The LCS Impact Awards

IPO Team Award – Creation of a Bespoke Workplace Booking App

Background

The Intellectual Property Office is the official UK government body responsible for intellectual property rights including patent, designs, trademarks and copyright. With new working practices evolving from the pandemic our organisation needed an innovative approach to site attendance across our estate.

To support these vital changes, we introduced a bespoke workspace booking app and visitors management software, which has significantly transformed the way our organisation operates, providing a transformational return to buildings, enhancing staff autonomy, fostering collaboration, facilitating hybrid working, and eliminating external, fee-bearing desk management and visitor management software.

Activity

One of the key benefits of our app is the empowerment it provides to our people. They have gained full autonomy over their attendance, eliminating the need for coordination with their wider teams. This newfound independence has allowed our people to refocus on their core responsibilities and has greatly influenced the culture of the organisation as more and more people start returning to on-site working.

Furthermore, the introduction of the app has had a positive impact on security operations. The security team can now easily grant site access by simply viewing an iPad screen, which reduces delays at our external main entrance and reception areas. This improvement in operational efficiency contributes to a smoother and more secure building access process.

As our organisation mandates a return to the physical workspace, the app has proven invaluable in supporting all staff through its user-friendly interface, virtual tours, and overall ease of use. It plays a crucial role in facilitating the cultural shift towards increased in-building attendance.

The business area representatives have seamlessly resumed their substantive roles within their departments, contributing to the broader transformation of our organisation. The app’s integration into daily operations has become second nature for our people, fostering a culture of hybrid working, collaboration, and team building.

Impacts

The introduction of the app has allowed our organisation to develop flexible, autonomous and a hybrid ethos, embedding our values:

• Delivering for customers
• Innovating for success
• Valuing our people

Not only has the impact supported the changes, but our app has also enhanced security measures, which has resulted in significant cost savings. By mitigating the need for external software and hardware, we have avoided installation fees amounting to approximately £40,000, along with ongoing yearly administrative fees. Additionally, the reduction in staff time translates to savings of over £45,000.

The streamlined management ownership of our dedicated app team allows for prompt updates, customisation, and troubleshooting, ensuring that the app stays aligned with our organisation’s requirements and any changes in the technological landscape.  This structure ensures continuous improvement and the evolving services provided,

In summary, the cost-effectiveness, coupled with efficient management and integration with existing licensing, positions our apps as a sustainable and valuable solution for meeting the dynamic needs of our organisation, supporting transformational change to behaviours and flexibility for site attendance.