Before formalising a co-location, agencies should consider the aesthetic, cultural, management and branding needs of all those involved.
These aspects are vital to any co-location plan and must be considered, agreed upon, and defined before formalising any agreement to co-locate.
You can choose to adopt the lead agency's concept partially or in full. Depending on the size of the co-location, one lead agency could take responsibility for managing the project, holding the lease, owning the general workplace assets, and managing the facilities. Agencies could also split responsibilities, and potentially manage separate leases.
Defining roles and responsibilities
General furniture and equipment assets are usually owned and managed by the lead agency, with exceptions for specialist assets and employees’ devices.
Your co-location will need a cohesive look and feel that is agency neutral, including meeting room signage and other finishes and fixtures that meet GPG design principles. For public facing services, agencies can agree to adopt the same look and feel or allow a greater level of agency customisation.
Agree to ensuring a seamless, positive experience for staff and customers, during and after the transition.
These aspects of a co-location provide a better experience for occupants and easier ongoing maintenance and management of the facilities, and ideally should be agreed upon before signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Co-locations are able to operate without them in place, in which case they can be planned for early and introduced at a later date.
Agencies should follow GPG branding, wayfinding and signage guidelines when they are determining branding in public facing areas, directory boards and external signage. Agency branding should be limited to directory boards.
The following aspects of a co-location offer potential benefits, but require more effort to implement and will cause a significant change impact. They can be implemented at any time during a co-location but are likely to be a more realistic consideration for co-locations with significant sector alignment.