The Leader - July/August 2008 - (Page 26)

rea l e stat e Ma NageMeNt Accommodating Growth: To Stay or Not To Stay, That Was the Question By eNrIque suarez, Beth hall & erIc BoatMaN I t was 2005 and AbelsonTaylor was at the top of its game. An ad agency focused on the pharmaceutical industry, it had been recognized as the most creative agency in its industry for 10 years running and as a result had experienced explosive growth. The agency had space issues and needed help. Enter Harley Ellis Devereaux, an architectural firm and its partner company, Spectrum Strategies, a strategic planning firm. What began as a study of existing space and how additional personnel could be accommodated ultimately resulted in a workplace strategy that transformed AbelsonTaylor’s office environment and had a huge impact on the agency’s culture, functions and image. gray Is Not the NeW Black Ten years ago the office had 78 employees. Today, it’s fast approaching 336 and anticipating an additional 50 within the next five years. Located in the landmark “Jeweler’s Building” in downtown Chicago, the agency had reached capacity on its three contiguous floors and had recently leased additional space on a portion of a non-contiguous floor. When AbelsonTaylor started, it was a small firm and had lots of private offices. As it grew AbelsonTaylor continued to use the same model, thus creating ‘parallel’ universes. But this model wasn’t working. In addition to the tremendous growth surge, the agency’s office environment needed serious revamping. The culture was creative and vibrant, but the office space didn’t reflect that. It was a sea of gray hallways, private offices and few meeting spaces. AbelsonTaylor had managed to grow and prosper through the years in this setting, but things needed to change. The agency wanted an environ- ment that would reflect its lively culture and the award-winning work. In fact, in senior management reviews, one of the first things people would bring up was the depressing gray color on the walls. One person said it was like living in a Kafka novel. We knew we needed to make some big changes. The ultimate goal of the project was to strategically accommodate growth, while creating a workplace that enhanced the organizational, operational and cultural qualities of AbelsonTaylor. The team conducted a series of questionnaires and in-depth interviews with key members of the organization. The research and planning for this project was very extensive. In addition to working with a 15-person ‘space’ planning team, every account group and creative group was part of the interview phase. The team wanted to ensure they had a well-rounded perspective so that the le ade r 26 J u ly / a u g u s t

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - July/August 2008

The Leader - July/August 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Organizational Design Accommodating Growth Responding to the Challenge EMEA's Building Energy Rating TVA's Shortcut to Success ANZ Banking Group’s Jane Hamilton Tractus Asia’s Dennis Messeroll Arizona’s Greg Weiner Workplace Design Workplace Directory The Texas Report Industry Tracker Discovery Forum Findings Career Development Congratulations to 2008 Corenet Global Award Winners! Young Leader Economic Development in the News Connect with Corenet Global A Look Ahead

The Leader - July/August 2008

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