April 22, 2020

TWR Conference this Autumn will address thorniest workplace issues

The Transdisciplinary Workplace Research (TWR) Network will gather September 16-20 2020 in Weimar, Germany to develop solutions for the thorniest strategic and tactical issues in office design, planning, and ways of working. TWR2020 is an important opportunity for both practitioners and researchers to move their professional work forward in meaningful ways. The conference will take place with all attendees present in Weimar (pictured). If required the conference will be electronic, with appropriate adjustments in registration fees and reimbursements made. (more…)

April 10, 2020

Microsoft Teams data shows how the way we work is changing

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

?In light of the numerous changes in daily behaviour across the world because of the coronavirus,?Microsoft has published the first edition of its?Work Trend .?It uses the Microsoft Graph of usage data to analyse productivity trends and observe how remote working scenarios are changing the way we connect with each other. (more…)

January 24, 2020

Changing world of work yet to reshape expectations of young people

by Neil Franklin • News

Huge changes to the world of work over the past two decades have made little impact on teenagers’ career expectations, which have become more concentrated in fewer occupations, according to a new OECD report. Dream jobs: Teenagers’ career aspirations and the future of wor k says 47 percent of boys and 53 percent of girls surveyed in 41 countries expect to work in one of just 10 popular jobs by age of 30. The figures, based on the latest PISA survey of 15-year-olds released last month, reveal a narrowing of expectations as these shares increased by eight percentage points for boys and four percentage points for girls since the 2000 PISA survey. (more…)

December 18, 2019

Most people have no idea what impostor syndrome is, but they know they have it

by Neil Franklin • News, Working lives

A new survey claims that only 15 percent of UK adults know what impostor syndrome is, although more than three-quarters (77 percent) claim to have suffered from it at some point in their lives. The survey of more than 500 UK adults was carried out by media agency UM. It suggests that office workers and those in professional services were the most likely among all those in full-time employment to suffer from impostor syndrome – behind only school and university students. (more…)

November 21, 2019

A side hustle the only way for many young people to make ends meet

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Britain’s graduate debt crisis means that nearly half of current students and recent graduates (42 percent) have taken up a so-called side hustle or joined the gig economy, in order to combat debt, afford rent and the rising cost of living. One in five (22 percent) also cited having two additional jobs, with the next generation of workers concerned about the overwhelming cost of living. (more…)

November 19, 2019

Young people mistakenly associate self-employment with more pay and leisure time

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Students and school-leavers see self-employment as a route to a higher income, better work-life balance and more family time and so one in five 16 to 21 year olds think they will self-employed at some point, a new analysis from the Office for National Statistics shows. However, other studies from the UK government paint a different picture with people in self-employment generally earning less and working longer hours than their employed contemporaries, but often happy to forgo the certainties of paid work for greater flexibility and control. (more…)

October 16, 2019

Remote working can increase stress and reduce wellbeing

by Stephanie Russell • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Remote working is becoming more popular than ever. A study released by the Swiss office provider IWG found that 70 percent of professionals work remotely at least one day a week, while 53 percent work remotely for at least half of the week. Some multinationals have their entire staff working remotely, with no fixed office presence at all, which can result in having employees situated all over the world. (more…)

October 10, 2019

People work better with robots when they see them as teammates

by Sangseok You • Comment, Technology

We might not be able to control our emotions towards robots metallic but fear not. We perform all the better as a team for it. No longer the realm of the privileged US military, robotic technology is edging into households and workplaces at a keen pace. At work, robots prop up teams across a diverse range of industries, often taking on the more dangerous or otherwise challenging tasks. (more…)

October 8, 2019

WeWork, false narratives and the superstate of office design

by Mark Eltringham • Features

So, WeWork then. As the dust settles on whatever has happened, some lessons may be emerging. Many of them are presented in this comment in The Economist and this piece in The Intelligencer in which Scott Galloway of NYU Business School claims that the problems have been evident for a long time. He doesn’t hold back. (more…)

October 7, 2019

Workplace interruptions are not all bad

by Elana Feldman • Features, Workplace design

An email pops up on your screen. It’s a client sharing a project update. A Slack message appears. It’s your boss asking a question. A text alert beeps. A colleague wants to know if you will be attending a meeting. Sound familiar? People are increasingly besieged at work by workplace interruptions through email, messaging apps, social media and in-person encounters. (more…)

September 19, 2019

Design what you like, but people may have different ideas ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

The story goes that, when Rem Koolhaas was appointed to design the McCormick Tribune Campus Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2003, the legendary architect noticed how students had created their own pathways between the buildings as they had made their way around the site. The site of the new building included a field on which their footprints had worn down the grass to such an extent that distinct grooves had been carved out that reflected their movements.

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September 13, 2019

Natural imagery can improve wellbeing of people at work

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A new study from University of South Australia PhD student Bridgette Minuzzo suggests that workplace art that depicts natural imagery can improve levels of wellbeing even in offices that lack windows. Minuzzo installed nature-themed artworks at three university campuses and a hospital in Adelaide, measuring the mental wellbeing of participants beforehand and after. (more…)