The Ministry of Justice moved under one roof
The staff at the Ministry of Justice were involved in the participatory work environment development project. The abandonment of boundaries is reflected in the atmosphere, and the operations run more smoothly.
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Blurring the boundaries
For the first time in decades, all the departments in the ministry can be found at the same address. “Communication between departments is easier, we work more closely together and it seems that even the boundaries between departments have become blurred,” says Olli Muttilainen, General Director at the Ministry of Justice. Three-quarters of the Ministry’s personnel work in a multipurpose environment, while the others have their own small separate offices in the courtyard side of the building. The decision was guided by the fact that a large number of the personnel are involved in drafting legislation. Not all the materials they require have been digitalised, so the paperwork must be stored somewhere. “Law drafting is a slow process and requires peace and quiet. Interruptions would impair productivity. We may introduce unassigned workstations after a transitional period. We’ll reassess that situation in a couple of years’ time,” says Muttilainen.
Towards a mobile world
The personnel at the Ministry of Justice were involved in the participatory work environment development project. Senate Properties with its specialist services supported the project. The idea is to further develop the customer-driven commissioning processes utilising the gathered experiences. Muttilainen says that the working methods at the Ministry have already become more mobile-based during the past few months. It has become more common to use Lync and other electronic applications and devices for meetings since the communications links were updated during the renovation.
“It appears that formal meetings are less common now as people meet spontaneously during the day anyway. The abandonment of boundaries is reflected in the atmosphere, and operations run more smoothly. We can presume that any future changes will be easier,” says Muttilainen.
