September 28, 2018

The horrors and harmonies of workplace hierarchy

by Monica Parker • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

I am a child of the seventies, and one of my favourite shows when I was just a tyke was The Jeffersons. For those not familiar with The Jeffersons, it was about a black family in New York City who had, through ambition and entrepreneurship, ‘made it to the top’. George Jefferson, the patriarch, was a bolshie character. Hijinks usually ensued. But what stuck with me about that show was the catchy theme song, Movin’ On Up. The lyrics were ‘I’m movin’ on up, to the upper east side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky… I finally got a piece of the pie.’ Growing up in suburbia, this was probably the first time that I learned the idea of a penthouse, and the notion that the higher up the building, the more important you were. It wasn’t until I was about age eight that I realised the word wasn’t ‘high-archy’, but ‘hierarchy.’

(more…)

September 28, 2018

Shift to agile working held back by ageing technology

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

The digital transformation of organisations and a shift to agile working is being held back by a reluctance to invest in new technology, according to a new report from Citrix and Capita. The Workplace agility report claims that legacy applications are delaying digital transformation of the entire organisation for more than half of respondents (56 percent) of the 200 CIOs who took part in the study. The report also claims that the inability to introduce new tech also restricts the uptake of new ways of working and the creation of agile working environments.

(more…)

September 28, 2018

Change of mindset can transform workplace performance says Smart Summit

by Sara Bean • Events, Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Changing mindsets and the workplace through co-creative leadership was the theme of the latest Quora Smartworking Summit which took place this week at ExCeL London. Hosted by Quora’s Managing Director John Blackwell, the event featured a distinguished group of senior leaders who discussed under Chatham House rules, how they have helped change their organisation’s mindsets using leadership styles aimed at achieving successful work performance transformations.

(more…)

September 27, 2018

A changing world with inbuilt human obsolescence defines first day of CoreNet Global

by Tony Nokling • Facilities management, News, Property, Technology, Workplace design

The forces that are changing the world, from AI and the current digital and technological transformation, to the short and long-term implications of Brexit, provided many of the key lessons during the first day of the CoreNet Global Summit in Madrid.

(more…)

September 26, 2018

Sociable Gen Z prefer to work in a communal workplace rather than home

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Generation Z, the latest generation of workers to enter the workplace (aged 18-24) are social creatures a new report suggests, preferring to work in an office environment, with only 8 percent thinking they work best from home compared to 20 percent nationally. However, putting aside the assumption this is because they’re sharing a cramped flat or living with parents, even within the office environment, the vast majority (81 percent) think social and communal areas are important workplace facilities compared with only 64 percent of all employees and 58 percent of Baby Boomers. (more…)

September 24, 2018

It is not particularly easy to change human behaviour by design

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

Many of the techniques employed by modern illusionists rely on a thorough grounding in the research of psychologists. They’re not alone in standing on the shoulders of academics to bend people to their will. Many of our beliefs about the workings of our society and workplaces and their design are based on this sort of manipulation. It’s telling that the growth of consumerism in the 20th Century, especially after the War when we first began to move from a needs based economy to one fuelled by desire, was driven by the ideas of Sigmund Freud’s nephew. Edward Bernays became the ‘father of PR’ by popularising his uncle’s theories in the US then applying them to mould the subconscious desires of the American masses. He did this not just in the name of commerce but also in that of politics because he believed that society was becoming increasingly irrational, immoral and dangerous.

(more…)

September 23, 2018

The failure of flexible working + Bridging the workplace gap + The uncomfortable truth about sitting

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Features, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

In this week’s Newsletter; how half of all our tasks will be performed by AI sooner than you might think; LinkedIn’s new London offices; the great failure of flexible working; Steelcase’s latest acquisition; Europe’s first building to achieve the WELL Platinum standard; Jonathan Hindle on improving workplace interactions; Jim Ware on finding the right place to meet; and Chris Kane on how to bridge the gap between people and places in a modern context. You can also download our most recent briefings on key topics, produced in partnership with Boss Design and BW Workplace Experts; visit our events page curated by Herman Miller, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

September 21, 2018

When workplace strategy builds bridges between people and place

by Chris Kane • Features, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

The world of work is changing rapidly and profoundly in a way that we haven’t seen since the time of the industrial revolution. Yet even as we stand at a momentous, game-changing inflexion point, the 21st century workplace strategy sector is still dithering about whether to join in the revolution. They are like the industrial mill owners of 19th century England who adopted a ‘make do and mend’ approach to business and failed to invest in new technology only to be forced out of business by foreign competitors who had invested in radical new, state of the art technology.Today the technological game changer is digital technology rather than weaving technology, but the effect is the same. Unless the workplace strategy sector embraces change and builds bridges between the ‘people’ side of the business and the ‘place’ side with other workplace specialists, their industry will become as dead as a dodo.

(more…)

September 20, 2018

Steelcase announces acquisition of Orangebox

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, Furniture, Workplace design

Steelcase Inc. has announced the acquisition of Orangebox Group Limited, a UK-based designer and manufacturer of furniture for the changing workplace, the latest in a rapid expansion of products designed for the new ways people work. Established in 2002, in the village of Hengoed, South Wales, Orangebox created a concept they call “Smartworking” – solutions designed to foster collaboration and change cultures, while improving efficiency. The company’s portfolio includes high performance seating systems, meeting room furniture, architectural pods for visual and acoustical privacy.

(more…)

September 19, 2018

The main challenge of modern working life: finding the place just right to meet ⁰

by Jim Ware • Facilities management, Features, Flexible working, Work&Place, Workplace design

Every physical setting sends distinct signals to meeting participants – signals that set the tone and provide a context for the conversation, even when they are subtle or not in anyone’s conscious awareness. You understand instinctively that the place where a meeting occurs has an impact on the nature of the conversation. Just imagine the difference between a conversation around a large formal conference table with expensive executive chairs and one that takes place in an informal employee lounge, with the participants seated in a circle on soft bean-bag chairs. (more…)

September 18, 2018

Building a culture of creativity that unites the physical and digital workplace

by Serena Borghero • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Agreeing on the definition of creativity is no easy task, as it can mean a whole range of different things to different people. To some, creativity means painting a beautiful picture or creating a unique sculpture, while for others it might mean writing a catchy tagline, developing a new business model, or building an innovative online tool. The fact is, creativity can be found in all walks of life, not just those we traditionally see as creative, such as art, design or music. And furthermore, it’s playing an increasingly pivotal role in the growth, development and success of all types of organisations, and the employees working for them.

(more…)

September 14, 2018

All those workplace trends lists that you see? We’ve been there before ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Furniture, Workplace design

Conference and show season looms and with it arrives the annual swarm of workplace trend forecasts. These are often presented as groundbreaking but many of them are indistinguishable from each other and based on some very familiar tropes and assumptions. These days such things tend to be shaped into lists, because that’s how the Internet likes it. That is all perfectly natural and we are free to make our own mind up which of these features are meaningful and which are hack jobs. No football pundit was ever fired for stringing together clichés rather than thinking and talking, and no marketing person has ever lost their job for publishing a list of Ten Trends.