September 6, 2019

The open plan debate should never be seen as a zero sum game

by Nigel Oseland • Comment, Workplace design

The debate on open plan versus enclosed offices rages on, but workplace design is not a such a simple dichotomy. Furthermore, office occupants clearly have different workplace preferences depending on factors like personality, personalisation, flexibility and sense of belonging etc. Herman Miller and Workplace Trends sponsored Workplace Unlimited to conduct a short on-line survey to help unravel some of the more personal factors underlying preferences in the modern office that are often forgotten or ignored. More →

August 30, 2019

Shaping the workplace of tomorrow

by Richard Glückman • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

The workplace, as we know it, is rapidly evolving and the role of the traditional office is changing. In fact, what current trends are pointing towards is that the whole work culture is shifting, with the employee experience becoming equally important as consumer needs. The new norm of the workplace is being flexible, dynamic, and versatile – yet, more often than not, companies lag behind in providing the right tools to support these trends. We can often see a significant gap between what the workforce needs and what the workplace offers. More →

August 28, 2019

Shifting cultural expectations in the workplace

by Stuart Templeton • Comment, Technology, Workplace

There has been much talk of digital, agile and organisational transformation for businesses for many years now. While the intricacies of each are separate discussions, one thing is clear – the world of work and the workplace are changing and as businesses we need to adapt.

August 23, 2019

Summertime childcare juggling needs to be consigned to history

by Han Son Lee • Comment, Flexible working

For working parents, summertime is often a logistical nightmare. Six weeks of careful planning are needed to sort out childcare and ensure that both parents spend some quality time with their offspring. According to research from family activity app Hoop, over a quarter of parents of 5-16 year olds dread the summer holidays and here are some of the main reasons why. More →

August 21, 2019

The office is increasingly able to recognise you, but will you recognise it?

by John Comacchio • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Our lives at work are about to change—again. Just as the addition of PC’s and Wi-Fi re-drew the office blueprint, emerging technologies like robots, virtual agents, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) promise to radically revise the form and the function of work and the workplace. In the near future, your office will know who you are (if it doesn’t yet) and will be ready to greet you with your preferred lighting and the array of digital tools you need to do your job.

August 16, 2019

Office design has a role to play in reflecting neurological differences

by Julian Sharpe • Comment, Workplace design

In recent years, we have seen a growing civil rights movement focused on change in the workplace and in terms of office design, revolving around differences in brain function. Advocates for neurodiversity say that it’s just as critical to business success as gender or racial diversity in the labour force. More →

August 1, 2019

The raging open plan debate should not lead us to make bad choices

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Workplace design

The debate about open plan versus enclosed offices rages on. But the real debate is not quite so binary, it’s not black or white, and it’s not a dichotomy as it is so often presented. Office occupants clearly have different workplace preferences from the wide range of design solutions that are now available. The alternative to the open plan is not necessarily the cellular office. So, we need to understand what drives individual preferences. Is it factors like personality, personalisation, flexibility, sense of belonging and familiarity that affect where people prefer to work? Or is there more to it? More →

July 25, 2019

UK SMEs must leverage tech-friendly culture to secure talent

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Workplace

UK SMEs must create a tech-friendly culture to attract and retain top tech talent, according to a new white paper from Robert Half UK, Recruiting for the future: The challenges for UK SMEs. While remuneration and work–life balance are the top reasons for job moves, SMEs’ ability to offer an innovative culture with high levels of responsibility is central to their ability to secure and retain talent over larger organisations. With the UK talent market suffering from a lack of digital skills, companies across all sectors are locked in a war for talent, competing with one another to hire skilled technology professionals to help their businesses adapt to increased digitalisation. More →

July 23, 2019

Office design should take account of the quality of interactions as well as quantity

by Jonathan Hindle • Comment, Workplace design

Ever since technology first made it possible for people to work remotely from their colleagues, there has been speculation not only that office design should change but even that the physical office could be dispensed with entirely, and with it the idea that people should come together to work in the same place at the same time to achieve common goals and to share in a common identity.

July 18, 2019

Ergonomics regulations are no longer fit for purpose

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Legal news, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there. We can apply LP Hartley’s legendary opening lines from his novel The Go Between to many of the ways the world of work has changed over the last quarter of a century. And perhaps especially to The European Display Screen Equipment Regulations which were first introduced in 1992 as a way of improving the posture and wellbeing of people working with computers in the office.

July 17, 2019

Offices still failing to support collaborative work

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace design

Team-based collaborative work is increasing as people in the UK now spend 55 percent of their time working with others, according to new Steelcase research. This global trend toward collaboration is critical for organisations which need to quickly generate new ideas and solve complex problems; yet, the new study suggests many workplaces do not support this team-based work. More →

July 10, 2019

Vast majority of workers want more flexible hours

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

The overwhelming majority (84 percent of workers) would like their organisations to offer more flexible hours of work, whether that’s time to suit personal needs, or the occasional early finish, according to a new report from Totaljobs. While employees have the legal right to request flexible working from their employer regardless of their existing contract, some companies have already built greater flexibility into their employer offering. Some go one step further with “agile working”, whereby employees can work from any location, at any time, by utilising appropriate technology. More →