Health Care Authority - Olympia
- BAR Group
- Apr 12, 2016
- 3 min read
Organization Summary
The Health Care Authority's new program, Healthier Washington aims to provide and ensure all Washingtonians have access to better healthcare. Their objective is to increase the health of all state citizens.
Features of the Workplace
Lowered cubicles
White noise
Collaboration areas
Bright natural light
Brittany's Blurbs...
This is the story of a successful failed attempt. The floor that houses the Healthier Washington Program had great plans after signing up to be one of OFM’s pilot programs. However, their plans were to great and too big. They were met with resistance from external factors out of their control. However, it didn’t stop them in lowering some cubicle walls, adding more collaborative seating, standing café tables, and removing supervisors from offices and placing them alongside other staff members. This space was full of natural, bright, light; thanks to the lowered walls. White noise makes this space practically silent, even though there were about five people talking 10 feet away from me. And, as we walked through the space, people were out of their cubicles and utilizing the collaborative areas.
Amanda's Aspect...
For me this atmosphere was unnerving and made me re-think my desire to work for the state. I had heard people mention that there were cubicle farm offices, but I had never seen it before in real life. It was gross. HCA did throw some improvements in, which I noticed only after visiting another floor that looked ten times worse! HCA is taking on the pilot program with OFM and is trying their best to do what they can without using a ton of money. So they lowered cubicle walls, got rid of some of the walls between the desks, and turned the desks so they were in a sort of pod. They had small cafe style tables in the middle of the pods where people could huddle really quick. They also had a rolling white board! Yay, I loved it! Mobility is always a plus. There was definitely more light in the room since the cubicle walls had been lowered, which is fair for everyone. I can't imagine looking at my computer all day and not seeing the light of day...
Rachel's Ramblings....
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
The Health Care Authority is one of OFM’s pilot programs. In a just a few words I can sum up their current strategy “slow and steady wins the race”. We arrived and were greeted by the Kelly who has been charged with developing a plan for workplace strategies. As we walked through the offices it was mostly still cubicles. We arrived a small unit in a division that had agreed to minimize the cubicles opting for open cubicle spaces instead. Instead of a single workspace some folks opted for 4 walls for up to six workspaces. Additionally, the cubicles had been turned on their sides for a shortened height. Kelly identified that the furniture budget was low so as a team they strategized how to optimize change with what resources were available. However, the most noticeable difference was the few people actually utilizing the cubicle spaces. As we walked further there were meeting areas with round tables surrounded by chairs. These spaces were being utilized by teams who were utilizing the round table top whiteboards to collaborate. This workspace was definitely not turned upside, down and the effort appeared to be a slow culture change that encompassed the space as well. HCA is the future of proper public sector slow, but effective change.
