Larry Melton, then GSA's assistant commissioner of facilities management (now
president of The Building People), indicated that as much as he was part of the team
deploying the new workplace for GSA, he was also an end-user, and shared his own
experience of coming to adopt the new ways of working encouraged by the new
space and technology:
"When the opportunity presented itself to go into the open, temporary space, I had
to think, Now how do I work differently?" he said. He noticed right away that the open
space contributed to more listening and overhearing of conversations that helped
him and his team to do their work more effectively.
Added Hardy, "The number of layers it takes to get to a senior executive in the
government used to be many. Now, for the first time in GSA's history, we're sitting
with the leadership of our Federal Acquisitions Service, our Public Building Service,
and the administrator of GSA within 39 feet of each other, in open office."
W W W. W O R K D E S I G N . C O M 1 3
"The number of layers it takes to get to a senior executive
in the government used to be many. Now, for the first
time in GSA's history, we're sitting with the leadership."
Chuck Hardy
Chief Workplace Officer
GSA
