At Imperial, we believe that work is about what you do and not where you do it. Technology means we can do much of our work from a variety of locations other than a traditional office. That’s why we’ve introduced Smart Working to give you more flexibility in where and how you work.

Smart working at Imperial

A video explaining smart working at Imperial

What is a digital workplace?

A digital workplace describes how technology is creating a virtual equivalent of the physical workplace. In offices, there has been a mindset that staff have a fixed desk and computer to work at and they must always use that desk to work. This is outdated as people increasingly work in a more flexible way as they move around offices or need to work from home at times. A flexible workplace where people can work where they need to rather than where they must is beneficial for everyone. We have invested in the technology and workspace, so staff can work in a more flexible and collaborative way.

Guidelines for Smart Working

Smart working guidance can help you make the best of Smart Working and understand how to best share the spaces on the 4th floor Sherfield with your colleagues. 

Smart Working toolkit

The Smart Working toolkit offers useful guidance for both managers and team members when working in a smart working environment. 

Working together online: collaborating and working flexibly

The premise of Smart Working is that you don’t need to sit at a particular desk, next to the same colleagues, every day. Technology means we can work from many locations. Office 365 has a wide range of tools that allow us to collaborate with others securely online. The Office 365 suite offers several tools to help you collaborate wherever you are:

  • Teams (for online meetings) and sharing work
  • OneDrive for Business (to securely save work in the Cloud)
  • SharePoint (another platform, much like an intranet, for sharing and storing team files)