Insight Briefing: the business case for design and build

Insight Briefing: the business case for design and build 0

by • Briefing, Facilities management, Insight Briefings, Premium Content, Workplace design

office-reception-design-and-buildThe best way of getting what you want is invariably to follow the simplest route. Research, experience and common sense tell us that in most cases, simple systems achieve better, faster and less expensive results and that the success of any project will often be in inverse proportion to the number of people involved in the system used to implement it, the number of decisions these people have to make between them, and the number of times they have to communicate with each other. Complexity is the enemy of success. Simplicity is all. And it is this that is the underlying principle behind ‘Design and Build’; often the best, fastest and least expensive method of developing and implementing an office design project, yet also one of the least understood, especially with regard to its ability to deliver exceptional design. This White Paper is aimed both at those who want to find out more about this uniquely effective method of completing a project, but also at those who may have mistaken preconceptions about Design and Build. This is an idea whose time has come and it is all based on the most fundamental of all fundamental principles: by keeping things as uncomplicated as possible, it can often deliver the best value, best design and the best response to a brief in the quickest time and at the lowest cost.

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Charles Marks is the Managing Director of office design and fit-out company Fresh Workspace. www.freshworkspace.com

White paper: a new world of learning environments

White paper: a new world of learning environments 0

by • Briefing, Insight Briefings, Premium Content, Workplace design

The traditional structures of work and education were forged in the fires of the Industrial Revolution. They shared many characteristics. They were rigid, hierarchical and based on a patriarchal approach to achieving their aims. In education, this manifested itself in the traditional didactic form that was, until recently, seen as the ideal model, based on teachers, tutors and lecturers imparting knowledge and learning to their pupils and students as part of an agreed curriculum and to an approved timetable. How well this process turned out was checked with periodic testing. For some time now, people have been questioning this structure and, with it, the design of learning environments. Over the past few decades, we have not only developed the technologies to allow us to learn in new ways, we have also developed a far better understanding of the processes involved.

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Beyond Monoculture: how design eats strategy for breakfast

Beyond Monoculture: how design eats strategy for breakfast 0

by • Insight Briefings, Premium Content, Workplace design

_72A2715The idea that ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’ holds a grip on our imagination and tends to be misunderstood in equal measure because at first glance it seems to suggest that strategy is less important or can be trumped by culture. In fact what Peter Drucker, who is the man commonly held to be responsible for saying it, identifies is that the two must go hand in glove. A strategy that does not heed culture is more likely to fail. A culture without strategy quickly becomes unanchored. The same need for balance is evident in the way we develop workplace strategies. Without understanding culture and knowing how a workplace can both reflect an existing culture and prompt a shift, the strategy runs the risk of becoming undone, or failing to fully meet its objectives. This link between culture and workplace strategy and design has never been more important than it is right now as the old bonds of time and place that once tethered people to an employer have loosened and dissolved. These issues are explored in our new Briefing, produced in partnership with Boss Design.

Perils of sitting + Meeting change with resilience + Root causes of stress 0

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, Furniture, Insight Briefings, Newsletter, Wellbeing, Workplace

Insight_twitter_logo_2In this week’s Newsletter; Gary Chandler argues we are witnessing a new era for office design; Neil Franklin wonders who fares best when working remotely; Mark Eltringham unpicks the facts from fiction on the dangers of sitting; suggests the ways we can break ourselves out of groupthink and delves into a report which suggests order and disorder are perfectly functional ways for firms to operate. The overwhelming majority of UK employees are working beyond their contracted hours; employers’ views on the causes of workplace stress differ from employees; managers struggle with the fall-out from crises; and despite the prospect of a female PM, the boardroom remains out of reach for many business women. Download our new Briefing, produced in partnership with Boss Design on the link between culture and workplace strategy and design; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

Beyond monoculture + Future shock + Confusion over productivity 0

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, Insight Briefings, Newsletter, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Insight_twitter_logo_2In this week’s Newsletter; Mark Eltringham pays tribute to futurologist Alvin Toffler who died this week and is famed for introducing the concept ‘Future shock’; and Charles Marks looks at the ways our noisy world was foretold by some of the 20th centuries’ greatest minds. A study finds that people find meetings more useful than is widely reported; many office workers struggle to understand the meaning of productivity; and spending on workplace technology doubled over the past five years. Older workers – not millennials – are most positive about working freelance; more US over 65s are working now than at any time; and agile workers report the highest levels of productivity. You can download our new Briefing, produced in partnership with Boss Design which examines the link between culture and workplace strategy and design; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

When you can choose to work anywhere, where will you choose to work?

When you can choose to work anywhere, where will you choose to work? 0

by • Flexible working, Insight Briefings, Premium Content, Technology, Workplace design

Briefing coverOne of the great questions that hangs over workers in the new era of boundless work is this: When you can choose to work from anywhere, where will you choose to work? It’s not just a question for the growing army of workers who find themselves unfettered from the traditional times and places of work. They will naturally choose to work in the places they feel make them most productive and happy, which nurture their wellbeing and chime with their values. The challenge for the owners and the occupiers of offices is to create the working environments that will draw people to them. This is particularly important for those organisations with strong cultures who understand the role that physical presence plays in nurturing creativity and the way people exchange information, such as tech and creative firms. The terms of this conundrum and its possible solutions are the themes of our new briefing, produced in partnership with Connection. You can see it here.

Non-death of the office + Property owners lag behind + New issue of Work&Place

Non-death of the office + Property owners lag behind + New issue of Work&Place 0

by • Insight Briefings, Newsletter, Property, Wellbeing, Work&Place, Workplace

Insight_twitter_logo_2In this week’s newsletter; Philip Ross says the main driver of the growing convergence of HR, IT and FM roles will be the availability of data to make informed decisions and Mark Eltringham gives a number of reason why office has an enduring appeal. In news; HR guru Cary Cooper warns about the deleterious effects of email on productivity and wellbeing, a third of home workers fear they’ll  get fat, commercial property owners are not keeping up with tenant’s needs and the launch of a new study to develop a prototype UK scheme that mirror’s Australia’s ‘design for performance’. You can also download the new issue of Work&Place and access our first Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories

Insight Briefing: the growth of agile workplaces in the UK public sector

Insight Briefing: the growth of agile workplaces in the UK public sector 0

by • Flexible working, Insight Briefings, Premium Content, Public Sector, Workplace design

agile working coverThe process of transforming the UK’s public sector estate may have begun under the last Labour administration but it’s fair to say that change really began to kick in as a consequence of the austerity programme initiated by the current administration. Central Government departments and local authorities had already started exploring new ways of owning and occupying their property in the same way as their private sector contemporaries. Now they were incentivised to respond to an administration that was not only prepared to cut their budgets but was introducing frameworks and legislation that encouraged them to innovate and pioneer a new generation of agile workplaces. In our first Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, we look at how these forces for change have catalysed a new approach and challenged the idea that innovation in workplace design and management is primarily the preserve of the private sector.