Anne Sundqvist, Specialist, National Facility and Workplace Concepts

Client operations as the starting point for work environments and the service point network

At Senate, I’m responsible for senior management expert services through which support our clients during organisational change or in situations where the premises are reflected in challenges caused by the operating environment. My job involves providing national operational, work environment and premises concepts that support operations and promote effectiveness, as well as conducting activity-based service point network surveys, in close cooperation with the client, Senate Properties and experts in our partner network. My approach to the work makes use of co-development methods and interdisciplinary expertise.

Typical clients for these services include government ministries and central agencies, as well as actors seeking to assess the suitability of their own premises portfolios, overhaul their administrative or workplace practices, improve the effectiveness of their operations, achieve savings in facility costs, standardise solutions, or accelerate the implementation of premises projects.

The needs of the facility users and the organisation, together with sustainability, are key considerations in reviewing and developing the work environment or service point network. The resulting future concepts and network studies will transform the operations and facilities of central government organisations across the entire service point network.

Assignments make particular use of co-development, service design, organisational development, process and production resource development, and spatial design methods and expertise.

What does your job involve?

Finnish central government’s premises and operations have been conceptualised in an activity-based way for more than 20 years, since the early 2000s. Conceptualisation has covered the office environments of information work, customer service premises in public administration and special premises, such as so-called user-specific facilities used by the Finnish Defence Forces, the Police, the courts, the State reform schools or the Prison Hospital.

Besides concept documents, other design guidelines, such as space cards and space programme, are drawn up. They provide more detailed instructions for construction and modification projects on how the premises should be designed and built in practice. In addition, various checklists and cooperation operating models are drawn up to ensure successful implementation.

The preparation of an activity-based network study is often a natural next step for concept clients. In these, the concept is reflected in different scenarios for the client’s nationwide network of offices in terms of finances, processes, customer and employee accessibility and impacts.

What are the goals of your work?

Management expert services and the resulting national concepts and network studies serve performance management, which, among other things, aim to ensure that public operations and the use of public funds are as effective and economically efficient as possible. When put into practice, the concepts produce economies of scale, such as efficiency, speed, ease and cost savings in the implementation of facility changes. In addition, the concepts are used to create solutions that are as functionally as uniform as possible in terms of functionality, visual and spatial structure in different locations, taking into account situation-specific factors.

For example, customers and stakeholders of the agencies benefit from the concepts in the form of a service and customer experience that takes into account user groups, and which is of a more uniform quality at the national level. Impact-based concepts and network plans make it possible to achieve significant social savings and other benefits for stakeholders in addition to the benefits for own operations.

Achieving benefits in practice requires the systematic implementation of conceptualised solutions and management support.

What is the most significant future trend in your field?

Sustainability issues are already and increasingly important themes in all development, planning and practical work in the real estate sector. Economic and climate change challenges alongside sustainability give rise to pressures and concerns, but also opportunities.

Three principles that guide your work?

• People’s needs and wellbeing
• Team work and transparency
• Foresight and effectiveness

About me

I’m an experienced work environment development specialist and a successful professional in the collaborative development and engagement of multidisciplinary expert networks. My educational background is in design business management (IDBM Pro), design thinking and space design (BA). I approach my work with determination, a sense of responsibility and a focus on results. The nature of my work ensures that I develop professionally every day.