When I began my adventure as a sustainability professional, I never imagined how energized I would become about disciplines such as workspace and real estate strategies.

In my prior role at Sabre Holdings in as a global marketing strategist, working with marketing teams across the globe, I was acutely aware of how business strategies can transform the way teams work with each other, to the point of often driving changes in organizational reporting structures and the composition of teams.

Now, as head of Sabre Holdings' sustainability initiatives I have the opportunity to work with multiple and various departments across our enterprise operations, including corporate real estate, and am here to tell the story (pdf) of how a shift in our workplace accelerated a transformation in our employees and our work culture.

The concept of a flexible workspace, or hoteling, has been around for some time. But when we implemented this at Sabre, the question was whether these hoteling principles could be applied to a business like ours where only some employees travel and not all of the time. Our goal was to create a system that would reduce real estate costs, reduce our environmental footprint, and create greater flexibility and agility for our workforce.

Not only did our employees adapt to the new environment, they began working more closely with each other, breaking down many of the silos between projects and departments, created a more collaborative environment and ultimately strengthened our competitive position in the fast-evolving travel technology industry.

Making a transformational shift like this wasn't easy, and there were key success factors that proved vital to the implementation and sustainability of the program (pdf of full case study).

1. Let data support and determine your decision - Not every office or organization is well-positioned to move to a flexspace environment, but a detailed analysis including key data points such as attendance (badge swipes), travel and vacation days and commuting needs will uncover opportunities that are not always self-evident.

2. Build the business case with key stakeholders - There are several elements that must be considered including cost and environmental savings, physiological and productivity impact on employees and results to the business. Working with a core team of primary stakeholders across several disciplines, including corporate real estate, facilities management, technology support, environmental sustainability, human resources and others will ensure that the business case and the implementation plan are balanced and positioned for success.

3. Secure executive management endorsement and support - Buy-in at the top level of the organization will set a clear direction for implementation and expectations for success. This includes leading by example.