Search Results for: creativity

We can design kindness into working life just as easily as unkindness

We can design kindness into working life just as easily as unkindness

kindnessIf I were to suggest that organisations were designing their processes, policies and relationships with unkindness at the core, you would probably reject it as an illogical proposition, it just doesn’t make business sense. It goes against the grain and against the values that are plastered on the walls of so many organisations. But as counterintuitive as it may seem, in my opinion, many organisations have done just that, designed unkindness into the things they do, albeit inadvertently. But if they can do that, they can also design kindness in too. More →

Moving front-line staff between company locations might be key to boosting innovation

Moving front-line staff between company locations might be key to boosting innovation

front-lineTemporary moves boost creativity according to new research from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). The study suggests, when front-line employees are exchanged between company sites, they contribute more valuable ideas. More →

Escaping the gravitational pull of workplace data

Escaping the gravitational pull of workplace data

On the doorstep of the British Library you will find Edouardo Paolozzi’s imposing statue of Sir Isaac Newton. At first glance, this positioning seems to make perfect sense. Where better for a monument to the Enlightenment’s poster boy than raised on a plinth at the entrance to the world’s second largest library? And yet, there’s more going on here than is evident at first glance.

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Herman Miller named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2021

Herman Miller named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2021

Herman Miller (NASDAQ:MLHR) has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies (MIC) for 2021. The list honours businesses that have not only found a way to be resilient in the past year, but also turned those challenges into impact-making processes. More →

The office will bounce back, but not as we remember it

The office will bounce back, but not as we remember it

Manchester officeLooking back, who could possibly have predicted 2020? It’s been such a difficult pandemic year for so many individuals and companies. Yet it’s also been a transformative time, which has seen dramatic shifts in the way we work. So, with some trepidation, here’s my forecast for the near future. This year will see the office bounce back, but not as we remember it. The office of the future will have an important new role as the physical embodiment of a changing corporate culture. More →

The Collective open new offices in iconic Folkstone building

The Collective open new offices in iconic Folkstone building

The Collective cements its commitment to the UK creative industry with the opening of new offices and showroom in iconic Folkestone building ‘The Glassworks Building’, and support emerging talent by appointing newly founded Studio Morelli for their debut interior project. More →

Workplace things we have missed, and those we hope to regain

Workplace things we have missed, and those we hope to regain

return to the workplaceLet’s be honest, work life pre 2020 had its flaws, whilst the longing for variety of scenery, change of pace and even a train journey (somewhere…ANYWHERE) would be welcomed by many of us right now, many of us had become a bit ‘hamster wheel’ in our approach. Commuting was stressful, expensive and time hungry; our natural and individual rhythms squeezed into a set 9-5 schedule and workplace design had become a bit ‘quantity over quality’ – desks have been reducing in size year upon year in order that capacity could be increased. We had reached a point at which everything was ripe for change but there was largely a resistance to both flexible working requests and embracing much of the technological advancements that were already at our fingertips. More →

Microsoft unveils new employee experience and wellbeing platform

Microsoft unveils new employee experience and wellbeing platform

Companies are in danger of losing top talent due to lack of flexible workingMicrosoft has announced Microsoft Viva, which it claims is the first employee experience platform to bring tools for employee engagement, learning, wellbeing and knowledge discovery, directly into people’s workflow. Viva is designed to help employees ‘learn, grow and thrive’ in the new era of working life, and is designed to work alongside existing solutions such as Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams. More →

Be by Bisley reinvented for 2021

Be by Bisley reinvented for 2021

Be by Bisley was at the forefront of the agile working revolution when it first entered the market in 2012. Now, with nearly a decade’s worth of success behind it, Be has been rapidly reinvigorated for the post-Covid workspace’s demands, allowing distancing with creativity and design, while also considering safety with a heightened appreciation of wellbeing. More →

There is always a brighter side to uncertainty in business

There is always a brighter side to uncertainty in business

uncertaintyThe uncertainty and fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic have wreaked havoc on the mental health of nearly all of us. In a recent conversation with an HR leader, she shared with me that every single person on her leadership programme reported suffering disrupted sleep due to their anxiety around business uncertainty. The irony is the business is in better shape than it has been for years thanks to the effective management of the firm’s finances during the pandemic. Regardless of reality, the uncertainty is impacting on everyone’s resilience levels. More →

2021 presents the tech sector with once in a generation opportunities

2021 presents the tech sector with once in a generation opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic left businesses in an unprecedented position of having to rapidly adapt workplace practices and implement new processes at a moment’s notice. Of course, those companies that were already accustomed to home office set-ups and flexible hours were in a much better place to adapt to these changing circumstances. However, not all businesses were prepared for the sudden change to work routines. More →

Burnt out workers need to regain some balance

Burnt out workers need to regain some balance

The pandemic and months of Zoom calls and remote work have begun to wear on us, so much so that in a recent survey from Blind – the anonymous workplace community app – 68 percent of respondents said that they are experiencing more feelings of  being burnt out now, than they were before the pandemic began. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 29 percent of the respondents said their relationship with their direct boss was now worse than it had been before they began working remotely. And it’s not just top-down relationships at work that have deteriorated. More →