Sending on behalf of Michael Vollmer:

Dear Colleagues:

For those of you in the office on a regular basis, you may have noticed that members of the division’s leadership team, including me, have been sitting in cubicle workspaces for the last few weeks. We have been doing this to understand different ways to make the most efficient use of our available space and prioritize opportunities for communication and collaboration.

After conversations with the team, we have decided to test a configuration for the next six months and adjust as we learn. Effective next Monday, March 24, members of the Operations Division will begin working from new cubicles. These changes will allow private offices to be converted into collaborative workspaces and meeting rooms:

* Rooms 1701 (Maurice’s office) and 1703 (Darryl’s office) will be refitted as meeting rooms and available for reservation by Operations Division staff only. * Rooms 1730 and 1731 (Michael and Shannon offices) will be used primarily for additional workspace and meeting space for division leadership. * The four offices on the hall outside the Board Room will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis for small group huddles, calls, and focused work. The cubicles in our division will be reassigned to seat teams together and to provide assigned spaces for individuals working in the office at least three days per week. Flex spaces will still be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. See the map here.https://myapps.northcarolina.edu/hr/download/557/hosting/15601/coo-seating-plan-changes.pdf

As a reminder, these new private spaces are to be used as needed for calls, confidential conversations, and focused work. If you do not need a space for those reasons, please let others use it. As mentioned, we will test this new configuration for the next six months and adjust as we learn, so please let us know what you think.

We will be converting the offices to meeting rooms this coming Friday. I believe this new design will give us great opportunities to see each other when we’re in the office and make the best use of that time, while also making our senior divisional leadership more accessible. I look forward to having new chances to see you all when you’re in the office!

Thank you for everything you do each day.

Michael