Intertwi­ngle

Ideation

During ideation, we built upon the ideas we constructed from last week's Crazy8's. We came up with two ideaa, the Conveyor Beltand String me the Noteto guide our body storming.

Conveyor Belt

String me the note

The conveyor belt as a metaphor

In this approach, identifiable designated spaces which serve as catalysts for cross-level collaboration that include mentorship sessions, cross-functional project discussions and a venting room to break hierarchical barriers.

Venting room

A venting room would create a safe space for employees to share frustrations and seek advice. Here, hierarchical positions become less important as colleagues are more likely to listen and support each other, fostering a sense of unity and empathy. It promotes a positive and supportive work culture, where everyone feels valued and understood.

MentorLink

This would allow for a collaborative space for all employees; professionals or learners. In addition it would provide mentorship opportunities for all levels breaking hierarchical barriers and ensure free flow of knowledge, wisdom, and guidance fostering personal growth and development in the organisation.

Project Exchange

This would allow for cross-functional project discussions where employees from different departments sharing insights and perspectives. This would in turn encourage innovative ideas and break boundaries between teams hence fostering collaboration and organisational progress

In this approach, individuals would be able to “tune” their work-lives and collaborate with other work colleagues through work modes, by matching them with others of similar interests and reguests. We established that the most effective way we could execute this, was as a digital tool. The work modes include:

The Dial, for customizing relationships, would aim to enhance collaboration, focus, social interaction and relaxation within the office space. It would offer a visual and tactile way to express preferences, match individuals with similar modes, and promote meaningful connections based on shared interests and moods.

Focus

Collab

Coffee

Chill

The Dial

User‐testing of the Dial prototype

The mobile application low‐fidelity wireframes

Scenario one

This demonstrates how Matchmaking would work in a normal office desk setting and on a normal work day:

Brandon just finished one of his projects.

He decided to take a quick 15 min brake.

He switch the MixMatch Dial installed on his desk to “Coffee Mode” to let everyone know that he is taking a break.

The system started searching for other people also in “Coffee Mode”.

Brandon just got a match with a person from the marketing department with a message attached to it “Heading to sainsbury's, anyone else joining?”.

He has 3 min to accept the match.

Brandon clicks accept.

They decided to meet at the corridor.

Person A is working and they are in Focus mode © Intertwingle 2023

Person A is working and they are in Focus mode © Intertwingle 2023

Person A is working and they are in Focus mode © Intertwingle 2023

Person A is working and they are in Focus mode © Intertwingle 2023

Person A is working and they are in Focus mode © Intertwingle 2023

Person A is working and they are in Focus mode © Intertwingle 2023

Person A is working and they are in Focus mode © Intertwingle 2023

Scenario two

We further outlined the following as the challenges that we would be facing with the design and implementation of both ideas:

• Incentivisation.
• Testing and refining.
• Co-ordination and scheduling.
• Maintaining engagement and participation.

Here was the feedback was from the mid-point review presentations:

• The could see a vVnting room being installed in every council.
• Combining the 2 ideas A and B could work in our interest.
• Think about the Dial language as this was a professional setting for example the Chill wording.
• Did they need dedicated spaces for the collaboration space proposals? And maybe they need tools and not spaces.
• To think about where exactly these ideas could be implemented.
• Not to use Idea B as a way to evaluate employees as it should be anonymous.
• To think about where actual conversation starts from.
• How would you incorporate remote work?
• Should be inclusive to everyone
• Is it about building something new or breaking barriers.
• Solving the symptom and not the cause.
• Social value. Internal institutional social value.
• Everyone is different. Timelines are fluid.
• How do you insert a culture that is more horizontally aligned.

Shortly after the presentations, we interviewed K.T (initials) who is Principal Project Officer, at the Greater London Authority (GLA). We found in our analysis of K.T's interview that the positive aspects of communication outweighed the negative.

We divided these positives into 4 main categories which are clear goals, collaboration, flexibility and power, and communication.

Clear goals

• GLA has a clear goal and a shared sense of purpose.
• Despite hierarchy, everyone in GLA is on the same page, working together towards common objectives.
• They have a manifesto which serves as a guiding map.

Collaboration

• Personal relationships within the organisation.
• Informal connections and networking to overcome challenges.
• Women's networks or employee resource groups can facilitate connections and collaboration across teams.

Flexibility and Power

• The absence of counsellors in the GLA provides autonomy and flexibility within the organisation.
• This means that collaboration is less restricted, allowing for increased creativity and efficiency.

Communication

• They maintain relationships within assigned areas of London.
• Regular catch-ups, such as quarterly meetings, are held with boroughs and counterparts in other teams.
• Their work is organised and focused on a specific area.