Columnists
January 6, 2014
The nine enduring workplace tensions to keep an eye on in the year ahead
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Public Sector, Technology, Workplace
There were a number of workplace issues that wouldn’t go away during 2013. And there’s no reason to believe we will resolve many of them during 2014 either. We can try to explain the recalcitrance of such things by referring to the enveloping fog that emanates from the commercial interests who promote problems to their […]
January 2, 2014
Why we should be wary of expert predictions for 2014
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design
As ever the first day back at work coincides with a flood of forecasts about what will happen in the world in the year ahead. But predictions are often more interesting in retrospect than they are in their own time. For example, each year The Economist produces its one-off ‘The World in…’ publication which asks […]
December 29, 2013
The most read stories on Insight in 2013
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design
It’s been one year since Insight first hit the digital streets and it’s been fascinating to see what people have been most interested in. One of the great things about online publishing is you cannot escape from what people think. Printed trade magazines can tell you they send out 12,000 copies or whatever, but they […]
December 20, 2013
Driving home for Christmas? Forget Chris Rea and try Sigur Ros
by Tess Gaze • Comment, Technology
[embedplusvideo height=”180″ width=”220″ editlink=”https://bit.ly/1cW0cqK” standard=”https://www.youtube.com/v/Xow2gnVTUjs?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=Xow2gnVTUjs&width=220&height=180&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=” id=”ep4142″ /] Six in ten commuters travel by car. This was the finding of a survey conducted by the RAC earlier this month. Inevitably a busier road leads to congestion, and therefore stress. It’s no shock to learn, according to a Sky News report, that almost half of British […]
December 19, 2013
BA becomes first European airline to allow electronics use throughout flights
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology
Those of us who feel bereft when we are forced to abandon our links to a world beyond our immediate surroundings and companions for even a few minutes will be delighted at the news that British Airways has become the first European airline to allow electronic devices to be switched on for the whole time […]
December 18, 2013
Companies need to work out what they want to emerge from the BYOD pile-up
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Technology
Anybody who tells you they understand what is happening with BYOD, doesn’t understand what is happening with BYOD. Even by the standards of workplace technology, trying to get a firm grasp on the current state of play when it comes to the practice of Bring Your Own Device is particularly challenging. Surveys, opinions, research and […]
December 17, 2013
New survey reveals extent and nature of workplace change programmes
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Property
The newly published Workplace Transformation Survey from property consultancy Cushman and Wakefield begins with the now routine statement that “there is no doubt the corporate workplace is rapidly transforming”. So tell us something we don’t know – and in the subsequent report they pretty much do. That said, the methodology of the survey does skew […]
December 16, 2013
Book Review: The Emergent Workplace
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design
It’s rather refreshing to see a book or report in which the word ‘Workplace’ in the title is prefaced by ‘Emergent’ rather than something misleading like ‘Tomorrow’s’ or ‘Future’. And so the authors Clark Sept and Paul Heath define their vision of the workplace presented in this slim but engaging book as a thing which […]
December 13, 2013
One of the most important things we need at work is shelter from the storm
by Nigel Sikora • Comment, Workplace design
The challenge of providing the optimum level of acoustic performance in an office is one of those issues that everybody accepts is very important, has at least some understanding of and has a degree of awareness of the solutions. Yet it has proved to be one of those intractable issues that suffers both from some […]
December 6, 2013
Extended rights to flexible working could prove a logistical headache for employers
by Pam Loch • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace
A recent decision by the government could result in emptier offices on Fridays and Mondays as staff vie with each other to work from home. This is because from April 2014 onwards, employers will have to be prepared to consider flexible working requests from any employee, not just for employees who have children under the […]
January 10, 2014
SkyCycle. Great idea, but how realistic is it really?
by Andrew Brown • Comment, Environment, Facilities management, Workplace
A cycle lane in the sky is a brilliant concept. The very name conjures up visual images of 21st century transport networks that HG Wells might have been proud of. But wedged above the Enfield Town to Liverpool Street line or its equivalent it seems very unlikely. So let’s assume this is an exercise in […]