Search Results for: workplace

October 26, 2017

Workplace design continues to lag behind the needs of modern working life

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

Companies around the world waste potentially billions of dollars on under-utilised office spaces that are unfit for purpose and do not reflect the needs of modern workers, a recent benchmark study of over 100 workplaces claims. The study, Optimaze Workplace Review, from Finland based workplace analyst Rapal Oy took place during 2016, aggregates space utilisation data collected from 15 countries. The 330 observational space utilisation studies involved more than 6,600 walk-throughs of 111 buildings and 53,600 work spaces around the world to explore the working practices and environments of more than 23,000 people. It also includes a dataset of around 354 million observations of workstation use in total. The report’s main conclusion is that leadership teams are increasingly placing workplace management issues higher on their agendas, aware of the need to align spaces with new working cultures.

October 23, 2017

An environmental psychology perspective on workplace design

by Nigel Oseland • Facilities management, Features, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

I recently had the pleasure of travelling to Cape Town to present a keynote address at the Dare to Lead conference organised by Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA). I had just 20 minutes to speak on a psychologist’s view of health, wellbeing and performance; that’s a huge subject area and pretty much my whole career condensed down to the typical time it takes to boil a pan of potatoes. So, I focused on just three psychological theories: motivation, personality and evolutionary psychology.

October 20, 2017

Seven workplace stories we think you should read this week (apart from ours)

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

The backlash to being a thought leader

Automation and Artificial Intelligence bullshit

Science in the gig economy

The seven deadly sins of AI predictions

The flight of people back to the suburbs

The changing psychology of the workplace

The rock and roll workplace

October 19, 2017

Future office and changing business of work debated at Workplace Trends

by Sara Bean • Comment, Coworking, Facilities management, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Those working within the built environment are already in the change business, was the view of Neil Usher of workessence in his presentation at the Workplace Trends Conference which was held in London this week. This was apt, as the changing business of work’ was the theme of the conference. It’s a pretty common topic these days of course but a strong line up of speakers ensured some interesting discussions; which included the rise of the gig economy, the variety of ways people from different cultures perceive workplace design and predictions on the workplaces of the future. On the current design and fit out of the office, Usher was clear; that creating a fantastic workplace is independent of culture, location, the work style you want to create and the sector in which you’re working. His other mantra was that you can still work in an awful workplace with great technology, but not the other way around, which is why there is no excuse for not getting your technology right.

October 13, 2017

Seven (or eight) of the best workplace stories we think you should read this week

by Mark Eltringham • Features

A Google engineer has created a religion which will have an artificial intelligence as its God

Nobody seems to know what mindfulness actually is

Most people are neither extroverts nor introverts

We are literally sleepwalking into a health and productivity disaster

Are you working alongside a zombie?

The five major roadblocks to smart city infrastructure

Shooting the same people on the way to work for nine years

What Norman Foster got wrong about the Apple HQ, and what it means for everybody else

October 13, 2017

Employees want organisations to speed up transformation into a digital workplace

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

Half of employees feel their organisation doesn’t have the right tech skills and nearly half in a recent survey (44 percent) feel their organisation isn’t transforming into a digital led company fast enough, claims a survey by Sungard Availability Services. Digital workplace transformation has been a big talking point in recent months, yet 38 percent in a survey of over 2,000 IT decision makers and employees believe their organisation isn’t committed to digital transformation; with 36 percent not getting the training for the tools. It’s apparent that digital transformation is highly thought of in the work place and impacts employee retention with 36 percent of employees open to leaving their current job for a more digitally-progressive company. Over 50 percent believe career progression is better at digitally led companies and 69 percent say digital tools would help them to do their job better. Said Chris Ducker, Senior Director Global Proposition Strategy: “Digital is compulsory, not only to stay competitive in the market, but also to attract and retain key staff” See the full survey here.

October 10, 2017

We (still) need to talk about mental health in the workplace

by Liam Butler • Comment, Wellbeing

In recent years we have made huge strides in moving discussions around mental health into the public arena. Celebrities such as Cara Delevingne, Ryan Reynolds, Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt have all come forward to share personal stories of their struggle with mental health problems. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry have also championed mental health awareness through the Heads Together campaign, a charity that aims to help people feel more comfortable with their everyday mental wellbeing and offer practical tools to help support their friends and family. The campaign rose to prominence in the media as the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon Charity of the Year.

October 6, 2017

Seven workplace stories you should read this week

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Property, Technology, Workplace design

Poland has a rapidly ageing population but has just cut its state retirement age

Why IBM is bucking the trend and demanding its workers return to the office

US cities are offering all sorts of incentives for Amazon to move there

India is looking to create ten billion sq. ft. of green smart cities

WeWork’s $20 billion punt on the future of work

Does colour really affect the way we think and behave?

The silent killer of productivity and wellbeing is lack of civility

October 5, 2017

The current approach to creative workplace design relies on faddish, ineffective ideas

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace design

A new research paper published in the Journal of Management & Organization claims that while many organisations are focussed on creating workplaces that foster creativity, the results tend to ignore nuances about what makes people creative and instead focus on faddish ideas and playful, domestic design features to invoke ideas of creativity that may or may not be effective in practice. The study from Donatella De Paoli of the Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour, Norwegian Business School BI, Oslo and Arja Ropo of School of Management, University of Tampere concludes that organisations need to develop a more in depth understanding of creativity if they want to create creative workspaces.

October 4, 2017

Top UK workplaces honoured at BCO national awards ceremony

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Workplace design

London workplaces dominated at this year’s annual British Council for Offices National Awards dinner last night as a record six awards went to offices in the capital. London’s Sky Central was awarded the Best of the Best workplace at the British Council for Offices’ (BCO) annual National Awards in London last night. The office was also recognised as the Best Corporate Workplace in the UK, joining a list of six other award winners recognised for excellence in office space. Sky Central was praised by judges for bringing 3,500 of Sky’s workforce under one roof at their landscaped campus near Heathrow, West London. The judges were impressed by the building’s eighteen 200-person workspace neighbourhoods, arranged around six cores that resurrect ‘Büro Landschaft’ inspired planning rules. Judges also commended the vast array of services and amenities on offer, including six restaurants and cafes, a 200-seat state of the art cinema, 200-person event space and a technology ‘lounge’. We know all about Sky Central and a full write up from Sky’s then Workplace Director Neil Usher can be seen here.

October 4, 2017

Convergence of work and life defines September London workplace design shows

by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Events, Flexible working, Furniture, Workplace design

It has always been a characteristic of the 100% Design exhibition that it has segmented along the demarcations of workplace, home, interiors, kitchens and bedrooms. This used to make perfect sense as the same distinctions existed in our lives, reflected in the form and function of the products we allocated to those spaces. This is no longer the case to anywhere like the same extent and consequently, the workplace section of the show is full of products that could make the crossover into a domestic, cafe or hotel setting with not an eyebrow raised. That is not to say that the mainstay products of the workplace – desks, task chairs, storage, screens – are no more. They are still specified in vast numbers. It is just that the interesting aspects of workplace design are to be found in its shared and public spaces. It is here where we witness the convergence that characterises modern working life. We might still talk about work life balance (too much) but there is a growing realisation that the distinction grows more meaningless with each passing year.

October 4, 2017

VodafoneZiggo workplace in Rotterdam sets out to redefine call centre design

by Mark Eltringham • Case studies, Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

When you think of a call centre you probably picture a line of people seated in row upon row of desks in a featureless room. But call centre design is changing. As companies recognise their growing importance, the boiler room approach is disappearing and call centres are beginning to morph into a corporate centrepiece. Dutch telecoms company Ziggo is a case in point. The company merged with Vodafone in 2017 and today offers broadband and mobile services to both residential and commercial customers across the Netherlands. It has a large call centre and like many companies invests significant resources in training call centre employees in both technology and interpersonal skills. VodafoneZiggo’s call centre in Rotterdam, designed by Evolution Design is spread over several large open plan areas, which were converted into series of smaller work spaces, using low cost solutions such as simple wooden frames, acoustic panelling or a change of flooring to demarcate different zones. Staff can now choose to work in areas as diverse as a plant covered ‘greenhouse’, open plan spaces with bright yellow accents and colourful floor tiles or in a more urban-style zone that uses reclaimed wooden pallets to divide and decorate. Throughout the centre, desks are height adjustable so employees can choose whether to sit or stand. There is also a central reception area with meeting and training rooms and a colourful break out space with comfortable sofas, a café and a games zone complete with table football and video games.