May 26, 2021
Time to take stock about the future of the workplace
When it comes to conversations about work and workplaces, the past year has offered a fully immersive experience. Everybody now has an opinion. Inevitably some of them are better informed and more rooted in experience than others. So, after a full year of talk and as we return to some form of routine working life, the time has come to take stock. Few organisations and people will remain untouched by the sudden shift in attitudes towards working life, so we asked four workplace experts for their views on the current state of play. More →
Innovation of materials and creativity remain at the forefront of British design as 27 outstanding submissions from three categories are to be awarded the coveted 
The workspace innovator 
The productivity benefits of homeworking appear to have increased during the pandemic, with employers now more likely to say that the shift to homeworking has boosted productivity (33 percent) than they were in June 2020 (28 percent). This is according to new research by the 
Most businesses were ill-prepared to deal with the pandemic and muddled though the challenges stemming from it, according to new report 
As lockdown restrictions are eased and employees head back to the office a new report is calling for businesses to reinvent the world of work. The Human Organisation report highlights how the current workplace model is based on bureaucracy and hierarchy, which stifles employee empowerment and creativity. 
If I were to suggest that organisations were designing their processes, policies and relationships with unkindness at the core, you would probably reject it as an illogical proposition, it just doesn’t make business sense. It goes against the grain and against the values that are plastered on the walls of so many organisations. But as counterintuitive as it may seem, in my opinion, many organisations have done just that, designed unkindness into the things they do, albeit inadvertently. But if they can do that, they can also design kindness in too. 
Temporary moves boost creativity according to new research from 
June 3, 2021
Engineered familiarity in the new era of work
by Robin Bayliss • Comment, Working lives, Workplace design