Smart Working
Walter Bower House is a Smart Working office. Smart Working is an approach to organising work that aims to drive greater efficiency and effectiveness, enhancing personal and organisational outcomes through a combination of flexibility, autonomy and collaboration, utilising a range of practices, technologies and working environments.
Find out more about the University’s flexible working policy.
Communications
Your telephone service and video calling is provided by Microsoft Teams. This service supports Smart Working and allows you to make and pick up calls on your laptop or mobile phone, wherever you are – in the office, working at home or travelling for business. Teams is available on many different devices. You are provided with a headset as standard but Teams can also forward calls to your mobile. These services conveniently allow you to dial by name rather than number, and is linked to your free, busy or out of office status.
Use your Outlook calendar and Teams status to let people know where you are and to locate others. Consider making your Outlook calendar available to all (marking any confidential appointments private). Your telephone number is not tied to a place of work but to your laptop or mobile phone. Teams allows your extension number to follow you wherever you are.
Find out more about using Teams
Working spaces
WBH boasts a wealth of different spaces to suit different types of work – collaboration tables, group pods, quiet rooms, formal meeting rooms and touchdown areas. You’ll find these facilities throughout the building, particularly within the first-floor central spine and project areas, so you’ll never be short of a place for that quick catch up with a colleague. If you need to collaborate on a project, there are mobile whiteboards available for use.
On top of this, we also have 400 desks in WBH. 20% of the desks are adjustable. Try to avoid sitting at an adjustable workstation if you don’t want to use it to stand. Each desk has two dedicated power sockets and two USB ports for charging. Please don’t unplug anything from below the desks.
Some colleagues have specific chairs, keyboards and other items for occupational health purposes. These items are clearly labelled so please do not use them.
Lockers and storage
Similar to other Smart Working offices, WBH operates a clean desk policy. It is important to keep your desk clean and free of clutter and place all personal items in your locker at the end of the day.
Personal lockets are provided for staff and visitors which can be locked with a personal code.
To set your locker code:
- Make sure the digits are set to zero.
- Press the programming pin (available at reception) or paperclip into the small hole in the knob and rotate the knob until the arrow is aligned with the red triangle on the knob case.
- Set your personal code and make a note of it.
- Turn the knob back to the closed position and the code reverts to zero. The code is now scrambled.
- Your locker is now locked and the personal code is saved.
The following instruction videos show how to set and change a locker code:
Personal storage cases called ‘Hotboxes’ are also available. These are designed to be stored in your locker and keep your pencils, pens, papers, phone chargers and other personal items. Take your Hotbox with you and you’ll be ready to work anywhere.
Your unit will have designated storage for files and other work items. Please use these storage areas to store working files and other shared supplies you need for day-to-day work.
Printing
Try to avoid printing, copying and accumulating paper when digital filing and sharing will allow you to choose where you work.
If you are required to print there are printing stations available in various areas around the building which allow for printing, copying and scanning. The printers are based on a ‘pull’ print service, meaning you print and then collect your print job at a time and location suitable to you, logging in with your staff card. Paper and stationery supplies can be found at the print stations and are managed by the WBH reception team.