Search Results for: digital

Vast majority of IT managers prioritise commercial success over sustainability

Vast majority of IT managers prioritise commercial success over sustainability

A new poll claims that the vast majority of tech managers prioritise commercial success over sustainability, despite the fact that nearly all agree with the idea that sustainability is good for businessA new poll claims that the vast majority of tech managers prioritise commercial success over sustainability, despite the fact that nearly all agree with the idea that sustainability is good for business. The report from Software AG is based on a survey of 2,000 senior IT decision-makers from the US, Canada, UK, Germany and France. It suggests that most organisations prioritise commercial objectives over sustainability in the face of economic challenges. This is despite the fact that almost all (95 percent) leaders agree sustainability is either a top or high priority and a similar number (97 percent) agree that other firms’ sustainability credentials are either essential or important in their own buying decisions. The annual Reality Check reports seeks to investigate how technology initiatives can benefit both sustainability and commercial objectives. More →

A workplace for entrepreneurial mindsets to thrive should be your goal

A workplace for entrepreneurial mindsets to thrive should be your goal

Workplace entrepreneurial mindsetThese days it seems like everyone is looking to become more entrepreneurial. It’s a word that’s often used by big companies on the hunt for innovative thinkers and new ways of doing things. But sadly, the workplace doesn’t always work for those with entrepreneurial minds. It is too rigid, too hierarchical, too conventional. Entrepreneurs, by nature, are rule-breakers, always looking for new opportunities and fresh ideas that could change the world. From my research, they differ from other businesspeople in some fundamental ways – six ways, to be exact. More →

How the 21st Century office was born in post war Europe

How the 21st Century office was born in post war Europe

Central Beheer Building There was a curious addition to a 2016 report on the Top 10 Technologies Driving the Digital Workplace from tech researchers Gartner. It wasn’t a technology at all but rather a slightly obscure office design concept that originated in Hamburg in the late 1950s, but which tells us a lot about how we work in the 21st Century office, according to Gartner. Its history lies with the German consulting firm Quickborner. Led by the brothers Eberhard and Wolfgang Schnelle, the firm applied the egalitarian principles of the post war world and rejection of the scientific management theories that had created the familiar factory-like rows of desks that had come to dominate open plan offices to create something more in tune with the new age.

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Three year hike in the number of one-to-one and ad hoc virtual meetings

Three year hike in the number of one-to-one and ad hoc virtual meetings

Two people in an example of virtual meetingsA new study from Vyopta claims there has been a significant increase in the number of one-to-one virtual meetings and ad hoc collaboration on digital meeting platforms over the past three years. Its paper The Evolution of Hybrid Work: A Three-Year Analysis based on data from around 48 million meetings held in 2020, 2021, and 2022 measured engagement trends over time and studied how the workforce is adapting to remote-first and hybrid collaboration. More →

‘Hybrid working hell’ awaits organisations that don’t address workplace culture

‘Hybrid working hell’ awaits organisations that don’t address workplace culture

Devil takes the hindmost when it comes to hybrid workingA new report – ‘Hybrid Heaven or Hell? The journey to hybrid working’ from Poly and the Worktech Academy claims that organisations should carry out an audit to evaluate aspects of of their workplace culture and establish what works and what needs to evolve for hybrid working success. The report includes research from Gallup, Gartner, and Harvard Business Review, as well as Poly’s own insights and findings. The broader research trends were also discussed and debated in a New York roundtable attended by senior workplace design and technology leaders. The report highlights that organisations have been faced with challenges of building and retaining culture which could have a lasting impact on innovation, talent retention and growth. More →

Flexible working now key to success, say majority of businesses

Flexible working now key to success, say majority of businesses

A woman enjoys flexible working in her homeFour in five (80 percent) UK businesses believe that flexible working arrangements are critical to their future success, a new poll from DocuSign claims. Offering employees the flexibility of where and when they work is seen as a competitive advantage by 75 percent of businesses while the large majority (82 percent) consider it essential in attracting and retaining the right talent and meeting the demands of the future workforce. More →

Hybrid working not always well supported by current tech infrastructure

Hybrid working not always well supported by current tech infrastructure

A steampunk office illustrating the poor state of tech supporting hybrid workingAlmost two thirds (63 percent) of IT directors are not very confident in their IT estate’s ability to fully support hybrid working, but over seven-in ten (71 percent) of organisations are not placing IT investment at the top of the priority list. These are among the findings from a new poll undertaken by Apogee Corporation. Due to limitations with the current IT setup, 89 percent of respondents identify that it is preventing effective collaboration, with almost half (48 percent) admitting that remote staff don’t have access to the same solutions as office workers. More →

The ethics of AI, liveable cities, unf*cking work and how the office needs to be more like your home…

The ethics of AI, liveable cities, unf*cking work and how the office needs to be more like your home…

The cover of IN Magazine 12 featuring a woman working in a private booth in an officeIN13 is in production but you can see the digital edition of issue 12 of IN Magazine here. It continues to explore the most up to date topics for workplace managers and executives. Including: a look at the reality of liveable cities; why offices now need to offer people more privacy, peace and quiet; how firms need to address the challenges of the circular economy; a case study from the dynamic city of Ljubljana; David Sharp on the ethics of AI; Chelsea Perino on hybrid working; a critical review of Neil Usher’s new book; Marie Puybaraud of JLL in conversation; and much more. All back issues of IN can be found here. And why not check out Works Magazine and Work&Place Journal too. More →

BW showcases new Design and Build service

BW showcases new Design and Build service

BW design and Build serviceBW: Workplace Experts has added to its expertise in fit out with a new design and build (D&B) service. BW Design and Build extends the company’s service portfolio, encompassing a pool of resources that are now able to design and deliver from within. This forms part of the firm’s commitment to ongoing and dynamic investment in supporting future client relationships. It is also in line with BW’s three layers: Innovation, Diversity and Net Zero, launched last year as part of its Purpose Report. More →

Lambeth plans major expansion in sustainable office space

Lambeth plans major expansion in sustainable office space

Lambeth plans major investment in sustainable office developmentsLambeth is set for London’s biggest increase in sustainable office space over the next decade with an estimated six million square feet of extra space for business set to be created. A report commissioned by Lambeth Council details this expansion, how it supports the borough’s growth priorities and delivers space fit for the future of work. The report ‘Lambeth: The Future of Sustainable Work’ sets out how expansion supports the council’s bold ambitions to foster well-paid jobs in growth sectors for the borough’s young people, to achieve its Net Zero by 2030 outcome and to create an environment for local entrepreneurs to flourish. More →

People in the West continue to express ambivalence about the metaverse

People in the West continue to express ambivalence about the metaverse

An illustration of a suited man using a headset to access the metaverseA new poll from law firm Gowling WLG claims to reveal a stark difference in attitudes in Western and Eastern nations when it comes to the metaverse. It claims that the technology is set to change how we work and socialise forever, and that early adopters like China and the United Arab Emirates are already reaping the economic benefits. The firm’s Immaterial World report compared attitudes towards the metaverse in six international markets. The research found that four-in-five (83 percent) Chinese consumers would consider taking part in virtual experiences, more than twice as many as in the UK (37 percent). More →

Always connected in the age of disconnection

Always connected in the age of disconnection

All of humanity’s problems,” the French scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote in 1654, “stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” He may have been right, but then again, sitting in a room alone isn’t necessarily a great state of permanent being either. There was a time we used to talk with dismay about the Japanese phenomenon of intense social distancing known as hikikomori. We would consider with horror the isolation, lack of engagement with society, poor mental health and loneliness of the people who had almost completely withdrawn to their rooms. Those poor bastards locked up in enclosed spaces linked to the outside world only by screens. More →