Workplace continuity: how risk and technology will affect facilities strategy

Abstract

Purpose

To provide a summary of factors contributing toward the movement toward decentralized workplaces; this will largely be driven by the need to principles of business continuity, as well as the increasing ubiquity of broadband.

Design/methodology/approach

This takes a chronological approach to the development of a few previously separate organizational movements (i.e. business continuity, telework, advances in remote technology, facility strategy) and demonstrates how recent events have caused a collision of these factors. The result of this has been to energize the movement to alternative workplace models.

Findings

The paper demonstrates how the concepts presented move from a theoretical construct to a practical one based on factors including reduced implementation costs, a greater need to protect human and physical capital, the need for organizations to remain competitive, as well as the need to address work and lifestyle balance needs of employees.

Research limitations/implications

Enterprise‐wide applications of business continuity are still relatively new, and the penetration levels of broadband are not quite at the point where change will occur immediately.

Practical implications

Real estate professionals can effectively redefine their responsibilities and enhance their strategic profiles within the organizations they represent by understanding and integrating basic principles of workplace continuity.

Originality/value

This provides a blueprint for planners considering fundamental changes in workplace configuration.

Citation

Gill, T.J. (2006), "Workplace continuity: how risk and technology will affect facilities strategy", Journal of Facilities Management, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 110-125. https://doi.org/10.1108/14725960610651205