An office relocation can involve major change: losing the familiar and facing the unknown and, unless it’s handled well, can cause disruption, confusion and resentment. At Guardian News and Media, it was never an option for us to force the changes on our staff, but rather to involve them in every step of the office relocation.
We moved into our new offices in Kings Place, in the heart of the regeneration area of King’s Cross in London, just before Christmas 2008. The move was more than just a change of address for GNM, it was the start of a new chapter in our history, signifying a fundamental shift in the way we would work in the future. From a mainly UK focused print operation, we were transforming into a 24/7 international media business. And we weren’t just moving into an office block: Kings Place is a music and arts complex, with two concert halls, resident orchestras, art galleries, bars and restaurants – all open to the public.
GNM had a clear vision for its new offices: it would be a building that would not only support our new way of working, but would embody our values of innovation, transparency and openness; a building that would also support GNM’s ambition to be a leader on sustainability in the media industry, not just to be carbon neutral, but to be environmentally regenerative in our activities.
The challenges
As a media organization, the move needed to be seamless: the technology needed to work from day one, our journalists needed to publish news across all our platforms without interruption, and our operational departments needed to simply walk in and start working.
An almost bigger challenge was the sheer volume of books, paper and files within our organization. We were moving from offices where people had paperwork all around them, to offices with minimum clutter and flexible working across desks and departments. Simply packing up and moving all our files, books and clutter was not an option – we were embarking on a completely new way of working, and this would involve huge change for everyone.
We were spread across 23 floors in five buildings in our old offices, which didn’t allow us to work in the ways we would need to in the future. Collaboration was difficult, and working flexibly across teams near impossible.
The biggest challenge was for staff to understand – and share – the vision, to feel motivated by the move, to understand how their working environment would change and to understand the role they would play in the move. Most important of all, we wanted employees to feel informed, engaged and supported throughout the process.
Planning and Preparation
The move took three years of planning and preparation. Dedicated project groups were formed to oversee the planning, including an accommodation strategy group to prepare and oversee the strategy and a relocation group to manage the implementation. The entire project was managed by the chief operating officer, who had an overview and responsibility for all workstreams. I had responsibility for creating and implementing the internal communication strategy for the move. As part of this, one of the most important things for me was to be part of the project team, and I sat on both the accommodation strategy and relocation groups, which meant I was aware of what was going on at every step of the process. The internal communication strategy had clearly defined priorities and objectives for each phase of the move preparation, with staff engagement at the heart of our communication plans.
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