Federal Property & Administrative Services

Act 1949
37.1 Million Square Meters
8,300 Facilities
Who the Public Buildings 1700 Owned (20.4 Million M2)
Service is: 6600 Leased (16.7 Million M2)
455 Historic Buildings; 35 National
Our Mission = Why we Historic Landmarks
have emphasized $7.6 Billion Revenue
workplace: $500 - 800 Million Net Income
5400 people – 94% outsourced
Superior
Workplace at
superior value

BUT what is a superior work place TODAY

 1989 1991 1996 2010

Chronology of a bureaucrat: The changing workplace

Legacy office space: over-lit and underutilized

More new Federal offices will emphasize

collaboration over individual space
 The new look of the workplace plan

1980’s workplace: Contemporary workplace:

Regimented/ “suburban” Diversified/”urban”

Credit BPS
22 occupants 37 occupants
 ta ryCoordin
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Americans with Disabilities Act
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Historic Preservation Officer
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Architect
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ic Ar t
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Public Affa
A SECURITY SPECIALIST
ec

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irs Officer
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tr a t inator
T r ave
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Lab technician
is Help De C oo r d l
m i n sk P olic
A d Human Resource Specialist ys
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Clerk of the Courts cia
Pro F ores list
gra t arc Receptionist
m A Relations Project h aeo Manager
logis FBI Agent
Congressional naly t
•Order out of chaos f fi cer
Specialist st Probation Officer
a bi lity O
•Sensible foot print Dis reduction
Assistant Administrator in the Office of Administration
• Care Coordinator
Child
Space Planner
TSA screener p ec ialist
sta t e S or
Re a l
E Tax audit
Chief Counsel
se r ev i ewe r
S SA ca earcher
Media Coordinator al R e s
Medic
Two simple questions determine
basis of work styles:

Amount of Mobility?
Amount of interaction?
Answers can come from:

•Employee survey,
•Staff Focus Groups
•Leader/manager interviews.

Each method has different benefits,

and may be appropriate to different
situations .
 Mobile
Interactive
36 desk seats

(desk sharing
possible)
each work style suggests
physical parameters for:
interaction
increasing

•The work space

•The support space
•The work “neighborhood”
increasing mobility

Deskbound
concentrative-
24 desk seats

Desk sharing
less possible
 36 desk seats

(desk sharing
possible)

RIGHT MIDDLE: Six major types of work styles based

on how mobile/how interactive employees are in their
interaction
increasing

work space.
RED BOXES: template for highly interactive/highly
mobile away from desk (box on left shows what space
would "feel like” along with specification.)
PURPLE BOXES: Template for heads-down,
increasing mobility sedentary work style (box on left shows what space
would "feel like” along with specification.)

24 desk seats

Desk sharing
less possible
THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE HAS CREATED A WORKSTYLES
FRAMEWORK BASED UPON HOW MOBILE/ HOW INTERACTIVE AN
EMPLOYEE IS. THIS KIND OF ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT 36 EXTERNALLY
MOBILE, INTERACTIVE EMPLOYEES CAN BE FULLY SUPPORTED IN THE
SAME SPACE AS 24 DESKBOUND CONCENTRATIVE EMPLOYEES.
Deskbound internally externally
Degree of interaction at desk

Concentrative interactive mobile mobile

Amount of mobility away from desk

GSA’s Secret Sauce: Sharing Ratios
 Companies from Cisco to Accenture
are putting their real estate money
into collaborative rather than into private
space

Photos: Cisco
Photos: Cisco Systems
Coast Guard,
Oakland, CA
O b s t a c l e s…
“If to do were as easy as to know what were
good to do, chapels had been churches, and
poor men’s cottages prince’s palaces” -
Shakespeare, the Merchant of Venice
 Obstacles
The environmental
equivalent of the 8 x 10
•Union Agreements which focus on quantity workstation
not quality
•Generational Differences in the perception
of privacy
•Inadequate acoustical treatments and
accepted protocols
•-Lack of engagement with staff

You don’t know what you don’t know:

past experience as impediment The environmental
equivalent of the 6 x 8 (or
even 4x6!) workstation
 O pportunities…

“We are at a huge tipping point with regard to

our cultural and societal notions about
workplace.”

Martha Johnson, Administrator GSA

•Agencies need to reduce footprint = more rational use of

space
•Nothing could be more sustainable than to respond to the
way people really work in this digital age
O v er c o m I n g O b s t a c l e s
Through educating our workforce…

Requirements Development Training

Basic
Strategic
Workplace Solutions Library (WSL)
Visual Portfolio of Workspace (Vpow)
• Questions!
• Kevin Kelly, AIA
– Senior Architect, GSA, PBS Center for Workspace
Delivery

– 202 253 2042

– Kevin.kelly@gsa.gov

– Thanks!
Work Patterns Survey

Introduction to the
survey
Take the survey
How is it analyzed

A Day in the Life

Desk-bound,
interactive
Desk-bound,
concentrative
Internal-mobile,
interactive
Internal-mobile,
concentrative
External-mobile,
interactive
External-mobile,
concentrative
 Work Patterns > Introduction to Work Patterns > TAKE THE SURVEY
TIPS

When considering your

level of interaction, also
take into account the
unscheduled interactions.
For instance, as a
manager you may have
employees dropping by
your office throughout the
day, or as an
administrative assistant
Introduction to Work Patterns have to direct phone calls
throughout the day.
Desk-bound, interactive These, along with your
Desk-bound, concentrative scheduled meetings and
Internal-mobile, interactive conference calls should be
Internal-mobile, concentrative included with your total
External-mobile, interactive time for E and F.
External-mobile, concentrative
INTERACTION
On average, when at your desk in your primary office, indicate what
percentage of work time you spend in the following ways. Your total time
should equal 100%. Please indicate a unique percentage for each task,
i.e. no two percentages should be equal
E. ____% In-person interaction at your desk (such as talking to a
colleague or serving a customer)
F. ____% On the phone at your desk (all phone use, including conference
calls)
G. ____% Focused work including reading and writing (such as research,
writing, contracting or legal)
H. ____% Processing information with paper or electronically (such as
accounting, clerical, data processing)
____% TOTAL TIME

TIPS

When considering your MOBILITY

Work Patterns Survey
Introduction to the survey
Take the survey
How is it analyzed
A Day in the Life
Desk-bound, interactive
Desk-bound, concentrative
Internal-mobile, interactive
average time, visualize
your calendar for an On average, indicate percentage of work time you spend at these
entire month. For locations. Your total time should equal 100%
instance, you may A. ____% At your desk in your primary office
spend three full weeks B. ____% Away from your desk in your primary office (such as in
in the office but spend other employee’s workstation, a meeting room or break area)
the fourth week at a C. ____% Working at home
client’s office or D. ____% Other locations away from your primary office (including
traveling for business; other government offices, client sites or business travel)
this would be ¼ (or ____% TOTAL TIME
25%) away from your
primary office.