Columnists
February 21, 2019
How do we reach consensus about what constitutes good design? 0
by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Furniture, Technology, Workplace design
In shows and the media, we are often invited to pass judgement on products and ideas that have been created by other people. The reviews that follow often cement some form of accepted view, even if we often outsource the decision making to people who are better placed to decide, or at least better enabled […]
February 21, 2019
Why the gender pay gap is an enduring challenge for many organisations
by Heejung Chung • Comment, Workplace
In April of 2018, large companies with over 250 employees were obliged to report their gender pay gap for the first time. Headlines that week were dominated by some of the surprise and shock of the extent to which women were paid less in majority of the companies reported, while for many women it just […]
February 20, 2019
It is time for organisations to embrace the digital workplace
by Christian Brøndum • AI, Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace
With the rise of both cloud-based technology and the worldwide gig economy, the last ten years of the 21st century have seen some near-revolutionary changes in workplace practice. Entrepreneurs everywhere have been more than happy to make use of these developments, taking advantage of the new business models these changes have brought. For example, IDG […]
February 19, 2019
Cold noses and warm design; a review of the Stockholm Furniture Fair
by John Sacks • Comment, Workplace design
The scene was set when, on the final approach to Stockholm, the Captain announced that the city was ‘enjoying’ heavy snow and a temperature of minus 15 degrees C. Can the fair organisers be persuaded to move future events to balmy June? Probably not. But of course, everything works perfectly despite the weather, and interiors […]
February 18, 2019
Employers need to become active listeners to improve mental health at work
by Brendan Street • Comment, Wellbeing
Time to Talk Day takes place every February and encourages people to open-up about their emotional wellbeing, but in a workplace setting this can be challenging. Despite 80 percent of employers believing employees would feel comfortable talking about their mental health, only 5 percent of employees would do so. Clearly there’s a disconnect between talkers […]
February 17, 2019
Landlords must respond in new ways to the changing world of work
by Ben Gillam • Comment, Technology, Workplace design
Hammocks, remote working, hot-desking. Contrary to common belief, these aren’t the only conversations landlords are having with designers on how to approach their workspaces for today’s tenants. Rising property values, the growth of flexible offices and political uncertainty have forced landlords to change the way they market their properties to respond to the demands of […]
February 14, 2019
Digital transformation requires more than just new technology
by Arnab Banerjee • Comment, Technology
Digital transformation has been a priority for businesses for many years, primarily to benefit from the opportunities presented by a mix of digital technologies and their impact across all aspects of society. Customer-facing functions such as sales, marketing and procurement, in their quest for new revenue sources and information-powered ecosystems of value, have led the […]
February 11, 2019
The wider debate about workplaces gives facilities managers a chance to crack the code
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management
The most vocal debate that has followed the BIFM’s change of identity to the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management remains that focused on the issue of taxonomy. We are being asked to consider, as part of a sometimes bad mannered debate, whether facilities management is part of the workplace ecosystem or vice versa and which profession […]
February 8, 2019
Finding the Goldilocks Point for collaborative workplace design
February 7, 2019
Maybe the time has come to shoot the workplace messenger
by Rob Harris • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design
I spent some time with Frank Duffy recently, releasing a stream of memories of working with him, first as an employee at DEGW during the 1980s, and then as a client while directing developer Stanhope’s research programme during the 1990s. Along with his long-term business partner, John Worthington, and thinkers including Franklin Becker, Gerald Davis, […]
February 4, 2019
Getting back to environmental basics in the Anthropocene era 0
by Alison Kitchingman • Comment, Environment, Facilities management, Workplace design
A new word has recently entered the public discourse on the environment. It describes the current epoch of geological time as the period in which humans have had an impact on the world’s climate, geology and ecosystems. Although yet to be formally recognised by the mainstream scientific community, it has been in existence for a […]
February 26, 2019
Survey suggests that all age groups are similarly motivated at work
by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Workplace
When comparing the results of 18 – 29-year-olds with other age brackets, we often find that researchers are bending over backwards to find some kind of pattern. Now a new survey a new study from Automatic Data Processing (ADP) finds unsurprisingly, that there is actually little difference between the age groups regarding those who go […]