The Business Case for Web Commuting:
How to Reduce Workplace Costs and Increase Workforce Performance is a great resource we make available for potential clients who are interested in developing a strong case for implementing a mobile or telework policy. This white paper is available for free–simply contact us and request a copy!
Join us on Wednesday, May 23rd at 11:15am EST for a free webinar on the business case for alternative workplace strategies (AWS).
Diane Stegmeier, founder of Stegmeier Consulting Group, will be appearing with Strategic Advisor’s Michel Theriault as they discuss the many competitive advantages an AWS can provide your organization both now and in the future.
Diane will draw from her extensive background in workplace change management to help webinar participants begin preparing a strong defense prior to the development of the business case.
Michel Theriault will then share his expertise on creating a compelling business case to influence your senior executive and secure buy-in for your new workplace strategy.
Sign up today, space is limited to 50 participants.
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Michel Theriault is the award winning author of “Managing Facilities & Real Estate” and Principal at Strategic Advisor, a facility, property, and asset management consulting firm. 
Get his book here.
Diane Stegmeier is the founder of Stegmeier Consulting Group, a workplace change management consultancy. The firm is best known for helping organizations implement alternative workplace strategies by applying its proprietary Critical Influence methodology as detailed in her book, Innovations in Office Design: The Critical Influence Approach to Effective Work Environments. The book was chosen as the book of the year for IFMA and is the #1 workplace strategy book on Amazon.
Get it here.
A look at modern workplace design
10:20 AM, April 18, 2012
Diane Stegmeier, Founder of Stegmeier Consulting Group, recently appeared on Minnesota Public Radio’s The Daily Circuit for a segment with host Kerri Miller. Steve McConnell, managing partner at Seattle’s NBBJ Architects, appeared with Diane as the two discussed the future of the workplace and the workplace’s effect on productivity.
Listen here:
Or head over to MPR’s site for the archived interview.
Many organizations seeking to implement an alternative workplace strategy (AWS), such as setting up a shared-space environment, intensely focus the vast majority of their efforts on the physical space environment. While the office environment is the most tangible piece of the puzzle, smart facilities and corporate real estate professionals realize it is just one of many components that need to be critically examined for an organization to reap the intended rewards of an AWS.
Often times, we’ve had clients approach us with a beautifully crafted and well planned workplace design wondering why employees haven’t embraced their new workplace, why collaboration and productivity are actually down, or why employee turnover has increased. Almost always, the client neglected to engage a workplace change management firm to assess the current state of the organization to unearth and address the top areas of resistance, to conduct pre-occupancy surveys for establishing base-line metrics to delve into what is and isn’t working for employees, and to train employees (and managers on how to supervise their employees) on ways of working in the new environment.
Many times, in an attempt to save money, companies will attempt to go it alone instead of hiring workplace consultants like Stegmeier Consulting Group; while the decision-makers may not realize it, apparent upfront cost savings quickly evaporate.
HR and facilities professionals are taken away from critical job functions and are burdened with tasks they are unprepared to carry out. Out of fear, employees contend that everything is OK, yet true buy-in has not been achieved. Productivity and collaboration are stymied as untrained employees are blindly expected to achieve success in a foreign work environment. Middle management, angry that they were ‘this close’ to a corner office, but now moved to an open environment, engage in ’silent sabotage’ praising the “great workplace idea” to upper management while undermining the success of the project to their direct reports. Unhappy employees soon look elsewhere, saddling the organization with the cost of recruiting and training expensive replacements.
Very soon, a seemingly thoughtful attempt to save the organization money is proven to be short sighted. While no company would ever ask their real estate or facilities team to swing a hammer and physically build out their new workspace, many organizations are still foolishly expecting an internal team to serve in the role of workplace change management consultants.
One such organization that wisely saw the value of working with an independent workplace change management firm is Philips. When they were looking to implement an AWS to move to a more open office environment on their Andover, Massachussetts corporate campus, Philips Electronics North America engaged Stegmeier Consulting Group early on in the process to lead the workplace change management efforts. Working closely with Margulies Peruzzi Architects and with Cresa Partners, we ensured a smooth transition for Philips employees. The following video gives you a glimpse into their new workspace:
Let’s talk about how we can help your organization reap the rewards of a successful alternative workplace strategy. Head over to our contact page and briefly tell us your plan. We will be in touch with you shortly.
A team from Stegmeier Consulting Group will be leading a workshop at the upcoming MobileGov Training Conference:
Strengthening The Case For Workforce Mobility: Maximize Cost Reduction, Improve Productivity, Mitigate Risk, And Address Conflicting Objectives
Despite the documented benefits of workforce mobility, some agencies still resist. Join recognized thought leaders in workplace change management as they explore strategies that organizations are employing to strengthen the business case for mobility and share proven techniques to overcome resistance to change at various levels within your agency.
Participate in this hands-on workshop activities to focus on overcoming your most challenging barriers to success and winning support from skeptical management leaders. Leave with best practices and actionable steps you can apply to your own mobility program, including:
WORKSHOP LEADERS: Diane Stegmeier is President and Founder of Stegmeier Consulting Group, a globally-recognized leader in workplace change management that has been engaged by diverse clients to significantly reduce workplace costs while improving workforce productivity. Stegmeier is best known for her extensive research on resistance to workplace change and her discovery of the 15 Critical Influences™ impacting behavior in the workplace. Those research findings were compiled in her book, Innovations in Office Design: The Critical Influence Approach to Effective Work Environments, which was ranked the #1 Workplace Strategy Book by Amazon readers.
Sandy Crocker Hosfeld is a Senior Consultant in Change Management with Stegmeier Consulting Group. She has conducted extensive research on diversity and the multi-generational workforce, and is a recognized speaker, workshop leader, and facilitator on the topics. She is an international speaker, workshop leader, facilitator, and presenter. She has 26 years of experience in the office and workspace solution industry and 16 years of teaching experience.
Matthew Stegmeier is a Consultant in Change Management with Stegmeier Consulting Group and has been instrumental in applying the firm’s best practices and proprietary Critical Influence methodology to clients’ mobility, flex work, shared-space environments, and other alternative workplace strategies. Matthew Stegmeier is the co-author of the forthcoming book, CAVE People in the Workplace: Managing Citizens Against Virtually Everything.
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Mention “Stegmeier Consulting Group” when you register, and save $400. More savings for early bird registration, until April 26: http://aliconferences.com/conf/mobile_gov0612/index.htm
If you’re going to the conference, we’d love to meet up with you. Head over to our contact page, and set up an appointment to discuss your organization’s mobility and telework needs.
Hello friends,
As we begin 2012, Stegmeier Consulting Group thanks you for your support over the past year.
2011 was an incredibly exciting year for SCG’s workplace change management team. We’ve enjoyed a tremendous expansion that has enabled our growing team to develop a number of new tools to compress the typical change management process for our clients. Our website has been totally updated, and as you can see, we started our new Workplace Change blog.
Stegmeier Consulting Group’s work continues to focus on delivering two significant results to our clients: 1) reduction in workplace costs, while at the same time, 2) improvement in workforce performance. A seemingly simple equation, yet one—if not properly managed—can cause costly business disruption and great risk. As students of change, we strive to learn from our diverse client experiences as we support them in overcoming employee resistance to workplace change. In fact, significant findings from one of our consulting engagements have led to a new best practice which will be applied to future workplace transformation initiatives.
Most gratifying were the numerous calls we received from past participants in SCG’s change management seminars and workshops, who proactively reached out to reconnect. We consistently heard comments such as, “I’ve carried your business card around for several years because I knew one day our company would catch up to the workplace trends you’ve taught us. We need you!” With the realization that change management expertise needs to be applied early in the strategic planning of change, we are excited to have already been engaged and working on client change initiatives that will come to fruition in 2013 and beyond.
We also appreciate hearing from our followers around the globe that they continue to draw from our book, Innovations in Office Design: The Critical Influence Approach to Effective Work Environments, for best practices in leading change that they can apply to their increasingly complex businesses.
To thank you for your interest in leading change, by opting-in to subscribe to our free mailing list, we will send you Stegmeier Consulting Group’s 2012 List of Change Management Resources (aka “The List”). We trust that you will find this growing list of resources beneficial, and look forward to hearing how we can assist your organization in 2012.
Stegmeier Consulting Group
Stegmeier Consulting Group founder Diane Stegmeier was recently interviewed for an American Express Open Forum article detailing how to make the most of a cramped workspace, 11 Tips For Maximizing A Small Office Space.
The first tip? Make use of common areas: Rather than focusing on the limitations of our smaller private office, cubicle or shared space, we need to adopt the philosophy that a person’s office is the entire facility.
The next tip? [Read on to find out.]
Dan Tangherlini is assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury, one of the many government agencies developing new workplace strategies focused on reducing real estate holdings. Not unlike numerous private-sector organizations, the agency is combining a significant reduction in square footage per employee with a structured telework program. In the article, “The Incredible Shrinking Office: Feds Moving to Shared Workspaces,” Tangherlini refers to the approach as “tightsizing.”
The terms downsizing and rightsizing have long conveyed a negative connotation, with benefits to the organization—and sacrifices for the workforce. But don’t assume that tightsizing falls in the same category. The term tightsizing has not yet become mainstream, however I predict you’ll be hearing it used increasingly in the future. Tightsizing goes hand-in-hand with alternative workspace strategies (AWS), which in many cases, are a result of downsizing or rightsizing.
More and more clients contact Stegmeier Consulting Group early in their workplace transformation processes requesting change management support. Regardless of whether they refer to their initiative as alternative workspace strategy, shared space environment, hoteling, mobile work, flex work, web commuting, tightsizing, or other terms, the common thread these corporate real estate professionals share is the goal to balance workplace cost reduction and workforce performance improvement. It indeed is a balancing act, yet one worth pursuing. For every 100 individual workspaces an organization can eliminate when combining tightsizing and an appropriately designed workforce mobility program, that enterprise can conservatively save $1 million annually in rent, operations, depreciation, and churn costs.
Managing resistance to workplace change can seem a daunting task for business leaders. However, identifying and addressing areas of resistance early in the development of the new workplace strategy can ensure the organization maximizes the opportunities for reducing workplace costs:
• Operate more productively with fewer resources
• Reduce energy consumption and the corporation’s aggregate carbon footprint
• Support business continuity strategies
• Accommodate new hires without leasing additional space
Earlier in this blog, I asked readers to refrain from assuming that tightsizing has a negative connotation. An alternative workspace strategy may actually be a blessing in disguise for the organization. Tightsizing individual workspaces, while also granting members of the workforce the autonomy to select where and when they work based on the task at hand, can ensure the enterprise optimizes performance improvement:
• Increase productivity despite the location where work is performed
• Reinforce the corporate value of trust, improving employee morale
• Provide staff more choices and control to balance work-life
• Accommodate the needs of the multigenerational workforce
• Support the company’s attraction and retention efforts
When the term tightsizing becomes mainstream and its benefits well known, perhaps the blessing will no longer be disguised. For now, please refrain from assuming that reducing workplace costs can only result in benefits to the business enterprise, and sacrifices to the workforce.
Diane Stegmeier
Author, Innovations in Office Design: The Critical Influence Approach to Effective Work Environments
I was recently asked what I hoped to achieve with Stegmeier Consulting Group’s new blog. Good question. Those who know me have come to learn that there is a reason for everything I do. I don’t believe I’ve ever been called capricious, and the network of individuals with whom I work very closely understand that my goals for sharing my research findings are part of my complex plan to change the world. OK, not really the entire world, just the corporate work environment.
I began to reflect on my 10-year workplace research initiative that involved 140 organizations in 24 diverse industries throughout North America and Europe. The study initially focused on the impact of physical space on behavior in the work environment, and eventually evolved to also include the affect of the virtual workplace. My thoughts then turned to my study of the role of leadership in driving organizational change. I pondered the specific lessons I had learned from my postgraduate study of innovation and organizational change at Harvard, Duke, and Case Western Reserve Universities. As these thoughts began to converge, I came to realize that what I hope to achieve by sharing my knowledge on resistance to workplace change is best told by a story I’d like to share with you now.
In the third century BC, Greek mathematician Archimedes was asked by King Hiero of Syracuse to ensure that his gold crown, made by the local goldsmith, included every bit of the precious metal the craftsman had been supplied to create the king’s headdress. In a serendipitous visit to the public baths of Syracuse, Archimedes determined the mathematical formula to measure the volume of the king’s crown—an irregular-shaped object—as he observed water spilling over the edge of the too-full tub into which he stepped. In his excitement, he apparently forgot he was unclothed. He ran through the streets of Syracuse naked, shouting “Eureka, I found it!”
As an author, my goal for you, the reader of this blog or my book, is to discover—at minimum—one important concept that will result in an “aha!” moment as it relates to your involvement in the development of effective workplaces. That key learning may shed light on the perplexities surrounding seemingly sound workplace solutions that ultimately failed. Perhaps a new approach or an added insight will contribute to elevating your current level of success in your chosen field.
A word of warning, however: When you discover an idea that you realize will save you much frustration on your next workplace project, please don’t make the same mistake that Archimedes made. Do remain fully clothed. You know how your coworkers hate distractions in the workplace!
Diane Stegmeier
Author, Innovations in Office Design: The Critical Influence Approach to Effective Work Environments