Columnists
September 6, 2019
Escaping the hell of hot desking
by Tim Oldman • Comment, Workplace design
Hot-desking is a scourge on modern work. That’s the only conclusion you will draw by reading ‘The hidden hell of hot-desking is much worse than you think’ (published in the FT on 28 July 2019) and dozens more like it that continue to appear in national media and top business titles. The piece contends that […]
September 6, 2019
The open plan debate should never be seen as a zero sum game
by Nigel Oseland • Comment, Workplace design
The debate on open plan versus enclosed offices rages on, but workplace design is not a such a simple dichotomy. Furthermore, office occupants clearly have different workplace preferences depending on factors like personality, personalisation, flexibility and sense of belonging etc. Herman Miller and Workplace Trends sponsored Workplace Unlimited to conduct a short on-line survey to […]
September 6, 2019
Avoiding burnout and losing the workplace blues
by Christine Congdon • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design
Stressed at work? Feeling blue at this time of year? Take a breath. You are not alone. While the World Health Organisation (WHO) is just now recognising burnout, a result of stress, as an “occupational phenomenon,” the conversation around wellbeing at work is not new. If we learn anything from this newest designation, it’s that […]
September 3, 2019
Work-life integration is the new goal for workers
by Nicole Bello • Comment, Flexible working, Technology
The modern world of work is a stressful one, and the goal to progress in our careers brings on even more pressure. Tight deadlines and demanding workloads are the typical order of the day, but just as important is to have the time to wind down and recharge the batteries. Historically, this has been known […]
August 30, 2019
Shaping the workplace of tomorrow
by Richard Glückman • Comment, Technology, Workplace design
The workplace, as we know it, is rapidly evolving and the role of the traditional office is changing. In fact, what current trends are pointing towards is that the whole work culture is shifting, with the employee experience becoming equally important as consumer needs. The new norm of the workplace is being flexible, dynamic, and […]
August 28, 2019
Shifting cultural expectations in the workplace
August 23, 2019
Summertime childcare juggling needs to be consigned to history
by Han Son Lee • Comment, Flexible working
For working parents, summertime is often a logistical nightmare. Six weeks of careful planning are needed to sort out childcare and ensure that both parents spend some quality time with their offspring. According to research from family activity app Hoop, over a quarter of parents of 5-16 year olds dread the summer holidays and here […]
August 21, 2019
The office is increasingly able to recognise you, but will you recognise it?
by John Comacchio • Comment, Technology, Workplace design
Our lives at work are about to change—again. Just as the addition of PC’s and Wi-Fi re-drew the office blueprint, emerging technologies like robots, virtual agents, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) promise to radically revise the form and the function of work and the workplace. In the near future, your office […]
August 19, 2019
Firms need to place more value on older workers
by Claire Turner • Comment, Wellbeing, Working lives, Workplace
As we live longer lives, it’s inevitable that more of us want to work for longer. It makes good business sense too: with fewer younger people starting work to replace those set to retire in future years, coupled with uncertainty over Brexit and labour shortages, employers can’t afford to lose older workers.
August 16, 2019
Office design has a role to play in reflecting neurological differences
by Julian Sharpe • Comment, Workplace design
In recent years, we have seen a growing civil rights movement focused on change in the workplace and in terms of office design, revolving around differences in brain function. Advocates for neurodiversity say that it’s just as critical to business success as gender or racial diversity in the labour force.
August 16, 2019
Is London Smart City Initiative as smart as it could be?
by George Adams • Cities, Comment, Technology
It’s been a year since the launch of the Mayor of London’s smart city roadmap, designed to transform the capital into the smartest city in the world. But twelve months later, is the city any smarter? The Mayor of London’s smart city roadmap is proposing to transform the capital into the smartest city in the […]
September 10, 2019
Shakespeare, steampunk and our immersion in tech soup
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Workplace design
Technology is always remarkable in its own time, indistinguishable from magic for an increasingly fleeting moment before the stardust fades and it becomes mundane, subverted by our unintended uses, its own unintended consequences and the very way it inveigles itself into the background of our existence, blurring identities, changing the way we view ourselves and […]