Search Results for: agile

March 31, 2016

Flexible workspace underpins Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s hub ⁰

by Sean Lynch • Cities, Comment, Flexible working, Property

Despite the challenging cost of real estate and general commercial life in Hong Kong, startup activity in the city has seen exponential growth in the last few years, fuelled in part by new and innovative approaches to occupying workspace. The conventional Hong Kong office market is, famously, the most expensive of its kind – making it challenging for small and medium sized businesses to enter the market via this form of space. Despite this, the region’s startup scene is booming. According to an InvestHK survey, over 1500 startups bloomed in Hong Kong in 2015, which is a 46 percent increase compared to the previous year. And those numbers are likely to keep growing. So the question is, how do cash-strapped entrepreneurs, startups and other businesses manage to establish a base in this thriving city, despite these challenges, and what lessons does Hong Kong’s experience have for the rest of the world?

February 29, 2016

Report sets out challenges for rapidly changing Australian workplace ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

When it comes to innovation in workplace design and management, there are few countries in the world quite so forward thinking as Australia right now. Even so, Australia’s workers, firms and legislators remain under-prepared for the rapidly changing world of work, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), a Government funded research agency. Many of the trends outlined in the report will be familiar to readers of Insight. Over the next twenty years, it claims that around half (44 percent) of all jobs will be subject to computerisation and automation. Over the same period, it suggests that the majority of people will become active in the gig economy, many of them based in shared coworking spaces. The report also suggests that while Generation Z will be faced with the highest degree of change, an ageing population presents its own challenges.

February 27, 2016

Want a Google workplace? + The boundless office + Belief in corporate wellness ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Insight Newsletter; Kelvin Bromley says the office is reinventing itself; Dr Caroline M. Burns argues that the Google office doesn’t work for everyone and Leeson Medhurst warns that providing too much choice at work can lead to confusion. Mark Eltringham finds wellness programme succeed based on perceptions not actions and Matias Rodsevich explores how performance indicators can help meet business goals. A new BCO report reveals commercial property costs are higher than widely thought; why Gen X is the hardest working generation; the Workplace Foundation says the UK is on the verge of a flexible working tipping point and London legal firms move towards open plan working. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

February 20, 2016

‘Ghosting’ employers + Office buildings still relevant + Millennial engagement ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Property, Wellbeing

In this week’s Insight Newsletter; Darren Bilsborough on why office location is as important as design; Mark Eltringham says ‘ghosting’ an employer in the manner of the Spanish civil servant who hadn’t turned up to work for six years, is more common than you’d think; how office design is in the beauty of the beholder and why the office property market continues to thrive, despite rumours of its demise. A new report finds dysfunction at the heart of the public sector workplace; the government largely ignores the self-employed; younger workers are more engaged than the middle aged; RIBA consults on the future of its HQ; and many UK commercial buildings are failing to meet energy standards. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

February 18, 2016

The UK public sector workplace is disempowered and can’t cope with change ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new report claims that the typical public sector workplace in the UK is dysfunctional on a number of levels. That is not the conclusion of some right wing think tank, but instead comes from Civica’s Invigorating the Public Sector Revolution report, commissioned in partnership with Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE). Based on a survey of 276 senior and middle management staff, a mere 7 percent of respondents said that the public sector offered an empowering working culture and just 25 percent believe their management teams have the skills and attitudes to lead the organisation over the next ten years. Of particular concern was the ability of organisations to cope with change. Just under half (47 percent) of those surveyed believe their leadership team lacks the management skills needed for ‘a period of massive and accelerating change’.

February 14, 2016

Office design & stress + Manchester office shortage + Global flexible working ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Insight Newsletter; Mark Eltringham explains what Douglas Adams could teach us about workplace design and Sara Bean says there are fewer promotion prospects for part time working mums. Rise in worldwide take-up of flexible working; £1bn in savings if NHS made better use of its estate and Manchester may soon run out of Grade A office space. 2016 will see an exodus of Tech firm’s from cities, almost three quarters of small businesses believe co-working spaces are the ideal for start-ups and unpredictability and workplace environment are two most common factors influencing work related stress. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

February 6, 2016

Robot’s rise + Shrinking public sector estate + Office of the future (not) ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Property, Public Sector, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Insight newsletter; Gary Chandler envisages how automation will transform society and workplaces; Paul Goodchild explains why office life still attracts people; Mark Eltringham bemoans the narrow focus shown in predictions of the future office and Sara Bean says the HR discipline needs to evolve to support the changing workplace. A new report reveals 88 percent of British workers are regularly stressed at work; employees are increasingly keen to find jobs that offer them flexible working; and men are penalised for opting for a better work/life balance. Government plans to cut the size of its estate by 75 percent by 2023 and an expanding TMT sector increases demand in central London. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

January 30, 2016

Coworking goes mainstream + Sit stand working + Future for tech offices ⁰

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

In this week’s Insight newsletter; Mark Eltringham analyses the impact of the sit-stand movement and suggests that the I-phone is a very isolating piece of equipment; Georgi Georgiev says remote work is no longer just a freelancer’s game; and Paul Goodchild explains why co-working is shaping office design more than you’d imagine. A new report outlines the key future property trends for TMT workplaces; parents are at greater risk of burn out as they strive for work life balance; fewer than one in ten (8 percent) of UK organisations currently have a standalone wellbeing strategy; the positive benefits of active work are revealed and the UK’s CEO’s worries about cyber-risks. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

January 25, 2016

Fourth industrial revolution + UK’s best employers + Big data and design ⁰

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

In this week’s Insight newsletter; Mark Eltringham says work is still good for us; but five million jobs could disappear worldwide over the next four years in the fourth industrial revolution; and 40 percent of young workers believe their current job could be replaced by automated systems. More than half of US firms still allow smoking in the workplace; over a third of UK employers have introduced flexible working to reduce absenteeism and British firms lead the top UK employers list. Digitisation still has a largely positive effect on our working lives; and a huge surge in the availability of Big Data infrastructure in EMEA countries predicted over the next four years. And regional office take-up reaches 20 percent above the five year average. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

January 22, 2016

New smart working code of practice launched by BSI and Cabinet Office ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Flexible working, Legal news, News, Public Sector

We’ll return to this in detail next week, but yesterday the business standards company BSI working with the Cabinet Office launched a new code of practice on Smart Working. The Smart Working Code of Practice, BSI Publicly Available Specification (PAS3000) has been designed to support organisations in implementing smart working principles. The Cabinet Office sponsors it on behalf of the Smart Working Charter Steering Group of industry, academia, institutions and other public sector bodies. According to the Cabinet Office, the code brings together best practice from across the world and across disciplines and will enable organisations to move from principles to standards and benchmark themselves against high performers in smart working. At the launch, the organisers also announced the second annual The Way We Work (TW3) Awards, a Civil Service programme recognising government teams that have created smarter ways of working.

January 16, 2016

Prying employers + Workplace terminology + Smart workplaces ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Newsletter, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Insight newsletter; Simon Heath updates his continually expanding lexicon of regrettable workplace terminology; Mark Eltringham argues the facts on employee monitoring are somewhat different to the headlines; and Kati Barklund explains why the workplace should be used as a strategic tool to support work and cooperation. A significant minority of managers are impeding gender equality; more evidence on the role of workplace design in engagement; and warnings that senior staff are being pushed out of the workforce. European office take-up will rise by 10 percent in 2016; there’s been a fall in PC shipments and nearly one in four US worker freelances in some capacity. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

January 15, 2016

New report links workplace design with greater employee engagement ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Products, Workplace design

A new analysis by real estate consultancy JLL links more intelligent and agile workplace design with the ongoing and often elusive quest to better engage employees. The report sets out to identify the impact that disengagement has on both organisations and the economy, identifies problem areas and sets out a number of suggested solution. The authors make the startling claim that active disengagement costs the US economy somewhere between $450 billion and $550 billion each year. Conversely, based on an analysis of 207 organisations over an 11 year period, other research suggests that companies who actively develop their culture and engage staff return 516 percent higher revenues and 755 percent higher profits. The report also claims that firms who get things right are better at attracting and retaining talent, standing out from their competitors and meeting their strategic objectives through employee engagement.