Wednesday April 13, 2005

iWork in Tokyo

I'm a member of the iWork Solutions Group at Sun. As you know iWork is Sun's work from anywhere program. iWork enables Sun employees to focus more energy on work by allowing employees to determine where, when and how to work. As an iWorker I don't have an assigned office, instead when I need an office I reserve one where I need to be or I work from home when that makes sense. David Rush in my group puts together a monthly internal online newsletter called the iWork news. This month he had a very interesting article about transitioning almost 1000 employees in Tokyo to iWork.

I've condensed his article here.
Everyday, hundreds of employees travel from their homes throughout metropolitan Tokyo to engage in sales, marketing, engineering, and corporate activities at Sun. As one of the company's top revenue generating centers of business, Sun's Tokyo office is a lively place where both business and social aspects impact quality of life in the workplace. Like many Sun locations, the Tokyo office has developed its own sense of community and identity within the larger corporate culture, so when iWork was introduced there last year, employees were justifiably concerned about its impact. They needed to be convinced that this change was the right thing to do, and that required leadership.

Strong leadership - starting with Dan Miller, VP, Global Sales, and the local Senior Management team - was crucial in driving change and acceptance. The entire Senior Management team endorsed iWork in its communications with employees, helping not only to persuade the workforce, but to enable the iWork implementation team to be successful.

To start with, Sun leadership saw a strong value proposition for Sun in Japan. Some of the compelling reasons cited for promoting iWork solutions internally and externally are:

• for workers in Japan, commute times are extremely long, negatively impacting quality of life

• real estate is among the most expensive in the world, forcing companies to carefully control costs

• economic forces have caused Japan to focus strongly on all business & productivity issues that drive growth

• Japan is highly urbanized; customers, partners, and employees are widely geographically dispersed

• data security has become a national concern, driving legislation, and sparking interest in SunRays and Java technology

The last point has huge implications for Sun in Japan. From a Sun customer perspective, industry deregulation will have a big impact on data security. Businesses will be legally responsible for securely storing and transmitting data, especially the confidential data of their customers. As Dan Miller says, “the Japanese government is demanding data security, and big business is saying 'we can't do it with PC's anymore'. This means interest in SunRay, Java, and iWork concepts is running high ”.

So, what does iWork in Japan look like? For starters, all employees have open workspaces, including managers. In the new “iWorkplace”, Senior managers have open access to small Meeting Rooms that accommodate 3-4 people. These “private” spaces complement the overall openness of the environment, providing a quiet place for using a phone or SunRay. Also, each organization has its own “neighborhood” which provides a destination, or gathering place for employees when they are in the building. All workspaces are flexible, and available by reservation using SunReserve. In addition, casual “SunRay Counters” along the windows support mobile workers coming and going from the Flex Office areas.

Because of iWork impact on space saving, SE's and Engineers are able, for the first time, to work directly adjacent to one another, in the same building. The same is true for the Partner and Industry teams. Proximity for these groups is reported as one highly desirable aspect of iWork.

In addition to working in a Flexible Office, employees in Japan now have the option to work from home. The " WFH" program was piloted in 2004, and is now fully operational, with about 400 employees working from home some of the time, with support from Sun. As familiarity with the program grows, more employees are likely to take advantage of the opportunity to work from home.

But what about employees' acceptance of iWork? Dan Miller admits that some cultural issues are big. But, as Dan Miller claims from first-hand experience, “people are adaptable!”. Whether learning to work using less space, or sharing resources, or using new technology, or working together from a distance, people will adapt once the value proposition has been made clear.

Dan Miller also believes strongly in the importance of change management and project delivery. He says unequivocally, “quality implementation is the most important aspect of change. We had a great iWork implementation team in Tokyo, and I'm very proud of them!”

Has iWork been a good thing for the workforce in Tokyo? Most people you talk to will say “yes”, though, based on existing survey data, overall satisfaction with iWork is somewhat lower than in other locations. Many people, including Senior Management and the local iWork implementation team, think this is probably the result of too much change happening at once, including reorganization, RIFs, and real estate consolidation. Although these activities were not directly related to iWork, they more than likely had a temporary negative affect on perceptions, which was reflected back in the survey. iWork Survey data is always used to devise local action plans for improving iWork conditions, and efforts are underway to do so in Tokyo.

Dan Miller is determined when he says, “I know we can do better with iWork, and get our scores up”. Having Work From Home as an employee option will help, as will availability of training and best practices, and the commitment of the local Sustaining Management Team. Dan goes on to say “change is really no different for the Japanese than for anyone else. If the technology is there, and the people and implementation issues are handled well, Japanese workers will embrace the change”. No one should be surprised to see this happen, given the well-known ability of the Japanese to hone and perfect a good idea!