Search Results for: Gen Z

The biggest problem with open plan offices is how they are used

The biggest problem with open plan offices is how they are used

A Cuban panopticon is the idea most people have of open plan officesFor decades the trend among workplaces has seen employees moving out of individual offices and into open plan spaces. This has not always been successful, with the open-plan approach receiving significant criticism. The key issues are distraction and noise, which apparently leads to uncooperative behaviour, distrust and negative personal relationships, and the lack of privacy and sense of being universally observed. Now that the internet connectivity is available almost everywhere and thus allows much more flexible working, the question arises: What might the set-up of an ideal workplace environment look like today? More →

Modern comms tools can shut out workers

Modern comms tools can shut out workers

The use of technology to support communication and collaborative working in an increasingly digital and flexible world is something many of us recognise. However, a global study released today by Avast Business claims this technology is potentially causing a divide in the workplace, with 40 percent of UK respondents concerned that less tech literate employees will be ‘shut out’ unless they embrace the latest chat, collaboration and digital project management tools. More →

Office taxonomy and an increasingly diverse workplace ecosystem

Office taxonomy and an increasingly diverse workplace ecosystem 0

A very modern workplaceIt is perhaps the most common misconception of evolutionary theory that all animals are somehow evolving towards some end point – meaning us. This notion is perhaps best summed up when a sceptic asks: “If we have evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” The lesser of the two problems with this is its solipsistic assumption that humans are the pinnacles of life and that, if evolution were true, all species would eventually evolve into people. More →

We are running out of time to find the meaning of work

We are running out of time to find the meaning of work

Last week’s report from the IFS detailing the ongoing rise in the numbers of working poor in the UK highlights just how dysfunctional work can be in the modern era. While depictions of work in the media tend to consist of diverse Millennials clustering around a single laptop in the sun-dappled offices of tech firms, or chilling on the Chesterfield in a coworking space, the reality for many people is somewhat different. More →

Jobs upheaval as world adapts to era of automation

A new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit and UiPath claims that organisations around the world currently making extensive use of automation technologies, with 67 percent of UK business executives claiming to be satisfied satisfied with the results of their automation initiatives, 48 percent describing their organisation’s progress with automation as advanced, and 73 percent expecting their company’s operating costs to improve as a result of automating business processes. It is published on the same day as another report suggests that up to 20 million manufacturing jobs could be lost to robots across the world’s leading economies by 2030, replaced by a range of new jobs. More →

Flexible working is the new measure of success

Flexible working is the new measure of success

Professional bragging rights were once the preserve of top earners. Those with massive salaries, huge bonuses, and in some cases, even bigger egos. Money equals success – technology has shifted that long held view. Today flexible working, in terms of hours, location and role, has become an embraced reality and chief workplace priority. Technology has blurred the lines between work and life. The new “digitally native” workforce now expect a flexibility and access in every aspect of their lives. More than ever, work is seen as an adventure which is to be explored, rather than accepted. More →

The difference between office design and FM is the difference between sex and parenthood

The difference between office design and FM is the difference between sex and parenthood

office design and facilities managementThere is an ongoing feeling within the facilities management discipline that when it comes to office design, facilities managers are not consulted early enough or well enough or consistently enough to ensure that the end result is a workplace that is as functional and as effective as it could be. The reason this feeling persists is that in many cases it is true. Or at least is true to a greater or lesser extent depending on how you view these things. More →

Leesman and Delos launch wellbeing benchmark

Leesman and Delos launch wellbeing benchmark

Icon of person sitting cross legged with cup of coffee to illustrate wellbeingLeesman, the workplace experience analysts, and Delos, a wellness real estate and technology firm, have announced a new collaboration to investigate how real estate strategy can better support wellbeing at work. With a variety of strategies being promoted as a secret to ‘wellness at work’, this collaboration aims to test and validate the impact of real estate strategies on worker wellbeing on an ongoing basis, and not only when an office is new.

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Office furniture firms take their partners

Office furniture firms take their partners

Living Office schematic from office furniture giant Herman MillerThe development of products for the workplace follow many trends, generally aiming to provide that ideal setting for maximum effectiveness and fully tuned to the philosophies of the day.  The processes involved can occupy a good proportion of time and energy for the workplace specialist and office furniture maker and feature heavily in the media. But, behind all the product cacophony, there are activities, often unseen, that make more difference to what will become available in furnishing the workplace. More →

WELL Building Institute signs up for UN compact

WELL Building Institute signs up for UN compact

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has signed up to the United Nations Global Compact, the voluntary leadership platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible business practices. The UN Global Compact sets out ten principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. IWBI’s WELL Building Standard, a rating system for the creation of buildings and communities that aim to enhance human health and wellbeing, identifies in its standard how each of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are supported by WELL’s work. To date, over 2,100 projects have registered or certified nearly 400 million square feet of space. More →

Dublin EFMC conference brings together the facilities world

Dublin EFMC conference brings together the facilities world

The Aviva Stadium in Dublin hosted from 13th to 14th June the 27th Edition of EFMC, the European Facility Management Conference. The event, held for the first time in the Irish capital, has brought together international experts of the FM sector and has served as a platform of communication amongst facilities managers, suppliers, Universities and associations. The event culminated with tours of One Microsoft Place and the offices of Google in the Irish capital. In the closing ceremony it was announced that EFMC 2020 will be held in Barcelona. More →

Flexible office revolution shows no signs of slowing

Flexible office revolution shows no signs of slowing

The latest research from JLL, Disruption or distraction, where next for the UK flex market sector, claims that the real revolution of flexible office space lies in the variety of solutions now on offer and that the market has seen more changes over the last three years than the previous 30 combined as it continues to grow and evolve. JLL’s research claims that over the next five years more than 10m sq ft will be added to the stock in the key UK cities and flex space will account for over 8.5 percent of the total office stock by 2023. More →