Overview
During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work became a new normal for many at the University. We saw an opportunity to think differently about how we conduct our work, and reevaluate the office space that supports it. Many of us have adapted to a different relationship between home and work, established a new way of communicating with peers, and developed new work styles. The Office of Human Resources (OHR) implemented Work. With Flexibility. policies, and many faculty and staff have expressed a desire to continue remote work in some form or measure. To ensure our campus facilities and workspaces also support new patterns and ways of working, now and into the future, the University formed a multi-department, cross-functional team to develop the Hybrid Workplace and Strategic Space Initiative.
Objective
The objective is to develop a coordinated system-wide approach to enhance employee workplace productivity and satisfaction, and to achieve qualitative benefits and cost savings related to the occupancy and operation of facilities. This will require a comprehensive cross-functional planning effort to identify work productivity modes, tools and resources, policies, planning models, space standards, and incentives and disincentives for changing work practices. A key component of this will be to establish a framework that can be tailored to individual units based upon their specific needs, with the intent to optimize the utilization of existing space, and potentially reduce the overall space footprint of facilities across the University of Minnesota campuses.
Related University Initiatives
Work. With Flexibility.
The Hybrid Workplace Strategic Space Initiative coordinates with the Office of Human Resources to ensure alignment with the University’s flexible work policies and practices. Please refer to OHR’s Work. With Flexibility. web site for more information.
PEAK Initiative
The Hybrid Workplace Strategic Space Initiative will coordinate with the University’s system-wide PEAK Initiative as changes to service delivery are implemented in the coming years, and will seek to align flexible workplace strategies to support organizational and operational needs.
Please refer to the PEAK Initiative web site for more information.
Climate Action Plan
The Hybrid Workplace Strategic Space Initiative will support the Twin Cities Climate Action Plan 2023, to address its campus-wide energy demand reduction goal to optimize space utilization and decommission existing square footage.
The Strategic Space Planning Framework will study the potential for space optimization, and evaluate the use of flexible office space strategies to help reduce overall square footage needs on campus. The planning framework will also engage with University organizational units to develop individual and coordinated space utilization plans.
Please refer to the Office of Sustainability Climate Action Planning web site for more
information.