Return to Office Optimization
In the summer of 2021, our client recognized the need for a comprehensive return-to-office solution to ensure the safety and well-being of its employees. ETI was engaged to implement Envoy’s workplace platform across multiple sites, facilitating a secure and adaptable transition back to the office environment.
What got in the way — and how we got through it.
Aggressive Timeline
Our client required that the platform be in place and operational for all remote employees within three months of the contract being awarded.
To meet the three-month deadline, we employed a wave-based, iterative implementation that would allow us to scale up the number of employees and suites.
Last-Minute Need for Hoteling Space for All Remote Employees
Three weeks after the project had started, Leadership decided that a hoteling floor needed to be made immediately available for all remote employees until their assigned floor was ready. This timing change required that we quickly pivot to configure and enable desks, offices, and conference rooms for over 1,000 employees.
The change in timing required that we quickly pivot to configure and enable desks, offices, and conference rooms for over 1,000 employees on a temporary hoteling floor. We also fast-tracked creating training material that could be available to all employees.
In-Flight Office Reconfiguration
Engineering and construction projects were running in parallel to the Envoy deployment, forcing ETI to develop a unique solution that accounted for ever-evolving vendor deliverables and changing timelines.
We established bi-weekly meetings with the space management point of contact and our stakeholders to stay informed of changes to the construction schedule. We created a detailed schedule, deliverables, and dependencies document to track what was needed and when for each suite, updated in real-time in each meeting.
Changing Health Guidelines
Adhering to ever-changing health guidelines required specific planning with the flexibility to change as the health guidelines evolved.
ETI partnered with our SMEs to craft health surveys that were published in Envoy. These surveys could be quickly updated to address changing guidelines.
Employee Adoption
Employees were hesitant to return to the office amid the pandemic. A comprehensive adoption management strategy was paramount to ensure employee adoption of the platform.
We partnered with the Communications and Future of Work teams to create and implement an adoption management strategy based on our best practices. This strategy included training videos, feature-based snippets, training manuals, quick start guides, announcements in Envoy, and office signage.
Expansion Beyond Headquarters
After our initial deployment, our client asked ETI to deploy Envoy at four additional locations with different stakeholders and different degrees of construction.
Leveraging our relationship as a trusted IT partner, we directly collaborated with subject matter experts and stakeholders, allowing the internal IT team to focus on their core priorities.
The result.
- Successful Migration
Aligning with the customer’s aggressive timeline, Phase 1 was successfully deployed in February 2022. This allowed for a safe and flexible return to work for over 1,000 employees.
- Support Staff Training
Help desk and IT staff were trained to provide seamless support, enhancing user experience and issue resolution.
- Additional Roll-out
Phase 2 expansion to four locations occurred smoothly during the summer of 2022, indicating the scalability and adaptability of the implemented solution and meeting our client’s timeline and goals for return-to-office.
- Managed Services
Our client continues to engage ETI for assistance in leveraging Envoy to address business needs. This involves ongoing support, refinement, and expansion of the Envoy platform, further enhancing workplace flexibility for our client’s employees.