May 20, 2022

Humanity’s omni-fear or meta-opportunity? Uncertainty Experts (with Sam Conniff)

by Freddie Steele • Podcasts, Premium Content

In the latest episode of Workplace Geeks, Chris and Ian interview serial entrepreneur and purpose-driven pirate Sam Conniff, to explore his new project Uncertainty Experts. Described by Sam as an ‘interactive learning documentary’, their discussions explore the motivations behind his latest venture (with collaborators Katherine Templar Lewis, Dr Avri Bilovich and Dr Vivienne Ming), its inventive design, and Sam’s commitment to academically evaluate its impact. More →

May 6, 2022

The Workplace Geeks on what we need to learn about the office now that everything’s changed

by Freddie Steele • Facilities management, Podcasts, Premium Content, Workplace design

The Workplace Geeks are out and about for their very first LIVE episode, recorded at The Workplace Event, Birmingham NEC, UK in April 2022. For this special show they’re joined by Dan Pilling, workplace strategy consultant at TSK Group. Their discussion explores the scope and value of practical workplace research pre and post pandemic, with some great questions from the audience (thanks to Brock James from iOtSpace, Stuart Watts from the GPA, and Steve Henigan from HCG). More →

April 22, 2022

Do organisations actually know what their people do?

by Mark Eltringham • Podcasts, Premium Content

Do organisations truly understand how their people work? A big question that needed some unpacking and was explored at a recent Workplace Evolutionaries event, led by Tim Allen and Mark Eltringham. This is raw audio from the event so includes a brief chat about dogs and some other stuff. More →

April 22, 2022

New episodes of Workplace Geeks land

by Freddie Steele • Flexible working, News, Podcasts, Premium Content

Two new episodes of Workplace Geeks have now joined the already impressive roster of the first season. In episode 5 – The other 90 percent: ‘A Toolkit for Living in a New Building’ – Chris and Ian explore a novel approach to the ‘post-occupancy evaluation’ (or POE) of new workplaces with Dr Harriet Shortt, Associate Professor in Organisation Studies at UWE Bristol. Harriet and her collaborators (including Stride Treglown and ISG) used a participatory visual technique featuring smartphone photographs to explore the lived experiences of staff, students and visitors using their brand new £55m Bristol Business School building. All participants were invited to respond with images and accompanying comments to two simple questions: How do you feel about the building and how are you using the building? More →

March 25, 2022

The compadre of teleworking, with Jack Nilles

by Freddie Steele • Features, Flexible working, Podcasts

In episode four of Workplace Geeks, Chris and Ian cross seven time zones to learn from the father of teleworking and environmental activist, Jack Nilles, about the multi-disciplinary research project that led to his 1976 book ‘The Telecommunications-Transportation Trade-off: Options for Tomorrow’. Teleworking has been proven to be an effective and valued part of hybrid working solutions since the 1970s. The barriers to implementation are rarely, if ever, technological or economic: they are cultural, often specifically managerial, and always have been. Despite this, tried and tested change methodologies can overcome these challenges. Now, more than ever, we need to embrace the many benefits of teleworking, not just for organizational and personal gain, but also as part of our strategies to address the climate emergency. More →

March 18, 2022

Flexible working and wellbeing? We already know how that all works

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Podcasts, Premium Content, Wellbeing, Wellbeing Matters

If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. Woody Allen’s wise observation could have been made for this year. But it’s not just true for plans that go awry, but also those that go right in unexpected ways. For example, what better time to publish a book about the links between flexible working and wellbeing than in April 2020 as large swathes of the population were adjusting to completely remote work, many of them for the first time? More →

February 25, 2022

The philosophy of wellbeing: Elina Grigoriou in conversation

by Neil Franklin • Podcasts, Premium Content, Wellbeing, Wellbeing Matters, Workplace design

Elina Grigorou is the author of a fantastic book called Wellbeing in Interiors: Philosophy, Design & Value in Practice. The book looks not only at the ways organisations can use design to address the wellbeing of individuals, but also the impact this approach has on them as individuals in terms of their creativity and productivity. This in turn can have a transformative impact on the organisations for which they work. More →

February 11, 2022

Workplace Geeks assemble. Workplace heavyweights launch new podcast series

by Freddie Steele • Podcasts

Two leading workplace commentators have collaborated to launch a brand new podcast that strives to uncover cutting edge academic research from around the world and bring it to a broader audience. The Workplace Geeks podcast interviews the teams behind the research, explores the stories behind the insights and uncovers the practical business applications of their findings. Created and co-hosted by regular industry commentators Chris Moriarty (formerly of IWFM and Leesman) and Ian Ellison (3edges and formerly of Sheffield Hallam University) the podcast surfaces evidence-based insights, whilst taking listeners on a ‘journey of discovery’ as they explore data, research methods and how the business world can better apply and benefit from them. More →

January 19, 2022

Podcast: the weak arguments in favour of offices and the problem with the future of work

by Neil Franklin • Features, Flexible working, Podcasts, Property, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Mark Eltringham the publisher of Workplace Insight and IN Magazine recently joined Caleb Parker, the founder of Bold, on his Work Bold podcast for an unscripted chat on: the future of work and how it may shape the future of commercial real estate; the reasons why anybody might ever want to go back to an office to work; the problem with weak arguments both for and against offices; and the importance of culture and flexibility rather than fixed times and places of work in determining people’s day to day experiences of work. The prompt for this conversation was the occasional discussion on social media over the past couple of years and a recent article exploring the value of weak ties. More →

July 13, 2021

The office is everywhere and nowhere, baby

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Podcasts, Premium Content, Workplace design

Workplace Insight and IN Magazine publisher Mark Eltringham recently took part in a lively episode of the Nowhere Office podcast with Julia Hobsbawn, Stefan Stern and Joanna Swash. They considered the current nature of work, what long term changes we can expect to emerge now and the role of working culture in providing a great experience for everybody, whoever and wherever they are – and whenever they might work. More →

November 17, 2020

Chris Kane discusses his new book on workplace transformation

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Podcasts, Premium Content, Property, Workplace design

The physician can bury his mistakes,—but the architect can only advise his client to plant vines. Frank Lloyd Wright’s eternal epigram is not just true for buildings. It also applies to the authors of books, especially those on the subjects most affected by this year’s pandemic. Speakers and blog writers can quietly inter the things they get wrong, while the book sits unchangeable on a shelf. Maybe behind a houseplant.
More →

May 15, 2020

Sally Gunnell in conversation with Kate Usher on the Workplace Insight podcast

by Jayne Smith • Podcasts, Wellbeing

One of the UK’s greatest ever athletes and now a corporate wellbeing consultant and speaker, Sally Gunnell discusses with Kate Usher the challenges faced by women in the second half of their lives, in the latest Workplace Insight podcast. Sally is the only female British athlete ever to hold the Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles for 400m Hurdles. Her world record time still ranks in the top 10 fastest times, ever. More →