Search Results for: change

October 16, 2018

Law firms are finally embracing the agile workplace

by Simon Pole • Comment, Workplace design

Strong office space take-up is predicted for this year after activity from law firms was down in 2017 against 10-year averages and compared to other sectors. Many legal companies are anticipating how their approach to workspace might have to change. This includes trialling new ways of working and years of overreliance on private offices. The legal sector is compared to many other services’ professions “closed” – and therefore ripe for change. There is an abundance of technology start-ups looking to introduce disruptive tech that will render many legal roles obsolete. The sector is also haemorrhaging senior talent as experienced professionals leave and the sector has failed thus far to adapt to modern working conventions including the agile workplace. Despite working in the digital age of wireless tech and cloud computing, 64 percent of lawyers found it difficult to work remotely because their technology wasn’t suitable (according to research from Lexis Nexis).

October 16, 2018

BIFM announces winners of its annual awards

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News

Now in their 18th and final year before the Institute changes its name, the BIFM Awards set out to ‘celebrate the profession’s finest, honouring those whose outstanding work has driven innovation and achieved exceptional results in the organisations where they work, benchmarking excellence and inspiring others’. Thirteen winners were announced from 46 finalists at a ceremony held last night in London. The occasion also celebrated the work of a further nine finalists whose initiatives were highly commended by the judges.

October 15, 2018

Some thoughts on the addictive power of workplace design

by Agustin Chevez • Comment, Workplace design

The search for some concoction or contraption to improve our performance at work is nothing new. Lawyers, bankers and other professionals have famously used performance-enhancing drugs to gain a competitive advantage. But the design of a workspace can actually have similar effects on those who create it, consume it or pursue it. And, just like a drug, workplace design can have good and bad effects. Instead of chemicals, design manipulates space to change behaviour. An increase in the length of a lunch table, for example, can encourage people who did not know one another to interact more.

October 15, 2018

Review of progress on diversity in boardrooms shows that there is much to do

by Neil Franklin • News

Business leaders have been urged by Sir John Parker to step up their work on ethnic and cultural diversity at the top of business. The call to action comes as the Parker Review Committee, led by Sir John Parker, publishes its first annual update to track the progress made against the recommendations in its Final Report, published in October 2017. The Final Report urged business leaders to improve the ethnic and cultural diversity of UK Boards to better reflect their employee base and the communities they serve. It set out achievable objectives and timescales to encourage greater diversity.

October 15, 2018

BSRIA publishes list of new and upcoming legislation and guidance for buildings

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Property

The Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) has published a list of the most up to date legislation and guidance that affects the design, construction and management of buildings. While a couple are relevant primarily for domestic buildings, the emphasis is very much on commercial property and will be of interest to a range of professionals. BSRIA members also have access to a legislation service on building and building services legislation and relevant guidance. More →

October 12, 2018

World Bank report sets out the challenges of the changing nature of work

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

Work is constantly reshaped by technological progress. New ways of production are adopted, markets expand, and societies evolve. But some changes provoke more attention than others, in part due to the vast uncertainty involved in making predictions about the future. The 2019 World Development Report studies how the nature of work is changing as a result of advances in technology today.

October 11, 2018

How the media oversold standing desks as a fix for inactivity at work

by Catriona Bonfiglioli and Josephine Chau • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Sitting is so culturally ingrained at work, at the wheel, in front of the TV and at the movies, it takes a great effort to imagine doing these things standing up, let alone pedalling as you work at a bike desk. So, when the world’s first specific guidelines on sitting and moving at work were published, they generated headlines such as: Abandon your chair for four hours to stay healthy, office workers are told and: Stand up at your desk for two hours a day, new guidelines say. But what many media reports did not mention was the guidelines were based on limited evidence. They were also co-authored by someone with commercial links to standing desks (desks you raise and lower to work at standing or sitting), a link not declared when the guidelines were first published in a journal. Media reports also overplayed the dangers of sitting at work, incorrectly saying it wiped out the benefits of exercise. Our new study reveals the nature of this media coverage and its role in overselling standing desks as a solution to inactivity at work.

October 11, 2018

Latest technology would improve productivity of office workers

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

In spite of all the evidence and their own experiences, over half (55 percent) of office workers believe access to the latest workplace technology would make them more productive; 43 percent said this would make them feel more valued, while 38 percent said it would motivate them to work harder. This is according to research for the report, The Hidden Value of Workplace Technology, conducted on behalf of Econocom by survey consultant Censuswide. The research found that workplace tech is important not just for companies looking to retain existing staff, but also to recruit new members. More →

October 10, 2018

The Genesis of ideation and the places we go to have our best ideas ⁰

by Giuseppe Boscherini • Facilities management, Features, Technology, Work&Place, Workplace design

Because collaboration, creativity and innovation are increasingly perceived as key objectives and differentiators of performance, the genesis and mechanisms behind ideation and creativity are an an integral part of both business and personal development. As a consequence, there is growing interest in the way the physical attributes of work settings may influence or even trigger creative behaviour. The cliché of the shower as one of these favourite places comes to mind and yet experience does show that the idea of seeking a setting, a “zone” if you will, for a specific purpose is intuitively right. This needn’t be a retreat or cocoon, as is often assumed, but can also be a crowded, busy, noisy place, which might explain why so often the most animated work conversations move out of the office shop into the coffee shop. Equally, highlight events or special meetings tend to be held in a “venue’, often dressed for the occasion.

October 9, 2018

Majority of staff feel there is more awareness of mental health at work

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The majority of employees (77 percent) agree that people should take proactive steps to manage their mental health a new survey has revealed. Of those surveyed, the vast majority felt that there is increased awareness about mental health (87 percent) and that people are more willing to talk openly about mental health issues than they were a few years ago (82 percent). The impact of high-profile people speaking out about their own mental health challenges was believed to be the biggest influencing factor, cited by more than half (53 percent) of respondents. More →

October 9, 2018

Employers struggling to attract skills needed for digitalised workplace

by Sara Bean • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

More than half of CEOs (53 percent) admit they can’t find candidates with the necessary skills to help them navigate an increasingly digitalised business landscape a new survey from Robert Half has claimed. These include data analysis and digital skills, as well as softer skills such as resilience, adaptability to change and critical thinking. This means that nearly five million UK SMEs, the equivalent to four out of every five (82 percent) small and medium-sized companies, are struggling to attract the skills they need. As a result, many are being forced to offer salary packages higher than originally expected to recruit the right talent. More →

October 5, 2018

Developing a resilient mindset to cope with stress

by Portia Hickey • Comment, Wellbeing

Earlier this year, The New York times reported on a company in New Zealand that reduced its employee’s work time to four days a week whilst paying them for five. The idea came to the CEO after he read research that showed that employees generally only spend three hours a day on actual productive work. The change was highly successful, employees were as productive over the four days as they were over the five but the wellbeing of employees improved dramatically.