Agencies Reported Various Ways of Considering and Using Telework as a Space Planning Tool

In reviewing planning documents, policies, and survey data, we found that  the 23 civilian CFO Act agencies reported using telework to reduce or use  space more efficiently. Specifically, our analysis of (1) agency-wide  space-planning policies and procedures and (2) Real Property Efficiency  Plans found that all of the agencies discussed telework in the context of  space planning and achieving greater space efficiencies. Agencies  reported accomplishing this by using desk-sharing and hoteling for  employees who have relinquished permanent workspaces. Three of the Four Agencies We Reviewed in Depth Leveraged Telework to Reduce or Use Office Space More Efficiently

Among the agencies we reviewed in detail—GSA, OJP, CDC, and the  Fiscal Service—the use of telework in office space planning varied from  emerging consideration to extensive implementation. Agencies Face Several Planning Challenges in Using Telework to Reduce Space

Our analysis of the survey responses from the 23 civilian CFO Act  agencies identified three major planning challenges agencies face with  using telework to reduce space: human capital issues such as negotiating workspace changes with  collective bargaining units and managing organizational change;  the suitability of telework to mission work requirements; and difficulty measuring cost savings that might result from space  reductions attributable to telework. This tool—the Workplace Investment  and Feasibility Tool—is aimed at helping agencies quantify the benefits  and costs of increased telework participation and implementing other  alternative-work arrangements. However, GSA officials  have not decided whether to make the tool available to other federal  agencies to use as a space-planning tool. GSA Guidance Does Not Specifically Address How to Use Telework in Space Planning

In responses to our survey, nearly two-thirds of agencies reported that  they would find it helpful to have additional information, assistance, or  resources to assist them in using telework as a space-planning tool. In reviewing GSA’s websites, we found that GSA last developed formal  guidance on alternative workplace arrangements in 2006 and maintains  several separate informational websites on implementing telework and  optimizing space utilization. Because the information in the 2006 guidance  and the telework and space-planning websites is neither specific nor  detailed, it is of limited assistance for agencies that would like to use  telework as a strategic space-planning tool to meet the goals of a more  efficient use of space. Most civilian CFO Act  agencies reported having a telework program in place and some reported  success with using it in space planning to reduce space or accommodate  more employees without increasing space. Recommendations for Executive Action

We are making the following two recommendations to GSA:  The Administrator of General Services should ensure that the appropriate  GSA offices develop guidance including, but not limited to, how agencies  can use telework as a strategic space-planning tool for reducing and  optimizing office space efficiency and that the offices make the guidance  readily available. (Recommendation 1)
The Administrator of General Services should ensure the appropriate  GSA offices complete the Workplace Investment and Feasibility Tool and  make it available to federal agencies for use in assessing the benefits and  costs of telework to achieve office space efficiencies. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report addresses: (1) how the 23 civilian Chief Financial Officer  (CFO) Act agencies reported using telework in office space planning; (2)  the specific ways selected agencies and GSA used telework in their office  space planning; and (3) any challenges the 23 civilian CFO Act agencies  faced in using telework in office space planning. As a result of this process, we selected (1) the Department of the  Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service); (2) the  Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Centers for Disease  Control and Prevention (CDC); and (3) the Department of Justice’s Office  of Justice Programs (OJP). For each of the selected agencies, we  interviewed agency officials and reviewed their telework and space- planning documents.
Why GAO Did This Study

Federal agencies are exploring ways to use telework as a tool to reduce the federal footprint and use space more efficiently. GAO was asked to examine the effects of telework on agencies' space-planning efforts. In this report, GAO reviewed: (1) how the 23 civilian CFO Act agencies reported using telework in office space planning; (2) the specific ways selected agencies and GSA used telework in their office space planning; and (3) any challenges the civilian CFO Act agencies faced in using telework in office space planning.
GAO surveyed all 23 civilian CFO Act agencies, analyzed each agency's space-planning documents, and Real Property Efficiency Plans . GAO reviewed four agencies in greater detail based on analysis of telework data and other factors. For those four agencies GAO conducted site visits, interviewed officials, and analyzed agency documents. GAO also identified challenges agencies faced in using telework in space planning, based on survey results, agency documents, and interviews.

What GAO Found

The 23 civilian Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies reported various ways of considering and using telework as a space-planning tool, by, for example, implementing desk-sharing for employees who telework in order to relinquish leased space, or increasing the number of staff working in an existing space without increasing its size. All of the 23 agencies discussed telework in the context of space planning and achieving greater space efficiencies in either their space-planning documents or Real Property Efficiency Plans . The agencies that used telework as a space-planning tool generally reported implementing smaller or unassigned workstations.
Three of the four agencies GAO reviewed in greater detail––the General Services Administration (GSA); the Office of Justice Programs at the Department of Justice; the Centers for Disease Control at the Department of Health and Human Services; and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service at the Department of the Treasury––leveraged telework to reduce or use office space more efficiently. For example, GSA and the Office of Justice Programs used telework to accommodate more employees in a smaller office space as illustrated in figure 1 below. The Centers for Disease Control used telework to accommodate more employees in the same amount of space. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service reduced space without telework by reducing the size of individual workstations.
The 23 civilian CFO Act agencies reported several challenges in using telework to reduce space including human capital issues, mission suitability, and measuring cost savings attributable to telework. About two-thirds of the agencies said they would find it helpful to have additional information, assistance, or resources in using telework as a space-planning tool. GSA provides guidance to improve space utilization. However, GAO found that GSA last developed relevant formal guidance in 2006. This information, and that on GSA's telework and space-planning websites, was neither specific nor detailed and therefore of limited assistance to agencies that would like to use telework as a space-planning tool. Additionally, GSA's space-planning tool—the Workplace Investment and Feasibility Tool, intended to help agencies quantify the benefits and costs of telework––remains under development after more than 4 years, and GSA officials have not decided whether to make the tool available to other federal agencies. As such, agencies reported that they lack adequate guidance to determine how best to reduce space or use it more efficiently, and how to assess the benefits and costs of using telework in space planning.

What GAO Recommends

GSA concurred with recommendations that GSA should: (1) develop guidance on how agencies can use telework as a strategic space-planning tool and make this guidance readily available and (2) complete and make the Workplace Investment and Feasibility Tool available to federal agencies for use in assessing the benefits and costs of telework.