October 10, 2018

The Genesis of ideation and the places we go to have our best ideas ⁰

by Giuseppe Boscherini • Facilities management, Features, Technology, Work&Place, Workplace design

Because collaboration, creativity and innovation are increasingly perceived as key objectives and differentiators of performance, the genesis and mechanisms behind ideation and creativity are an an integral part of both business and personal development. As a consequence, there is growing interest in the way the physical attributes of work settings may influence or even trigger creative behaviour. The cliché of the shower as one of these favourite places comes to mind and yet experience does show that the idea of seeking a setting, a “zone” if you will, for a specific purpose is intuitively right. This needn’t be a retreat or cocoon, as is often assumed, but can also be a crowded, busy, noisy place, which might explain why so often the most animated work conversations move out of the office shop into the coffee shop. Equally, highlight events or special meetings tend to be held in a “venue’, often dressed for the occasion.

October 5, 2018

Friday finds: the best workplace stories from this week

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Technology, Workplace design

Technologies won’t replace good management

Is this the RFP – or just another country?

The way hunter-gatherers share food shows how cooperation evolved

The future of human work is perpetual beta

The most plausible cause of wellbeing decline is screen time

The gig economy isn’t going to be the future of work

The new era of Workplace Management is here

October 2, 2018

How to measure the impact of biophilia on individual performance

by Julia Ayuso Sanchez • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The improvement in well-being and performance in the workplace are economic and social critical factors since the loss of productivity for companies means a cost of up to US$ 550,000 million per year. Numerous studies affirm that biophilic design, defined as a response to the inherent need of human beings to be in contact with nature, in the workplace improves productivity and user well-being. As Lord Kelvin said, if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it, so the challenge that arises is how to objectify and quantify rigorously the features that improve productivity and wellbeing in spaces designed with biophilia in mind. From this, it is necessary to go a step further and objectify the design criteria serving as an operator for performance and wellbeing in design practice.

September 29, 2018

It’s better for you to be busy + A new era for commercial property? + Changing behaviour by design

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

In this week’s Newsletter; The commercial property sector heads off in a new direction; why busier people tend to look after themselves more; executives love Big Data but have no idea what to do with it; procrastination isn’t all bad – read why right now, don’t put it off; changing benhaviour by design isn’t as easy as some might think; a Shakespearean take on tech addiction; and how local innovation fuels global design trends. You can also download our most recent briefings on key topics, produced in partnership with Boss Design and BW Workplace Experts; dowlnload the new issue of Work&Place; visit our events page curated by Herman Miller, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories. And don’t forget to subscribe – the form is there on the left.

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

Friday finds: some things about life, work and everything we unearthed this week

by Mark Eltringham • Features

Just because somebody’s an introvert, doesn’t mean they want to be alone

It’s really not a good idea to zap your brain to boost creativity. And yes some people are doing that

A complete, interactive map of all the world’s coworking spaces

Setting a maximum wage for CEOs would be good for everyone

Tests show the human brain must work hard to avoid sloth

How we spend our days is how we spend our lives; choosing presence over productivity

If we want to change anything, we need to care about it

Image: LEO Nova North designed by Area

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.

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 17, 2018

Our weekly workplace round up of the best stories online

by Mark Eltringham • Features

Why it’s so hard to be a working mom. Even at Facebook

Let’s bring back the Sabbath as a radical act against ‘total work’

What Starbucks gets that architects don’t

Silicon Valley’s company towns are doomed

Complexity & chaos — the new normal

The price of regeneration in London

To restore civil society, start with the Library

September 13, 2018

Working long and hard? It may do more harm than good for your productivity and wellbeing

by Argyro Avgoustaki and Hans TW Frankort • Features, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Nearly half of people in the EU work in their free time to meet work demands, and a third often or always work at high speed, according to recent estimates. If you are one of them, have you ever wondered whether all the effort is really worth it? Employees who invest more effort in their work report higher levels of stress and fatigue, along with lower job satisfaction. But they also report receiving less recognition and fewer growth opportunities. And they experience less job security. So increased work effort not only predicts reduced wellbeing, it even predicts inferior career-related outcomes.

September 12, 2018

Work&Place new issue showcases most informed and challenging workplace thinking

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Features, Flexible working, News, Premium Content, Property, Technology, Work&Place, Workplace, Workplace design

The new issue of Work&Place has been published and is free to read on the journal’s new website. Its overall readership is now around 100,000, including in the new Spanish language edition, so it’s not just more accessible, it is even more influential. The journal continues to explore the most cutting-edge ideas surrounding the physical, digital and cultural domains in which we work. The convergence of these elements of the workplace define the greatest challenges we face in the workplace of the early 21st Century. Some of these are addressed in the features included in this edition.