It’s just life now: Debra Ward in conversation with Mark Eltringham

by • Facilities management, Features, Podcasts, Property, Technology, Workplace design

There is currently a great deal of talk about the way people experience the workplace. It is a subject linked to the changing nature of work but also a growing awareness that the old demarcations of time and place are falling, and with them the demarcations between the workplace professions.  This subject may be topical but it has been a long term preoccupation for today’s guest on the podcast Debra Ward. Earlier this year Debra joined JLL in the new role of Strategy & Growth Director and one of her first aims has been to focus on the firm’s approach to human experience. This is encapsulated in a major global report on the subject but it’s one that Debra has always championed in here previous roles with MITIE, Macro and Condeco.  Debra is forthright, informed, bright and passionate. Everything you need in a podcast in fact.

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The missing LINC between the office and the future of work

by • Features, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

There is a theory that if you want to know how the economy is doing, you ask a taxi driver. The basis for this idea is that they are the first to know when money is getting tight, because people make more use of buses and tubes. In a similar way, one of the best ways of gauging workplace trends is to ask an office furniture company. They’ve always functioned in a fiercely competitive market, but are also the first to notice an economic downturn or a shift in the structure of their markets.

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Seven stories about people, places and technology we’ve been reading this week

Seven stories about people, places and technology we’ve been reading this week

by • AI, Features, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

How to navigate beyond sustainability buzzwords

The communist party offices around the world

Hawking’s fear that AI may replace humans altogether

Tech giants are transforming Sydney’s business district

How AI will transform the employee experience

Promotion improves men’s job satisfaction but not women’s

Why we value physical objects over digital

Seven workplace stories we’ve been reading this week

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

UK law firms chop staff space despite headcount growth

What 15 minutes of solitude does for your emotions

Like it or not, popularity at work still matters

How younger men can help to break the glass ceiling

What do small businesses really contribute to the economy?

What technology will mean for traditional real estate models

Poor posture in people with disabilities can be fatal

Image: Claremont Group Interiors

Review: ushering in a new era for the coworking phenomenon 0

by • Comment, Coworking, Technology, Work&Place, Workplace design

Ramon Suarez has produced a very practical book, based on his own experience as one of the pioneers of coworking. And let’s be clear – it is coworking (not “co-working”; there is no hyphen), as Suarez explains, “a coworker (a member of a coworking space) is not the same as a co-worker (somebody who happens to work for the same company or in your same office)”. On his business card, Suarez describes his role as “Serendipity Accelerator”- you will understand that if you read the book. Suarez differentiates coworking from its many (and mostly false) aliases. Shared offices may be collaborative, but do not provide the network of people found in a good coworking space. Networked offices, where more than one company shares space and may collaborate, “come close” to coworking. Hacker & Maker spaces, Accelerators, Incubators and Cafes are similarly differentiated.

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Deus ex machina; what will the coming era of automation and robotics mean for the workplace?

by • AI, Events, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

The only two things we know for certain about the era of robotics and automation in the workplace are that it will be with us far sooner than many of us expect, and its implications will be far reaching and unlike those most routinely anticipated. However, a clear picture is beginning to emerge about its implications for workplace designers and managers as well as property owners and workers themselves. On 23 November at an event hosted by Vitra in London, a panel of workplace and technology experts including Neil Usher, Kerstin Sailer and Mark Eltringham will present the most up to date thinking on the subject, challenge preconceptions and myths and illuminate a world that is just around the corner. If you’re interested in attending please email rsvp_uk@vitra.com. Full details below.

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Time to address the missed opportunities and wasted resources of the modern workplace

by • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Rapidly changing work and workplaces. Productivity languishing below optimum levels. Staff engagement well below where it should be. Ongoing recruitment and retention challenges. All this has been building over the last couple of years; it would appear that organisations have never had it so tough. There have been plenty of tough times before, of course, but we have been witnessing something of a ‘perfect storm’ in recent months, where a whole range of issues and developments, as well as advancements and opportunities, have come together to push these challenges up the management agenda. But there are things we can do to make the workplace a better experience for everybody.

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Seven workplace stories we have been reading this week

by • Facilities management, Features, Property, Technology, Workplace design

The link between air pollution and worker productivity

Amazon’s wish list for it new HQ and what it means for the future of cities

WeWork in talks to buy £785 million London project

The startup era may be ending in the tech sector

Rocking and rolling with the new era of workplaces

Is Google’s plan for smart cities an attempt to control them?

Offices that embrace the idea of a human workplace

Growing need for a flexible workplace creates fresh challenges for employers

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

Many businesses are misaligned with their people, with nearly half of employees not understanding their company’s strategic objectives, according to new research published by The Ludic Group, which claims that the changing nature of workforces and the growing need for a flexible workplace are creating fresh challenges for communication, collaboration and engagement. The research suggests that the impact of technology is causing digital chaos, with businesses struggling to get the communications balance right. With the number of channels and tools increasing almost half of people (44 percent) want to hear more from employers. Perhaps surprisingly, one in five (20 percent) individuals said that their firm has not used any tools or techniques to communicate with them. This lack of communication results in people being disconnected from the business strategy, with only half of individuals (50 percent) reported fully aligned with their company’s objectives and 44 percent not knowing or understanding what these are. Alongside this, people increasingly want to design their own working experience and expect more flexibility from their employers.

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UK offices lack the features needed to boost productivity and wellbeing of introverts

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A poll from Office Genie claims that Britain’s workplaces are in need of a makeover, with many not catering to employees’ needs. According to the survey of around 1,500 people, workspaces are lacking distinct, tailor-made areas that could enable employees to work more effectively, particularly introverted workers. After surveying 1,456 British office workers, the poll suggests the majority of workplaces do not have areas that aid lone-working (67 percent), offer privacy (54 percent), or opportunities for quiet work (58 percent). They also do not have spaces that promote collaboration (45 percent) or provide chill-out areas for staff (74 percent). Respondents were asked if their workplace allows them to carry out their work comfortably and 20 percent stated it does not. Worryingly, of that number, 70 percent claim it affects their desire to come to work. In terms of improved wellbeing and productivity, chill-out areas, quiet areas, and private spaces are top of workers’ lists.

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Division of workplace hierarchy on impact of office design and flexible working

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

 

There is a divide in the importance placed on the office environment among different levels of the UK workforce, with new research suggesting C-Suite executives do not fully appreciate the factors that keep employees happiest at work and the impact that the office environment has on their employees’ productivity and wellbeing. According to the new research by Peldon Rose and are happier and work most productive in the office, 88 percent  of middle management and 84 percent of junior employees say they always or sometimes enjoy coming to work every day compared to 76 percent of C-Suite executives. In addition, junior and middle management employees are more inclined to work in the office, with 62 percent and 63 percent, respectively, saying they prefer to work in the office over at home (29 percent, 30 percent) compared to C-Suite who prefer to work at home (40 percent) rather than the office (24 percent). As a result, just a quarter of junior employees believe their office has a culture that allows them to work flexibly compared to nearly half of C-Suite.

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Boundary-less workplaces must offer contextual, personalised workspaces

Boundary-less workplaces must offer contextual, personalised workspaces

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

'Boundary-less' workplaces must offer contextual, personalised workspacesThe future workplace will replace familiar, rigid hierarchies and departments with small, collaborative networks of teams and the lines between individual organisations and ecosystems will blur as companies increasingly cast their net wider to innovate. This is one of the predictions made in a Fujitsu-commissioned whitepaper ‘Workplace 2025’ which argues that businesses must rethink social and technology strategies to plan for the future workplace – or risk being left behind. To appeal to future employees with the right skills, the whitepaper, which was produced by European research firm Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) advises that businesses must ensure they are moving towards an environment that provides contextual, personalised workspaces aligned to the individual needs of users. At the same time, they should plan to encourage enhanced peer collaboration by implementing technologies such as augmented reality. The Workplace 2025 report foresees that today’s organisational structures will become more agile, adapting to constantly-changing economic conditions, competitive landscapes and customer demands.

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