2. Activity Based Working
“Work is something you do, not
somewhere you go”.
At Microsoft Australia’s offices we
have abandoned traditional desk and
office arrangements. Instead, we have
embraced Activity Based Working,
where our people connect to their
clients and teams through computers
and smartphones and can choose
when, where and how they would like
to work each day.
Our innovative, flexible and open
workplace design provides our
people with a wide range of shared
spaces and amenities. Employees can
work from the office, from home,
from a cafe, on the move, or even
from the beach if that works for them.
Microsoft’s suite of productivity
technologies underpins our ability to
work in this way.
Microsoft believes
work is something
you do, not
somewhere you go
Why Activity Based Working?
The world of work is changing.
Globalisation, technological
advancements and the expectations
of younger generations are driving a
change in the nature of how we work.
Seven years ago, Microsoft’s Global
Executive team started a conversation
within Microsoft about the need to
ensure the sustainability and success
of the organisation in a climate of
economic unpredictability and market
evolution. Locally, we recognised the
need to develop our resilience and
organisational agility in order to
sustain our competitive advantage in
an ever changing world.
Microsoft offices around the world
started testing new ways of thinking
about work. For example, Microsoft
Netherlands moved to a
custom-designed Activity Based
Employees can work
from the office, from
home, from a cafe,
from the beach, or
even on the move
3. Working office in April 2008. Since this
time, sales in the Netherlands office
increased by 51 percent, office space
costs reduced by 30 per cent, and
employee satisfaction increased.
Here in Australia, we started a dialogue
about the challenge of defining a
successful long term strategy in the
face of continuing change. We
recognised that to continue to be the
market leader and maintain
competitive advantage, we would need
to focus on our culture and break
existing paradigms about how work
was done.
Under our old working style we were
also at risk of running out of space at
many of our Australian office locations
due to an ever growing workforce. We
knew, like other organisations, that the
majority of our people work at their
designated workspace less than 50 per
cent of their day, suggesting that
allocated workspaces and the
significant infrastructure this requires is
becoming both redundant and
unsustainable.
People spend less than
50 per cent of their
work day at their
designated workspace
4. What did Microsoft do?
We recognised our need to
challenge and rethink the nature of
work in terms of when, where and
how people work. Our approach was
founded in the three pillars of
people, place and technology.
Pillar One: People
“Microsoft has spent a lot of time
being very deliberate about our
culture and our work environment.”
Rose Clements, Human Resources
Director, Microsoft Australia
We recognised that to change the
culture in our organisation we needed
to challenge the systems, symbols
and behaviours of Microsoft Australia
by focusing on the values and
attitudes of our people.
Through a collaborative process we
developed four mental models that
our leadership team fostered in our
people: Response Ability, Genuine
Curiosity, Authentic Communication,
and Absolute Integrity. We believe
these four mental models, when they
become the norm for organisational
attitude, will drive a culture of resilience
and agility, so that we can best serve
the Microsoft purpose regardless of
the continuously evolving external
environment.
We encouraged a dialogue among
team members and their managers to
develop a clear picture of job roles in
terms of outcomes and achievement.
We asked our employees ’in your
personal and work circumstances,
when, where and how do you need to
work in order to execute the job
you’ve been employed to do’? This
way of working generates a culture
founded on true trust, empowerment
and accountability.
We recognised
the need to
challenge and
rethink the
nature of work
People, Place
& Technology
5. Pillar Two: Place
Simultaneous to the culture discussion
we were considering solutions to the
challenge of fitting our growing
workforce into the North Ryde head
office location and offices in Perth,
Brisbane and Adelaide. We engaged
with our global Microsoft counterparts
to determine how principles of Activity
Based Working could be applied.
Using a staged process, our North
Ryde office was refurbished to cater for
more and different types of space
which encouraged collaboration, such
as spontaneous meeting spaces, formal
meeting rooms, stand-up desks, floor
hubs, and a customer area showcasing
Microsoft technology on our partner
devices. All employees have access to
all spaces and people select where they
would like to work based on the activity
they are doing rather than having a
designated workspace. An entire floor
of the office was handed back to the
landlord and our floor space footprint
was reduced by 25 per cent.
People select where
they would like to
work based on the
activity they are doing
Our floor
space footprint
was reduced
by 25 per cent
6. How important is technology?
Pillar Three: Technology
The third pillar, technology, has been
a key enabler of our move to Activity
Based Working. Our technology
easily enables this way of working.
Our people simply need a computer
and an internet connection and they
can instantly work securely -
wherever they choose. The NBN will
facilitate this type of work style for a
lot more people in Australia. It will
enable an “always on when I need to
be on” capability that mobile workers
need through reliable services to get
their job done.
We have a suite of integrated
technologies and tools that our
people are using in new and
innovative ways to drive competitive
advantage. For example, we use
Microsoft Lync, our Voice Over
Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology to
manage video and
telecommunications from our
computers, which significantly reduces
traditional office phone system costs.
We also use Microsoft Lync,
SharePoint and Windows Phone to
engage in real-time virtual
communication and collaboration,
regardless of location and workspace.
In meeting rooms we use a Polycom
RoundTable to engage all participants
via the 360 degree camera.
The technology which underpins our
move to Activity Based Working is
easy to use, easy to access and is
getting sharper, smarter and better all
the time.
Lync, SharePoint,
Windows Phone and
Polycom RoundTable
bring us together
regardless of where
we are working
The technology is
constantly evolving,
getting sharper,
smarter and better
all the time
7. Challenges and lessons learnt
Challenges in transitioning to Activity
Based Working are to be expected,
but these can be overcome with a
blend of strong leadership, cultural
improvement and robust strategy.
For example, we addressed
uncertainty regarding how to get in
touch with or find people by
enhancing Outlook and SharePoint
with presence indicators. We
overcame the desire to retain
personalised workspaces by
encouraging people to decorate their
lockers and express themselves
through technology such as
SharePoint and Lync activity updates.
We addressed the need to replicate
the plaques and trophies of traditional
reward and recognition programs by
creating an application on the
Microsoft intranet called ‘SPLASH!’,
which enables employees to engage
in rich peer to peer recognition, as well
as more formal recognition via their
Windows phone or computer.
Challenges can be
overcome with a
blend of strong
leadership, cultural
improvement and
robust strategy
Personalised
lockers, screen-
savers and user
presence on
Microsoft
programs
8. What are the benefits of
Activity Based Working?
We have experienced a boost in
employee productivity, engagement
and wellbeing. Our new way of
working fosters more opportunities
for collaboration due to the ‘bump
factor’, that facilitates quicker and
more collaborative decision making,
and enables increased employee
mobility and flexibility.
“Being able to work flexibly with
Microsoft is a huge reason why I love
the company... I also have found that
my productivity is much greater.”
Melissa Dewick, Marketing Manager,
Microsoft Australia
In line with this employee sentiment,
Microsoft Australia was named ‘Best
of the Best’ in Anil Hewitt’s 2010 and
2012 Best Employers in Australia and
New Zealand.
We have significantly reduced costs in
many respects, in areas such as floor
space, recruitment agency fees and
telephone costs.
We are more environmentally
sustainable. Our carbon emissions have
decreased due to our reduced floor
space, infrastructure, and power
requirements. For example, cooling
and power costs are reduced as a result
of building design that takes advantage
of daylight, light sensors and manual air
conditioning activation. We have also
significantly reduced our paper usage
through the move towards electronic
tools for collaboration and initiatives
such as ’follow me printing’.
We have experienced
a boost in employee
productivity,
engagement and
wellbeing
9. We believe that the new way of
working at Microsoft Australia could
point to the workplace of the future,
which offers flexibility, spontaneity and
the flawless transition between the
virtual and the physical.
Benefits of this new way
of working*
10% improvement in individual
effectiveness
14% improvement in informal
collaboration
11% improvement in overall
workplace satisfaction
7% improvements in team
effectiveness
20% improvement in formal
collaboration
21% improvement in impression
on customers
Source: Microsoft global survey
*WRAF performance vs legacy sites.
Our carbon
emissions have
decreased due to our
reduced floor space,
infrastructure, and
power requirements
