Stefan Koller, Co-Project Leader on Implenia Connect, explains how he felt on moving into the new headquarters, which challenges were the toughest to overcome, and what he has learned from the project for the future.
Stefan, what has pleased you the most recently?
The highlight of this month was undoubtedly the wow effect on moving into Implenia Connect. I welcomed the various teams to the new headquarters, gave them a tour of the building, and was delighted to receive so much extremely positive feedback. I remain convinced that our approach is the right one, and it was wonderful to see this confirmed.
What was the greatest challenge you faced in this project?
The new Implenia headquarters offer a totally new working environment. This was extremely exciting to develop, but also difficult. We were entering uncharted territory. We were lucky to find an expert partner in Studio Hürlemann, who were willing to cater to all our needs in full. If we are to truly use the opportunities the project offers, we need to break through existing structures and take people along with us. Many have loved it from the very start. Others need more time and support. We need to stick with it, with plenty of communication and development in our culture of collaboration.
Stefan Koller
The Senior Key Account Manager has a degree in Facility Management and a master’s degree in Real Estate Management. He has been at Implenia since 2018, joining as a Senior Real Estate Consultant in the Development division. In January 2020 he became Co-Project Leader for the planning and implementation of the new Implenia headquarters ‘Connect”, which were completed in September 2021. With two young daughters, he works part time and enjoys being able to successfully combine his career with family life.
What have you personally learned from this project?
Every single team was involved in planning the workspaces in the form of workshops. That allowed me to get to know Implenia very, very well. I now understand much better how the individual teams work and what their needs are. But the thing I found most interesting of all was change management: how do I take people with me emotionally, with all their preferences, wishes and fears? How can I involve them actively in designing the new working environment and demonstrate to them the benefits that Implenia Connect can offer them personally?
Flexible worlds of work at Implenia Connect
We are faced with change almost every day, be it in a business environment or in our private lives. If large organisations are to react confidently and flexibly to constantly changing challenges, office planning needs to be completely rethought. Today, it is no longer possible to make final plans for office environments at the start of a project lasting many months – needs and requirements simply change too fast.
What is needed is a resistant architecture that can react to new, often unexpected needs. To achieve this, Studio Hürlemann developed ‘Implenia Connect’. Implenia Connect is made up of static construction elements, complemented by mobile elements that allow staff to adapt their workspace to the latest requirements autonomously, easily and quickly. This way, Implenia Connect is ready for the future.
