January 20, 2023

AI presents us with a chance to rediscover what it means to be human

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology

Like a lot of people right now, I am struggling to get my head around where we are going with AI. Look around and you’ll see the breathless excitement at the sheer amazingness of it all. And examples of its limitations, how it screws up, how military grade AI can be fooled by somebody hiding in a box, and its sense of humour failure. All of this is demonstrably, paradoxically true. More →

November 28, 2022

Some work distractions can actually reduce stress levels

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Positive interventions that distract us from difficult tasks actually help to reduce our stress levels, according to new research published in the Journal Work & Stress. The study, conducted by an international team of researchers at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management and Trinity Business School suggests that short positive work distractions can help people to overcome daily demands like dealing with annoying emails or the tasks they dread. In turn, this allows them to be more engaged, creative, and helpful toward their coworkers. More →

November 11, 2022

The networks people build often hold them back rather than help them

by Neil Franklin • Business, News

The networks of ties we build in the workplace are key to our success and performance. Yet, researchers at ESMT Berlin claim in a paper published in the Academy of Management Journal that we often build networks that hamper our performance. Professors Gianluca Carnabuci and Eric Quintane, both from ESMT Berlin, investigated how and when people build networks that allow them to perform at their best. To this end, they conducted a longitudinal field experiment within a business unit of a large semiconductor company, tracing the network and performance of each employee over two and a half years. More →

November 10, 2022

BDP reports on successful year for the design firm

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Works Magazine

BDP has published its results for the financial year ended 30 June 2022. The practice achieved revenues of £136.6m and an operating profit of £13.2m. The multidisciplinary practice won a number of prestigious projects in the financial year and expanded into new locations by establishing new presences in New York, Lima and Edinburgh to create a network of integrated, collaborative studios with global reach. The organisation’s employee numbers have also returned to pre-pandemic levels as it welcomed talented people back to its workplaces across the globe. More →

November 1, 2022

Quiet quitting is not a thing, but employers do need to offer more fulfilling work

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

A new survey from Ricoh Europe claims that the majority of workers seek more stimulation and creativity in their job, suggesting that employers need to do more to provide fulfilling work. The research, conducted by Opinium for Ricoh Europe, polled 6,000 workers and 1,500 decision makers across the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. It claims to contradict the idea of quiet quitting with 82 percent of workers describing themselves as ‘engaged’ at work, while 65 percent say they are enthusiastic about what they do. Yet while workers feel content to a degree, there remain frictions and roadblocks to them becoming more productive and creative. More →

October 25, 2022

The underlying problems with the way we think about work

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

An idea that has never really gone away, but which seems to be enjoying a new lease of life is the tabula rasa. The conception of people as a blank slate is something a that has crept back into mainstream political and social thought for a variety of reasons. Arguably, it is also behind many of the most misleading notions about work and workplace design, perhaps most importantly that a change to some single element or characteristic of a working environment will lead to a specific outcome in the behaviour of people. More →

October 5, 2022

Will employees return to the office to save on energy bills this winter?

by Nick Gold • Comment, Flexible working

This winter will be tough for many UK households. Rising energy bills are driving a huge upswing in inflation, causing real incomes to fall as the cost of living goes up. And despite the UK Government’s announcement that energy prices will be ‘capped’ at an average of £2,500 per year, the Bank of England believes inflation will remain high for at least the next two years. According to government estimates, a £2,500 energy bill is almost double the average household’s energy bill in 2021. And as employees continue to work from their home office regularly, energy consumption is likely to rise. More →

September 23, 2022

The Great Workplace Debate continues to improve (mostly)

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The great bandwagon of bullshit that is the home v office debate looks set to trundle into a third year. What is increasingly obvious is that it is the mainstream media that is holding the reins and refusing to release them. Here’s a BBC story from this week that doesn’t exactly mischaracterise the Microsoft report on which it is based, but does place the emphasis where it doesn’t need to be. The binary headline doesn’t help, of course, except to launder the idea and drive a needless wave of social media chatter. More →

September 14, 2022

How to add colour to your office when working from home

by Freddie Steele • Company news

Working from home (WFH) is no mean feat. For maximum productivity, the number one rule is to create an environment that works for you day in, day out. While a well-designed desk and chair will get you off to a good start, practical storage should also be a top priority; whether they be functional multi-drawer cabinets to keep clutter at bay, or simple desktop tidies to make daily tasks a little easier. More →

September 12, 2022

Workspace Design Show sets out plans for 2023 event

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Workplace design

After a hugely successful debut edition, Workspace Design Show returns to London’s Business Design Centre on 27-28 February and will once again be the venue where creatives from the UK’s workplace industry gather to discover the latest design innovations in work space design. With the theme of this year’s show being ‘Destination Workplace’ there will be over 3,000 workplace professionals looking to source the latest furniture, lighting, acoustics, surfaces, storage, materials, tech and biophilic products and solutions to transform their office interiors. More →

September 1, 2022

Established businesses must do more to support local entrepreneurs and startups

by Matthew Watts • Company news

With SME’s accounting for the employment of more than half of the UK’s workforce, supporting these businesses is of benefit to everyone while geopolitical events and the impact of the pandemic continue to cause economic uncertainty. Entrepreneurs and small businesses are vital for spurring on evolutions in our technology and creating new markets for services and products, therefore bringing about competition which in turn boosts productivity that benefits our own and other economies, helping them withstand and recover faster from financial downturns. More →

August 31, 2022

Mindspace opens new Berlin flex office in renovated department store

by Freddie Steele • Company news

Mindspace is set to open its sixth Berlin flex office, by renovating a former department store in the heart of the city into a new space. Located at Münzstraße 12 / Max-Beer-Straße 2-4 in Berlin, near Alexanderplatz, the global flex office provider’s newest location Mindspace Münzstraße is being built across 4,100 m² and will cover over 700 workstations spanning five floors. Scheduled to open in spring 2023, the building has been part of the WertInvest Group portfolio since 2014 and combines the best inner-city location with an architecture steeped in history. More →