Columnists
July 16, 2014
Three ways in which politicians display their ignorance of the workplace
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design
The recent Cabinet reshuffle in the UK Government won’t alter one fact; politicians simply don’t get it when it comes to technology, the workplace, the way people work and the needs of small businesses. Once you dismiss the paranoid idea that they DO get it but don’t care because they’re too busy looking out for The Man, you […]
July 15, 2014
Book Review: Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace by Nikil Saval
by Colin Watson • Comment, Furniture, Work&Place, Workplace design
Nikil Saval’s book Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace pulls off that rare feat for a parochial business book of being intelligent and informed (which many are) as well as fascinating, entertaining and realistic, which is rather less commonplace. He pulls this off with plenty of references to pop culture including television series such […]
July 14, 2014
How Arthur C Clarke and other writers predicted tablet computing and the iPad
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology
Arthur C Clarke was one of those scientists and science fiction writers who made a pretty decent fist of getting his technological predictions right. Not only did he foretell general trends such as flexible working and the future nature of work in cities, he also got a number of details right, too. His screenplay for […]
June 27, 2014
Physical workplace should provide an environment in which people can thrive
by Bostjan Ljubic • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design
In these post-recession times, companies are investing heavily in their operations and the UK business community definitely has more of a spring in its step. Now, more than ever, it is important to have the right team on board and employers are now finding that their biggest challenge is how to attract and keep high […]
June 27, 2014
Government must solve problem of London’s wasted commercial property
by Paul Statham • Comment, Facilities management, Property
The UK Government needs to act on the growing issue of wasted commercial property space in Greater London, and it needs to do so as a matter of some urgency. Statistics from the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) show that since 1998, a worrying 58 per cent of London boroughs have seen vacancy rates either […]
June 26, 2014
The debate about open plan offices is not helped by its use of stereotypes
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Furniture, Workplace, Workplace design
The incessant debate about open plan offices is informed by a number of assumptions that can lead us to misunderstand the issues involved. Nigel Oseland eviscerates several of them excellently here, making it plain that a great deal is lost in translation somewhere over the mid-Atlantic. In truth, the European and US experiences of the […]
June 24, 2014
Five things we have learned about flexible working ahead of the new right to ask regs
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design
You can’t help but notice that surveys about flexible working have been pretty thick on the ground over the last few weeks and months. The reason is that – as well as the usual ongoing fascination with the subject – the UK Government is extending the right to request regulations at the end of this […]
June 24, 2014
The ties that bind facilities management with workplace design
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design
There is an ongoing feeling within the facilities management discipline that when it comes to the design of workplaces, the majority of facilities managers are not consulted early enough or well enough or consistently enough to ensure that the end result of the design process is a workplace that is as functional and as effective […]
June 23, 2014
Breathing space? Why our office air could be harming us
by Richard Saint • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design
As reported last week, the vast majority of office workers might prefer to work outdoors; but the office is where we spend most of our working lives. Indeed, for an average of eight hours a day, five days a week, office workers can reliably be found in the same surroundings – at a familiar desk, with […]
June 19, 2014
Virtually Uninspiring, Cautiously Aspirational – award winning offices for the VUCA world.
by Simon Heath • Architecture, Comment, Workplace design
World-of-work watchers will be more than aware that we are increasingly being informed that we are living in the VUCA age, which under normal circumstances is an acronym for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous but in the context of these RIBA Award Winners for 2014 might be taken in a number of other ways. Commentators and self-styled […]
June 17, 2014
Workplace ergonomics changed forever twenty years ago thanks to one design
by Justin Miller • Comment, Furniture, Workplace design
By common consent, the office is a little over 100 years old, with most commentators agreeing that the first true office as we understand it was the Larkin Building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1904. Yet ninety years after this building ushered in the 20th Century workplace, there was another seismic shift in office […]
July 16, 2014
Keeping remote employees motivated is key to successful flexible working culture
by Gemma Falconer • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace
Flexible working has barely been out of the news since the latest government changes. But while allowing employees to work remotely can do wonders for staff retention, motivating them and keeping them in the loop presents a new problem. Although self-starting employees feel that they have more control over their work and fewer distractions, it can […]