April 3, 2019

Coworking and a new golden era for the workplace and the people who inhabit it

by Gary Chandler • Comment, Coworking, Workplace design

The idea of coworking is starting to resonate with a growing number of businesses and for a growing number of reasons. People new to the concept, or those who are aware primarily of its roots, may discover or retain a notion that it is a way for start-ups and freelancers to share space as a way of keeping down costs or networking with similar organisations. There is still a great deal of truth in this, given that the initial growth of coworking was based almost exclusively on the need for small tech and creative organisations to occupy space near to their larger clients, in precisely those urban enclaves that demand eye-watering rents and conventional leases.

April 3, 2019

London, Paris and Stockholm lead ranks of European coworking hotspots

by Neil Franklin • Coworking, News, Property

London, Paris and Stockholm are among the major cities featured in a new research report from Cushman & Wakefield (registration) into the coworking and flexible office sectors, which pinpoints future demand and the next likely growth hotspots across Europe. According to the report, coworking’s rapid expansion in recent years has quickly disrupted global office markets. The report charts the current state of the sector, the emergence of flexible working space across continental Europe and where future growth will occur. More →

April 1, 2019

Green Building Council releases guidance on social value for local authorities

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property, Public Sector

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has released its latest guidance document, detailing how local authorities can help ensure that new construction and property development in their area positively impacts people and communities by delivering social value. More →

March 29, 2019

Co-design is an old idea, but it belongs to the 21st Century like never before

by Jonathan Hindle • Comment, Workplace design

As with so many apparently new ideas that resonate in a contemporary context, co-design has a long history. Originally referred to as cooperative or participatory design, it was first applied in Scandinavia in the 1960s and 70s, especially as a way of engaging stakeholders in the public sector in the design and development of IT projects, healthcare and workplaces. Arguably, our modern understanding of the idea was first set out by C.K. Prahalad and Venkatram Ramaswamy in a 2000 Harvard Business Review article called Co-opting Customer Competence and a subsequent book by the authors on the subject. They argue that there is a growing trend for firms to actively seek the insight and competence of customers to offer them better solutions, tailored to their own needs. More →

March 29, 2019

Smartphone addiction is driven by need to connect, but means we make bad choices

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Wellbeing

Two new studies published in the Journal Frontiers in Psychology explore our complex relationships with smartphones. The first study from Canadian researchers, concludes that our addiction to smartphones is a real phenomenon but one that is rooted in a primal desire to connect with other people, suggesting that smartphone addiction is best described as hyper-social, rather than anti-social. However, the second study led by academics in Brazil claims that a pronounced preoccupation with smartphones can lead to poorer decision making.

March 28, 2019

Government lacks the know-how to help disabled people get into work

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

The Department for Work Pensions has limited evidence of what works when it comes to supporting disabled people to work, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) in a report published today. The number of disabled people in work has risen by 930,000 (31 percent) in the last five years, but this has not been matched by a reduction in the number of disabled people who are out of work. The NAO found that the government’s headline goal of getting one million more disabled people into work from 2017 to 2027 cannot be used to measure the success of its efforts. The Department itself recognises that this measure cannot be linked directly to any specific government policy or programme. Broader factors, such as more people who are already in work reporting a disability, and rising employment rates, have a significant effect on the measure. It therefore lacks a target for which it is willing to be held to account. More →

March 28, 2019

The rise of the digital workplace is transforming the physical office

by Giles Fuchs • Comment, Coworking, Workplace design

A recent survey by Gartner predicts that one in five workers will have an AI bot as their co-worker by 2022. It’s almost impossible to talk about the future of the workplace without mention of AI or robotics, and is therefore hardly surprising that there is a feeling of apprehension amongst workers. PwC’s 21st global CEO Survey in 2018 revealed that between 23 percent and 51 percent of respondents were “extremely concerned” about the speed of technological change, and indicated “anxiety about the impending promise and perils of AI.”

March 27, 2019

New book on the future of work argues that the office is not just surviving, but thriving

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

A new book from RIBA Publishing, which examines the future office, argues that despite predictions that the office is on the verge of extinction, it is not only surviving, but thriving. Digital technologies have spurred this transformation, and with it, the metamorphosis of our entire working environment. The office of today can vary from a sweeping open expanse of ergonomic, futuristic workstations, to a local coffee shop. Future Office: Next-Generation Workplace Design debates tradition, change, and the future of how we work and where.

March 25, 2019

A new practitioner guide helps teams reach peak change-capability in the workplace

by George Eltringham • News, Workplace

The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) HR Research Network, in conjunction with The Henley Forum, part of The Henley Business School, is pleased to announce the launch of a new practitioner guide, Changing Together: Change Tools for Teams. The concise booklet is designed to assist teams to be change-ready, maximising full change-capability potential when faced with growing demands for increased agility and adaptability in the workplace.

March 22, 2019

The future of work will be defined by four models, claims RSA

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

The RSA’s Future Work Centre has released research that models four ‘futures of work’ by 2035 – and claims to show how out of touch politicians are with changes in the workplace. The report, published in partnership with Arup, claims to avoid the usual sensationalism around topics such as automation, the Internet of Things, surveillance, gig work and AI to establish what workers can expect in the workplace in the near future. The report applies morphological analysis to generate its four models of work.

March 22, 2019

UK gets new £5 million climate change research centre

by George Eltringham • Environment, News

Cardiff University has been selected as the main hub for a £5 million research centre to explore how we can live differently to achieve the rapid and far-reaching emissions cuts required to address climate change. A collaboration between Cardiff, Manchester, York and East Anglia Universities, and charity Climate Outreach, the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) will work closely with industry, local/national governments, and charities to tackle climate change. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. More →

March 22, 2019

UK workforce increasingly concerned with impact of Brexit on employment

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

More than a third (34.25 percent) of UK residents believe that Brexit would affect their current employment in a negative way, and only a negligible 3 percent of respondents think that Brexit will positively affect their current employment. Compared to the survey from Personal Group in 2018, there are some gender, age and professional nuances. Twelve times as many men than women have become more concerned about the impact on Brexit on their current employment. In February 2019 the number of men who believe Brexit will affect their employment negatively increased by almost 8 percent (7.89 percent) compared to a less than 1 percent (0.63 percent) rise amongst women.