The Garage - An engineer’s dream cabinet
Meeting lab - Creating a secondhand beauty
Tearing down walls - Breaking with tradition
Spark Spot - Changing the face of pharma
Activity-based working - Change management
content-image
00

Innovation spaces

Innovation does not only need good ideas. The space itself often makes a difference too.

Text by Goran Mijuk, illustration by  Kouzou Sakai

scroll-down
Home
Share
Share icon
Language icon
content-image
Enter fullscreen
arrow-rightThe Garage - An engineer’s dream cabinet
arrow-rightMeeting lab - Creating a secondhand beauty
arrow-rightTearing down walls - Breaking with tradition
arrow-rightSpark Spot - Changing the face of pharma
arrow-rightActivity-based working - Change management

Published on 07/12/2020

Making “Sense” - Mining for information nuggets
Before artificial intelligence and machine learning became more than just figments of a software developer’s dream, handling large data sets was tedious and often ineffective. It is not surprising that many experts discarded the promises of big data as they struggled with Excel sheets and statistics. This view changed, however, with the advent of powerful new processers and innovative algorithms that imbued data mining with fresh life. Novartis, which had been piling up petabytes of scientific data during its long history, quickly tapped into this powerful trend, creating innovative digital platforms designed to make sense of the wealth of its clinical and research data. These efforts have also led to the creation of new workspaces. One of them is the so-called Sense Bridge on the Campus in Basel, where a team of five people is observing the company’s 500 or so ongoing clinical trials. According to Stephen Voice, Global Head of Sense Bridge, the new room, which sports large computer screens that allow for real-time data observation and analysis, brings many advantages: “When I compare my team’s previous open space office to the Sense Bridge, it is genuinely night and day. The control tower setting has enabled us to elevate collaboration and proactive risk management to an entirely new level.” More is yet to come, Voice says, adding that the lessons learned so far are that “data transparency, predictive analytics and enhanced collaboration are all key to our future success.”

content-image
Enter fullscreen
The Ga­ra­ge - An en­gi­nee­r’s dream ca­bi­net

Most Novartis associates may know Hugo Avila without being aware of him. He is present in most corporate pictures that show the company’s efforts in the digital space. No extrovert at all, his digital figurehead persona is rather due to the fact that, as an IT and workplace specialist, Hugo Avila is instrumental in providing access, introduction and coaching to the new digital labs such as Nxt Studio, which gives researchers and developers the opportunity to use cutting-edge digital tools to discuss scientific insights. Hugo, who has also helped install the Sense Bridge control tower in Basel, knows first-hand how much the fast-changing technological environment requires new ways of working. In the Nxt Studio he and his team constructed an interactive workspace where associates can use, among other things, high-resolution screens and virtual-reality glasses that give them fresh insights into the structure of organs and molecules. Now he has gone a step further: During his free time, he created the Garage, a sort of multispace inventor’s cabinet, where engineers can prototype their ideas, including usage of a 3D printer. “I was working during my spare time on this project because I saw the need for a work space in which engineers can turn around their ideas,” Hugo said in mid-March when I met him in the Garage, which is located in the food tower on the Campus in Basel. “I hope that, once the Garage is up and running, it will contribute to some important innovations.”

content-image
Enter fullscreen
Mee­ting lab - Crea­ting a se­cond­hand be­au­ty

As Head of Real Estate and Facility Services, Jorinde Behrens is acquainted with every corner of the Novartis Campus in Basel, having worked on the site’s development since 2005, when the place was in full revamp mode, morphing from an industrial center into a knowledge hub. But despite the many achievements, the Campus, given its size and diversity, is not a perfect place. Many spaces, Jorinde Behrens says, are not used optimally. To remedy this situation, she and her team are on the lookout for fresh ideas to exploit underused rooms. One of these is the restaurant in the food tower, which is busy with hundreds of hungry people during lunch time but otherwise lies deserted. When I met Jorinde and her colleague Vanessa Prein, the place looked silently abandoned, yet had an air of romantic isolation. In one corner of the restaurant, Jorinde and Vanessa have installed the Meeting Lab, which is designed to provide teams with a comfortable place to hold meetings and discuss new ideas. Instead of the conventional restaurant tables, Jorinde and her team have created a coffee house atmosphere. “It’s a really beautiful and calm place,” says Jorinde. “It’s a pity that it’s not used more. So, we hope that with the Meeting Lab we can attract people and make the room come to life throughout the day, not just during the lunch rush hour.”

content-image
Enter fullscreen
Tearing down walls - Brea­king with tra­di­ti­on

When Vas Narasimhan decided to stay in Asklepios 8, where he had been running the Global Drug Development unit of Novartis before becoming CEO, he broke with a long-standing tradition: the executive office, which for centuries has been the symbol of power and the culmination point of a successful management career. These times are gone. His decision to stay in the open office space building, which was built by the architect duo Herzog and De Meuron and constructed to fit the needs of fast-moving drug development teams, was a powerful symbol of change towards building a new culture in which collaboration, transparency and direct access was to be the new standard. Without the use of a wrecking ball, Vas was tearing down walls with this move, ushering in a new era. Talking to Bloomberg, he explained that the goal was a “cultural transformation to go from a top-down, more autocratic organization to a more empowered, curious organization that I think will be better suited to find innovative solutions.” His example was quickly followed up by other leaders, who decided to move out of their single offices and join the team floor. One of the first to pick up the baton was Mohamed Metwally, CPO Head of Brazil, whose office was turned into a meeting room. His move was followed by other leaders in South America, where former executive spaces have been put to a new use, making space for creative collaboration.

content-image
Enter fullscreen
Spark Spot - Chan­ging the face of phar­ma

A few months ago, the idea of a playful creative space at Novartis was just an idea by Liliana Terrazas, Valeria Dominguez and their colleagues. A few months down the road, the idea has not only become reality. The Spark Spot in Mexico even has the power to change the perception of the company and potentially the entire industry. “It is a great satisfaction to see Spark Spot live and in color,” said Liliana Terrazas. While she said that launching the project, which was one of the winners of NBS’s The Pitch initiative, was challenging at times, realizing Spark Spot “has made us break some paradigms about Novartis and change the perception that the pharma industry is rigid and not as fun as the tech sector. This project has debunked the perception that projects like Spark Spot are unthinkable in our industry.” Associates in Mexico like the new place and love to hang out there, and the Spark Spot can be very busy at times. The Spark Spot may soon pop up in other places too. “Part of the project is to hand out a manual on how to replicate Spark Spot around the globe,” says Liliana. “We are taking the best lessons learned from this pilot to help others reconstruct it in other countries.

content-image
Enter fullscreen
Ac­tivi­ty-ba­sed working - Chan­ge ma­nage­ment

Jan Zesach knows that workplace changes need diligent preparation and a clear change management for associates to feel comfortable in an altered work environment. This has always been the case, whether employees started to work in cubicles, in multispace workplaces or, as is increasingly the case now, in activity-based workspaces, where associates do not have dedicated desks anymore but change places according to their daily activities and needs. “Activity-based working makes a lot of sense for teams that need to work closely together. But even in such cases, change management is already important during the starting phase of a new project,” says Zesach, an experienced workplace expert who is located in Singapore but is busy helping set up new offices throughout Asia. One of his most recent projects was in Manila. Thanks to the dedication and support of Cheryl Maley, PO Head and Country President in the Philippines, Jan and his team were able to build a new workplace in record time.“Cheryl already had a lot of experience with activity-based workspaces and immediately backed the concept,” Jan said. “Before we even moved to the new location, we introduced measures such as a clean-desk policy, working digitally and giving teams ‘home zones. ’ This all allowed people to adjust to a new working environment.” Once the Manila office moved to the new building, people adapted quickly as have colleagues at offices in Australia, the Czech Republic, South Korea, Sweden, Malaysia and Argentina.

icon

Home
Share
Share icon
Language icon