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A definitive new book on the madness of hybrid working goes one step beyond

A definitive new book on the madness of hybrid working goes one step beyond

Andy Lake's new book is called Beyond Hybrid Working but he could have called it “Way Before, and Way Beyond the fuss about Hybrid WorkingIn any crisis, there are people who spot an opportunity. One such opportunity, in early 2020, was to seize the term “hybrid” and apply it to the world of work and place. And for the past four years, we have seen the emergence of polarised commentators, arguing over two extremes; work from home, and ‘back to the office’ and the nominally new construct ‘hybrid working’. Mostly, entirely missing the spectrum of work and workstyles which can co-exist. More →

New issue of IN Magazine + All you need to know about new flexible working rights + A warning from history about office design

New issue of IN Magazine + All you need to know about new flexible working rights + A warning from history about office design

Insight Weekly includes a round up of the best stories and commentary from the past seven days. It includes free premium content including features, podcasts, supplements and a link to the digital editions of IN Magazine and Works Magazine. In this week’s issue: it now costs more to commute by train than car in the UK; everything you need to know about flexible working rights and other new legislation; the new issue of IN Magazine; what remote work is doing to people’s pay and careers; and a thirty year old take about an office design that has lessons for today; our Events diary; and much more. You can subscribe to this and our magazines here.

A just in time lesson about office design

A just in time lesson about office design

The nascent years of new ways of working in the late 80s and early 90s coincided with a widely held but soon to be discarded belief that the Japanese had cracked management practices. So it was perhaps inevitable that the principles of a process called just in time manufacturing – most famously applied in the factories of Toyota – should migrate to new forms of office design and the rapidly developing practice of flexible working.

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What do people really want from an office design? Some peace and quiet

What do people really want from an office design? Some peace and quiet

poor quality office design is now thoroughly out of favour, as one in three people (33 percent) have an issue with a lack of privacy in the workplaceNew research from a survey of 2,000 UK office workers by BW: Workplace Experts suggests that poor quality office design is now thoroughly out of favour, as one in three people (33 percent) have an issue with a lack of privacy in the workplace. In fact, over a third (34 percent) ranked the most valuable spaces in the office as available meeting rooms, adequate amounts of breakout spaces, and social spaces, reflecting a desire to have more varied private and collaborative spaces. 27 percent said that they also value wellness spaces (e.g., exercise room, meditation room) and roughly one in 10 (11 percent) said access to outdoor space would influence them to go into the office more often. More →

Nine in ten employers of knowledge workers offer hybrid working. Nearly all would like them in the office more

Nine in ten employers of knowledge workers offer hybrid working. Nearly all would like them in the office more

91% of companies have employees hybrid working and nearly all have tried to encourage them to come to the office moreAround 91 percent of companies with a workforce that can work from home currently offer some form of hybrid working, according to a new poll of 500 HR professionals from Towergate Health & Protection. On average 39 percent of the workforce are hybrid working and 27 percent of employers have more than half their workforce hybrid working. The poll also suggests that 30 percent of employees work from home for at least three days a week. Employers stated that 31- 40-year-olds are the age group most likely to want to work from home, and over 60s and under 25s are least likely to want to work from home. More →

British workers now entirely unproductive, claims report

British workers now entirely unproductive, claims report

The overwhelming majority of UK workers don’t do anything productive at all, according to a new report published today. The study of available research into the illnesses, injuries, distractions, wastes of time, procrastinations, productivity drains and paralyses that afflict British workers found that the annual cost to the British economy is around £1.8 trillion, equivalent to 98.9 percent of GDP.

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FAANGs for the memories: how tech palaces lost their lustre

FAANGs for the memories: how tech palaces lost their lustre

With the downfall of wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried and the demise of his Bahamas HQ, does this mean that instead of being heralded as inspiration, tech palaces have instead become dated and toothlessI was alerted by the great Jack Pringle during a presentation course he was giving to an unforgettable YouTube clip of Steve Jobs speaking to the local council as part of a planning application for his Apple Park in California, one of the great tech palaces that sprang up in the wake of the digital revolution. Jobs, in familiar black polo neck jumper and wire-rimmed spectacles, took the officials of Cupertino City Council on a journey of opportunity, awe and inspiration. More →

Half of people ‘struggle’ with the idea of more face to face meetings

Half of people ‘struggle’ with the idea of more face to face meetings

A new poll claims that half of office workers in the UK, who have experienced an increase in face to face meetings, are struggling to copeA new poll claims that over half (52 percent) of office workers in the UK, who have experienced an increase in face to face meetings, are struggling to cope with the increased demand, as business travel and in person time is on the rise. For many this has resulted in an increase in business travel, with 35 percent admitting the frequency of work related travel has steadily increased over the last two years – in fact 66 percent of office workers have travelled up to 50 times for business in the last 12 months. More →

UK office occupancy levels reach post-pandemic peak

UK office occupancy levels reach post-pandemic peak

New data from Remit Consulting suggests that UK office occupancy rates have risen to their highest level since the start of the pandemic.New data from Remit Consulting suggests that UK office occupancy rates have risen to their highest level since the start of the pandemic. Although still below pre-pandemic levels, the data indicates a gradual return to more office-based work patterns. The ReTurn Report is compiled by Remit Consulting each week. It uses data provided by building managers in ten cities based on their property’s access control systems. More →

Forty percent of companies calling staff back to the office five days a week

Forty percent of companies calling staff back to the office five days a week

Two in five companies are returning to a five-days-in-the-office work week, according to new data from Virgin Media O2.Two in five companies are returning to a five-days-in-the-office work week, according to new data from Virgin Media O2. The Telecoms giant’s Movers Index suggest that around 40 percent of firms now require five-day-a-week office work. Meanwhile, 92 percent of companies had some kind of mandatory in-office policy. Wednesday remains the top day for office work, with about three quarters of office workers coming in for the midweek. More →

Industry: the art of working from anywhere

Industry: the art of working from anywhere

Eugenia Anastassiou is stopped in her tracks by a painting of a quintessential  21st century phenomenon – working from anywhere.Walking into Bristol-based artist Gail Reid’s studio, I literally stopped in my tracks! There it was a painting of everything I had been researching and writing about with workplace strategist Chris Kane for our book “Where Is My Office?” both pre-and post-pandemic. Gail, was a Semi-Finalist in this year’s Sky Art’s Portrait Artist Of The Year –  alas she didn’t make the final – although she impressed everyone with her talent and charisma. She also impressed me in managing to convey via the very traditional medium of an oil painting, a quintessential  21st century phenomenon – working from anywhere. More →

Hybrid working helps women into senior management roles

Hybrid working helps women into senior management roles

The widespread adoption of hybrid working has opened the door for women to apply for senior positions within their companiesThe widespread adoption of hybrid working has opened the door for women to apply for senior positions within their companies, according to a new report released ahead of International Women’s Day. IWG’s 2024 report Advancing Equality: Women in the Hybrid Workplace, based on research among more than 1,000 female hybrid workers, found that flexible working had allowed over half (53 percent) to pursue promotions or apply for more senior roles  – which, in an encouraging move for advancing equality, rises to more than three in five (61 percent) of women from minority backgrounds. For almost three quarters (73 percent) of women in minority groups, flexible working has opened up new opportunities that they would not have had otherwise. More →