"Tomorrow's Office": the paperless, computer-"less" office

[Dr Malcolm Sutherland]

As you may know, I am currently working in a summer placement.  I can now reveal that this is in one of the many offices in Glasgow City Chambers.  These old-fashioned offices and corridors will soon become a thing of the past...

 

The council is about to implement a dramatic project called Tomorrow's Office.  The following changes will be implemented early next year:

• All fixed desks and their computers will be removed.  Permanent staff (e.g. public health officers) shall no longer have desks with all their computer accessories and paperwork.  There will be a very large open-plan office with about 18 hot-desking units (6 small tables with computers connected to the intranet and one or two printers.

• Inevitably, most staff will be asked only to come into the office when they really must (e.g. staff meetings, printing off official letters to send to local residents).

• Staff will be expected to carry laptops and do most of their work at home or when visiting sites.

• All files and documents shall be electronic.  Printing paper documents shall be avoided as much as possible.  (There is still a lot of paperwork from older files, and some might not be scanned?)

 

 

My line managers have given me permission to mention this, and to go and ask computer-savvy people like yourselves for their opinions and comments on these proposals.  What will the implications be?  For example, could there be problems with malware and viruses spreading from so many employees' laptops?  (Note: memory sticks and CDs are currently banned in the offices.)  What are the risks that files (e.g. text, Word, Excel) saved today might not be readable in, say, 10 years time?  How easy might it be for outsiders to access confidential files in employees' own homes?

 

I am currently gathering comments, and will be publishing them in an internal report.  All commentators will be gratefully acknowledged (please state if you want your names to be kept confidential).

[Dr Malcolm Sutherland]

Also, I wonder which programs (which we take for granted today) will disappear in the next 10 years, or the next 20 years?  Could Microsoft Word eventually be replaced by something simpler or more sophisticated?  (E.g. will there be a mobile phone, which takes photos of pages, which are so detailed, that they are instantly converted into text?)  I know that .jpeg, .avi and .txt have survived the last 20 years.

[Kalakian]

Working at home does tend to make other household members ask you to do stuff while you're supposed to be working, and can be a pain.  I'm sure that putting a sign on my door like "Working, answer the bloody phone yourself" wouldn't go down too well

[Dr Malcolm Sutherland]

I've spoken with some of the staff, many of whom dread the thought of sitting at home, either (1) all alone; or (2) being continuously interrupted by noisy family members making a mess and imposing demands (i.e. a home worker is therefore a house cleaner is therefore the taxi driver giving everyone lifts to the station or down town).  I know the latter is true from my own experience.  It's neither pleasant nor "appropriate" to write this, but many parents go out to work to get away from the house (!)

 

The council cannot let people use any old computer.  They would have to provide specialised laptops to every member of staff, which (1) do not contain any ports (e.g. USB, CD drive); (2) which do not allow the user to download or install new programs, and (3) block access beyond the intranet.  An extra BT line would have to be fitted in employees' houses; they cannot be expected to use Wi-Fi.  There would have to be several other computer restrictions as well.

[Kalakian]

Apart from all the points made by John, what do the staff actually feel about working this way?  Working from home is fine for some, but others like the social aspect of going to an office.  Add to that the impersonalisation of hot-desking and lack of storage space, it doesn't sound like a very friendly work environment.  I wonder whether this will, on average, increase or decrease productivity.

[John Sutherland]

Yeh.  I was thinking how a truck drier can't smoke in his own cab.  And how a home visitor can't visit a home within 2 hours of someone smoking in it (seriously, that affected my wife when she worked for Alzheimers Scotland.)  Somehow I don't think this policy of GCC has been thought through.

[Daniel Livingstone]

Agree with almost everything posted by John except "Employees legally can't be expected to work in an environment where smoking is going on.  It could be that smoking employees can't legally telecommute." - if the employee is smoking in their own home, even though it is a 'home office', then I *really* don't think the liability for this will be with the employer.

IANAL

[John Sutherland]

• There is a security risk to any data in equipment taken off-site.  This should be checked with The Information Commissioner for Scotland based in St Andrews.
• The employer will need to check with his Insurer as anyone being injured at home or off-site involving a work-related incident could sue, especially if the employer has not health'n'safety checked the site.  This would include working conditions such as provision of back-support and wrist-support for computer users.  Laptops are notorious for causing problems as they are not ergonomically designed for use.
• If an employee is required to have a working environment at home then everything they pay related this is tax deductable by the employee: rates, electric, gas, carpet, furniture, light bulbs, coffee, ...
• If an employee uses their home for work-related practices then they must tell the local authority(!) as it might affect rateable value, and may not be permissable in some geographic areas.  
• Employees with certain disabilities will not be able to use standard hot-desk workstations and working areas.  For example those with known spinal problems, hearing problems, vision problems, ...
• As no-one will have a phone number at their desk it is probable that mobile phones must be supplied by the employer if they are to keep in touch with their employees.  The Council may also have to provide Internet access from people's homes.  The use of these should be monitored.
• The biggy is simply that you can't see your employees working.  It is an HR nightmare.  They might be smoking, drinking, snorting cocaine, surfing porn, FBing, sleeping,  ...  Employees legally can't be expected to work in an environment where smoking is going on.  It could be that smoking employees can't legally telecommute.  
• If employees are running some kind of crooked scam while being paid by the Council then it could implicate the Council.  This is well known, but again the problem is you can't see them doing it.

I seriously suggest they seek advice from experts over and above just us who ken a wee bitty.  These would certainly include an expert in employment law.