, with respect to people, spaces, technology and business impacts. We will explain why we developed the framework and how the framework is grounded in different strands of established workplace theory. We will also explain why the framework is a significant improvement on existing conceptualisations of workplace experience, which tend to focus on one area of workplace (e.g. people or spaces) in insolation, without consideration for other areas or how they relate to each other.

  Using data from two case study organisations, we will explain how the framework can be used to show what employees think about different aspects of their workplace. We will explore how the framework can be used to pinpoint the positive and negative aspects of an organisation’s workplace, and highlight relationships between an organisation’s business, people, spaces and technology. We will conclude this presentation by exploring different use cases for the framework and discuss how application of the framework can help organisations to take a more joined-up approach to workplace and make more informed decisions about where best to invest their time and resources to improve their workplaces.

  • 

    Ian Ellison

    3edges Workplace Ltd

    Ian is an engaging facilitator and speaker with over twenty years’ experience spanning workplace and facilities management practice and education. He is passionate about the power of workplace to enable better business outcomes and make our working lives better. Fundamentally, Ian and 3edges help organisations make better decisions by thinking differently about their workplaces.

• 1230 Decoding participant behaviours in general conversations

  • Rob Wright, Co-Founder, Spaceology

  Conversational meetings take place every day and, in every organisation, but what can the actions and behaviours tell us.  This research proposes a method to infer gaze direction and the point of focus of participants involved in a collaborative activity, such as a meeting.

  It uses a single depth-based sensor placed overhead to capture the meeting, which has the benefit of avoiding occlusion and is unobtrusive, minimising possible changes in behaviour that might arise if people are aware of the sensor. The inferred gaze direction of each participant is estimated in the horizontal plane from the orientation of the head (yaw), derived from a segmentation of the depth image to generate an outline of the head.

  A common focus of attention is inferred by intersecting the gaze directions of each participant. Performance evaluation using a depth camera to record a meeting achieved a head detection performance of 99.6% and a valid gaze detection of 96.9%.  In addition the same depth image reveals the gestures/postures made during the discussion.

  Using both inferred gaze analysis and gesticulation behaviour the goal is to investigate a possible link to personality profiles of the participants.

  • 

    Rob Wright

    Co-Founder, Spaceology

    I have spent over 30 years within the workplace strategy industry helping corporate organisations to change the way they work and reduce their portfolio footprint. My last major role was Global Head of Workplace Strategy for ABN AMRO bank and in recent years followed that position with a 2 year consultancy challenge in the USA establishing workplace strategy for a major FM company. I recently co-founded Spaceology in order to help clients monitor in real-time and over-time how their portfolio is performing. We provide occupancy, utilisation and environmental data 24/7. It is the work providing workplace change management to end users that has led my desire to develop research methods to understand people behaviour in the workplace.

• 1300 Lunch
• 1355 Afternoon Chair's Welcome Back

  • Mark Catchlove, MillerKnoll Insight Group
  • 

    Mark Catchlove

    MillerKnoll Insight Group

    Mark leads the MillerKnoll Insight Group which is responsible for sharing the latest thinking in workplace design and related issues. He has been at Herman Miller / MillerKnoll for over 20 years and over that time has become a respected contributor to the workplace community.

• 1400 Workplace Authors' Discussion Panel

  • Jennifer Bryan, Leading People in Change: A Practical Guide
  • Simone Fenton-Jarvis, The Human-Centric Workplace: Enabling people, communities and our planet to thrive
  • Rob Harris, London’s Global Office Economy: From Clerical Factory to Digital Hub
  • Nigel Oseland, Beyond the Workplace Zoo: Humanising the Office
  • Neil Usher, The Elemental Workplace; Elemental Change

  A post-lunch discussion and Q&A session with leading authors in the Workplace space: Topics will include: why workplace books are needed, why there are so few of them, how tough or easy it is to write one, and how they each approached theirs.

  The session might even inspire you to write your own book!

  • 

    Jennifer Bryan

    Leading People in Change: A Practical Guide

    Jennifer Bryan is a practicing Change Consultant and published author, who has worked with over 30 different organisations across multiple industries. She is also a Non Executive Board Member of the ACMP (Association of Change Management Professionals) UK Chapter. She believes in helping people - in whatever capacity she can - by making sure people are thought of first, last and throughout change projects and programmes. She has created a unique leading change framework, the ABChange Model, which is shared in the book, "Leading People in Change: A Practical Guide," along with multiple case studies when it has been used. The Model is underpinned by accepted theories in leadership and change. It then builds upon them a framework which enables managers to create their own strategies and action plans, effecting specific change within their organisations.

  • 

    Simone Fenton-Jarvis

    The Human-Centric Workplace: Enabling people, communities and our planet to thrive

    With 15 years of experience working within Workplace and Facilities Management, an MBA and a multitude of industry qualifications, Simone Fenton-Jarvis has shaped and nurtured her passion for human-centric workplaces. Simone is a fellow of Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM), the Chair of the IWFM Workspace Special Interest Group, she sits on the editorial committee for Facilitate Magazine and Facilities Management Journal and mentors a bunch of super awesome people! Author of, "The Human-Centric Workplace". an active speaker and blogger in key areas: Human Centric Workplaces - Mental Health - Leadership - Culture - Technology - Ways of Working - Diversity and Inclusion. Homing in on employee experience, organizational performance, data gathering, change management and business improvement in relation to culture, space, process and technology, Simone wakes up every day on a mission to drive a world where organizations become the vehicle for people and societies to thrive, resulting in us all leaving the planet a better place than when we arrived.

  • 

    Rob Harris

    London’s Global Office Economy: From Clerical Factory to Digital Hub

    Rob works with private and public sector occupiers, helping to prepare premises and workplace strategies. He has a wealth of experience – over 30 years – and he offers practical advice, based on practical experience. Specifically, Rob’s skills lie in briefing, business casing, defining needs, option appraisal and workstyle strategies. London’s Global Office Economy: From Clerical Factory to Digital Hub is a timely and comprehensive study of the office from the very beginnings of the workplace to its post-pandemic future. The book takes the reader on a journey through five ages of the office, encompassing sixteenth-century coffee houses and markets, eighteenth-century clerical factories, the corporate offices emerging in the nineteenth, to the digital and network offices of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

  • 

    Nigel Oseland

    Beyond the Workplace Zoo: Humanising the Office

    This book begins by outlining the common design mistakes with the modern open plan office and the industry focus on cost that has resulted in the ill-fated Workplace Zoo. The requirements of office-based workers according to psychological theory and research are then explained. Dr Oseland references historical studies in psychophysics to describe how to design environmental conditions (acoustics, lighting, temperature, indoor air quality) that enhance performance by supporting basic physiological needs. More contemporary research in environmental psychology investigates how cognition affects our interpretation and response to physical stimuli depending on personality, context, attitude and other personal factors. This in turn informs individual requirements for the environmental conditions as well as group needs. Studies in evolutionary psychology and biophilia are also referenced. The latter part of the book turns to workplace solutions and focuses on how to plan, design and manage offices to accommodate our innate human needs now and in the future. The importance of designing for inclusivity is also recognised, including accommodating cultural, gender and generational differences along with designing spaces for neurodiversity. Dr Oseland’s proposed workplace solution the Landscaped Office is a revived and revised version of Bürolandschaft with a contemporary twist. The impact of workplace trends, such as agile working and hot-desking, is also explored and found to complement the workplace solution, resulting in the Agile Landscaped Office.

  • 

    Neil Usher

    The Elemental Workplace; Elemental Change

    Neil Usher has wrestled with complex change problems for almost 40 years, solving them with a rare blend of straightforward and creative thinking together with an eye for both strategy and detail. He brings a wealth of client-side management and leadership experience from around the world in a variety of industries. Companies he has worked for include Warner Bros., Honeywell, Rio Tinto and Sky. He has been actively blogging about work for over a decade. He is a sought-after conference and academic speaker, always bringing a fresh perspective while challenging assumptions and myths. That said.... he prefers to be thought of as ‘a regular bloke just trying to make sense of it all’.

• 1450 Neurodiversity and Workplace Inclusion

  • Kay Sargent, Director of WorkPlace, HOK
  • Leslie Thompson, Director of Workplace Strategy, Tarkett North America

  We are living in a time of increased awareness about individuals with neurodiverse conditions including ADHD and autism. One in 7 people are considered neurodiverse but fewer than 50% know it.

  In this session, neurodiversity design expert, Kay Sargent from global design firm HOK will present the compelling business case for ensuring this diverse group of people can thrive in the workplace – and what role the physical workplace plays in doing so.

  Many people with a neurodiverse profile are high performing, driven individuals who are bold problem solvers that excel in a crisis; the very traits that are in great demand at the moment. However, many workplaces unknowingly trip these individuals up.

  Based on the latest research on the specific needs of this group of people by HOK, Tarkett and Genius Within (Winter 2021/22), Kay and Leslie Thompson, Director of Workplace Strategy in Tarkett North America will share how to create spaces that allows them – and everyone – to excel.

  Session participants will learn about the many different ways in which these conditions impact individuals with or without a diagnosis, what that means in terms of their workplace needs and how that translates into practical design elements.

  • 

    Kay Sargent

    Director of WorkPlace, HOK

    Kay is a recognised expert on issues impacting workplace design and strategy. Her experience includes consulting with clients regarding trends, change management and assisting them with identifying their unique Corporate DNA. Her work has taken her to multiple continents where she has worked with several Fortune 500 companies on their global real estate strategies and designing their workplace of the future. She provided Congressional Subject Matter Expert Testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives on “Federal Real Estate Post-COVID-19: A View from The Private Sector.” Kay speaks regularly at CoreNet, IFMA and other industry events globally and was honoured with the ‘Luminary Award’ from CoreNet Global multiple times for being a top-rated speaker. Kay was named ASID’s Designer of Distinction for 2020. Kay is an award-winning designer whose work has been featured in Contract, Interior & Sources, Metropolis, ULI, The Leader, and CFM&D amongst others. Kay serves on the AVIXA Board of Directors; National ASID Foundation Research Taskforce, IWBI Mind Advisory Team, and Advisory Board for WorkDesign Magazine. During her career she has served on the International Boards of CoreNet Global, IIDA, ASID, IFI - International Federation of Interior Designers /Architects and NCQLP. She is an active member of IFMA and co-founder of the IFMA Workplace Evoluntionaries, WE community, and serves on the Executive Committee for WE. Kay is committed to mentoring the next generation of designers and as such mentors multiple individuals across the industry.

  • 

    Leslie Thompson

    Director of Workplace Strategy, Tarkett North America

    Leslie Thompson is Director of Workplace Strategy for Tarkett North America. As part of strategic marketing, Leslie works closely with design on trend forecasting, research and new product development for the workplace segment. She is passionate about design, strategy and people. Living in California, with a background in Interior Design, she brings a fresh perspective and market intelligence to Tarkett. Leslie truly believes that when we bring together different voices and ideas we create synergy. She finds inspiration in collaborative dialogue with the architecture and design community, IIDA, CoreNet and the global Tarkett group to further expand the company’s design leadership position.

• 1520 Afternoon Break
• 1550 Measuring a Transformed Workplace During a Pandemic

  • Anna Scally, Workplace Project Management, Avison Young
  • Phil Mobley, Director, US Occupier Insight, Avison Young

  Like many companies, Avison Young UK took the opportunity to rethink and recalibrate its workplace while nearly everyone worked from home in 2020 and the first part of 2021.

  Two pilot spaces were created and their performance was measured to understand what our space needs to provide to better support our business activities moving forward; the 2nd floor, which was transformed into a flexible space and the 3rd floor, whose layout remained as it was pre pandemic.  As employees returned only gradually toward the end of 2021, our challenge became how to measure the impact of the transformation during a period of low utilization.

  Using a combination of data sources, we developed a methodology to validate and iterate to get the most out of our newly transformed space.

  • 

    Anna Scally

    Workplace Project Management, Avison Young

    Anna is a Director at Avison Young, delivering office refurbishment and fitout projects for key organisations across a wide range of industry sectors. After graduating with a BSc in Psychology, Anna initially worked in the leisure industry before moving in Project Management of fit-out and refurbishments of offices. Anna has gained a wealth of experience as to the impact of the workplace on the occupants of the office. She has a passion for seeing how the development of workplaces, which include a focus on the mind and body, can improve productivity

  • 

    Phil Mobley

    Director, US Occupier Insight, Avison Young

    Phil has served the commercial real estate (CRE) industry as a researcher, consultant, and product innovator for over 15 years. He specialises in providing analyses that help the industry deliver high-value workplaces for tenants, a need that continues to accelerate. As Director of US Occupier Research at Avison Young, Phil shapes and leads the firm’s approach to understanding occupiers’ businesses and their dynamic need for commercial space. His work supports multiple business lines by identifying new ways to serve both landlord and occupier clients. Prior to joining Avison Young, Phil was Head of Research at Building Engines, a CRE operations software provider. His thought leadership uncovered new tenant expectations that will continue to revolutionize the way office workers interact with commercial buildings. Phil’s earlier career includes stints at Kingsley Associates, the industry’s leading provider of insights into tenant satisfaction; Deloitte Consulting; and Koine Communications, an independent consultancy he founded in 2014. An active member in the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), Phil is a frequent speaker CRE events and a regular contributor to industry trade publications. He holds an MBA and a BA in political science, both from the University of South Carolina.

• 1620 Agile Working in a University Setting - Learning by Doing

  • Sean Woulfe, Director of Estates, Kingston University London
  • Fiona Duggan, Director, FiD

  The Agile Working Pilot Project at Kingston University is an experiment involving 200 support staff. The learning-by-doing approach is considered research-in-action where new knowledge is created through a lived, evaluated experience. The starting point is the assumption that the future of work will be a blended mix of in-office and on-line. We know how to work effectively in-office. Covid has given us the opportunity to learn how to work effectively on-line. The Agile Working Pilot Project is about learning how to integrate both.

  The project was launched in November 2020, following an all-staff survey. Agile Working Guiding Principles were agreed, a multi-disciplinary Agile Working Steering Group was created, space was identified and the design of the Agile Working Hub got underway. The Hub will open in February 2022. In readiness, an Agile Working Review Group has been set up to evaluate the Hub in action over a 12 month period.

  Everything that has been learnt to date in this research-in-action project has been the result of reflecting and acting upon the lived experience of those involved. Our journey started with a simple question (‘How might we introduce Agile Working to Kingston University?’) and has gradually evolved into a shared understanding of what Agile Working could mean for Kingston University.

  • 

    Sean Woulfe

    Director of Estates, Kingston University London

    Sean has been Director of Estates and Sustainability at Kingston University London for the past 7 years, having been Deputy Director prior to this. Before joining Higher Education, he spent 18 years practicing architecture. Sean is responsible for all aspects of property strategy and management, devising the vision for the estate and delivering the associated programme of work while ensuring that the estate is legislatively compliant and continues to serve the changing needs of the University efficiently and effectively. In addition, he has led the University Estate response to the Covid 19 pandemic and he is currently leading the estate response to the introduction of Agile Working. He led the procurement of the University’s new Town House, which was commissioned, designed and built under his Directorship, winning the 2021 Stirling Prize.

  • 

    Fiona Duggan

    Director, FiD

    Fiona is founding director of FiD, a London-based consultancy set up in 2006. Using a combined background in architecture and organisational psychology, Fiona works at the place where users and buildings meet, seeking ways in which the design and use of space can support academic and/or organisational change. Over the past 33 years she has worked in teaching, research and consultancy roles across more than 200 organisations and institutions. Having gained her initial apprenticeship in workplace design at DEGW, Fiona has since worked on several workplace projects within the education sector. She has been convenor of the HEDQF (Higher Education Design Quality Forum) and was a steering group member and a co-author of the HEFCE-funded research project ‘The Case for New Academic Workspace’. She worked with Kingston University to produce the competition brief for Kingston University’s new Town House. In the past 18 months Fiona has been involved with several educational institutions eager to use the insights gained via Covid to effectively transition to blended ways of learning and working.

• 1650 New Measurement for the Effectiveness of Workplaces

  • Rachel Casanova, Senior Managing Director, Workplace Innovation Cushman and Wakefield – New York, USA
  • Sophie Schuller, Partner, Occupier Strategy and Workplace Cushman and Wakefield – Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  – Using Organisational Network Analysis to measure connectedness, networks and strength of relationships.

  For years, the real estate industry has highlighted how inspired workspaces drive collaboration, relationship development, mentorship and knowledge sharing. For example, a work environment with a range of work settings, natural light and informal meeting spaces that can facilitate desired behaviours. The pandemic provided an opportunity to test the hypothesis; What happened when offices were no longer an active asset to support employee connection, networks and relationships.

  Prior to the initial global lockdown, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) were engaged in exploratory field research of Client A’s communication patterns linked to office design features, such as open-plan vs traditional workplaces. Once the lockdown began, the research was extended to complete an Organisational Network Analysis (ONA) across Client A’s global organisation. The objective of this ONA was to evaluate the change to the strength, density and formality of networks across Client A’s business and how spatial design impacted these networks, including the impact of where you work.

  Initial findings concluded that where people work impacted how organisations functioned; during lockdown many experienced less connectivity to managers despite a greater emphasis on team collaboration over looser ties within the organisation. Correlations worthy of further exploration were found and are planned for 2022.

   

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    Rachel Casanova

    Senior Managing Director, Workplace Innovation Cushman and Wakefield – New York, USA

    Rachel Casanova is a Senior Managing Director of Workplace Innovation based in the firm’s Midtown Manhattan office. Having joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2018, Rachel is equipped with more than 25 years of diverse industry experience advising companies on how to transform their real estate assets to reinforce long-term business strategies and create a workplace experience unique to the company’s corporate culture. In a time of uncertainty about the future of office space, Rachel provides solutions for a range of workplace programs to support the evolving demands of a post pandemic ecosystem. Forward-thinking and creative, Rachel is passionate about the convergence of organisational behaviour, the human experience and real estate.

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    Sophie Schuller

    Partner, Occupier Strategy and Workplace Cushman and Wakefield – Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Sophie Schuller brings 16 years of Global Real Estate Consulting experience. Sophie has expertise in leading client engagements in strategic consulting, real estate finance and total workplace (facilities management); although Sophie’s education and interests lie in research into the intersection of workplace with organisational behaviour, neuropsychology and behavioral science. Sophie holds an MBA from London Business School and is currently completing her MSc in Neuroscience and applying for a PhD position in the neuropsychology of workplace, to commence 2022.

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