The New Way of Working

A Dutch province had the ambition to introduce ‘the New Way of Working’. The need to work ‘independent of place and time’ played a leading role in this ambition. In order to achieve this, an organisational programme was set up. The main aim of this programme was to clearly map out the needs from the business perspective. These needs were then translated to the demands of the ICT infrastructure.
From both the department of Monitoring and Enforcement and the Roads division, specific demands were made with regard to a remote working environment. In addition, it was imperative that all employees should be offered the opportunity to work either from home or on the train. In this, there was an imbalance between the availability of data and security thereof.
However, the ICT infrastructure was in no way suitable to support the intended facilities. Also, there was talk of simultaneously relocating the provincial government to new premises. The combination of these events resulted in a challenging and complex programme. The demands coming from the primary process, budget frameworks, a new ICT infrastructure with its administrative organisation, as well as the time pressure of relocating, gave a challenging tension field.
In the meantime, the provincial government has moved to its new location. Employees are now able to fulfil their tasks according to ‘the New Way of Working’. And a new ICT organisation is fully operational.

This case study is representative in terms of content of the type of projects that Southbridge manages. The distinct signature of Southbridge can be recognised throughout all related projects. This added benefit is predominantly seen in the areas of quality assurance and taking ownership of each project. The effect for the client is an efficient process with a number of carefully chosen moments during which we reflect on the objectives, the process and the content of the project.

In the above case this would have meant that, according to the Southbridge approach, the interaction between the different lines of thought should have received closer attention. The interaction between the requirements coming from the new working methods in the organisation, the new infrastructure, the timing of the relocation and the organising of the new administrative office led to a complex tension field of conflicting demands and interests. By placing this interaction more consciously on the agenda and by taking more targeted action, Southbridge would firmly stand behind the agreed decisions and confidently work towards completing the project on time, within budget and above client expectations. That’s what Southbridge stands for.