| Project: | Plan and design an operations center in leased space for Remittance Banking, Disbursement Services and Money Transfer units. |
| Focus: | A major goal for this project was to transition the organization from a clerical culture to a professional one. This not only effected the design of the project but how it was planned and designed. |
| Solution: | Programming involved all of the staff. Each person was contacted either
individually or as a member of a team or task force. Using our normally
rigorous approach to programming, we incorporated meaningful variations
from workstation to workstation.
Each processing step was documented and its value considered. Operations which added no value were eliminated or minimized. Tasks based on menial work were marked for potential automation. When key stations were designed, mock-ups were created in our offices for review and comment by staff and supervisors. When revisions were requested, either the mock-up was changed on the spot for immediate feedback or it was revised for subsequent review. A mock-up of two bays in the new space was built to compare lighting alternatives and their impacts on CRT usage. Every staff member visited the mock-up, sat in a mocked up workstation and had the opportunity to make their evaluation. |
| Accomplishments: | Meaningful participation of the users of the space in its design ensured the best thinking and ideas would be available from those closest to the work. It also served as a vehicle for rethinking work tasks, the nature of the work, and a method for familiarizing each staff member with the planned work setting before it was even completed.
As each group occupied its space, operational efficiencies improved. The Retail Lockbox Unit moved in over a weekend. On Monday, the first day of operations in the new space, they experienced a record peak volume of incoming work. At the end of the day, the work had all been processed. |
Project size: 160,000 sf
Headcount: 1,350
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