The relocation process into a refurbished work environment: A sample case study incorporating employers’ and employees’ needs and wishes.

Abstract

Relocating a team into new office premises requires successful management incorporating the needs of all those affected. The current case study faced various challenges: moving from larger to smaller premises, retrofitting the structural conditions in the "new" 120-year-old premises, and implementing new working environments that would enable hybrid work. These changes are a significant transition for teams. Change Management and design-thinking allow the combination of methods for transformation implementing processes, including all change steps, that are crucial for sustaining success. The present article deals with a case study documenting all the steps of relocating a research department. Preceding a literature review and using a survey to assess the users’ needs, the case study sheds light on a change and design thinking process incorporating different employers’ and employees’ wishes. The survey among the later users of the hybrid work premises revealed an amplified wish for facilitated, barrier-free communication among the team. Visiting exemplary office environments dispelled partial scepticism towards activity-based infrastructure, which resulted in curiosity about innovative office furniture and emerging technologies. Finally, implementing new working environments resulted in an optimised layout with high technological standards in a 120-year-old building structure. The presented use case shows an example of implementing sustainability in terms of durability. Concepts like these, which collect needs directly from the people concerned, make it possible to realise changes that are in the interest of those affected and, therefore, require no further far-reaching changes.