Search Results for: information

We need to seize the chance to make our buildings far more intelligent

We need to seize the chance to make our buildings far more intelligent

by • Comment, Environment, Property, Workplace design

Even before the pandemic, statistics were making the case for workplaces to be made up of more intelligent buildings. This includes the fact that offices generally operate at around 55-60 percent utilisation, and as we return to the office are currently at 45 percent utilisation. From presenteeism to absenteeism and many other factors in between, workplaces have seldom been utilised by entire workforces at the same time. However, the prevailing approach has been for firms to drive an office setup with one-to-one desking – a seat for every employee, even though five in 10 would not be in at any one time. (more…)

Hybrid working and how we escape the constraints of leadership

Hybrid working and how we escape the constraints of leadership

by • Comment, Flexible working

hybrid working danceJennifer was at the ballet the other day, watching Acosta Danza, and there was a dance with ropes.  In the movement of the relationship of the dancers, the mood, the emotion were all defined using the rope.  It was very beautiful.  Then towards the end the ropes were taken away and everything changed – the performers were liberated, unconstrained.  At first like a frenzy, but then the dancers started to gel together letting go of the need for the rope.  And this got her thinking about the role of constraint in leading change, especially in the new era of hybrid working. (more…)

New episodes of Workplace Geeks land

New episodes of Workplace Geeks land

by • Flexible working, News, Podcasts, Premium Content

workplace geeksTwo new episodes of Workplace Geeks have now joined the already impressive roster of the first season. In episode 5 – The other 90 percent: ‘A Toolkit for Living in a New Building’ – Chris and Ian explore a novel approach to the ‘post-occupancy evaluation’ (or POE) of new workplaces with Dr Harriet Shortt, Associate Professor in Organisation Studies at UWE Bristol. Harriet and her collaborators (including Stride Treglown and ISG) used a participatory visual technique featuring smartphone photographs to explore the lived experiences of staff, students and visitors using their brand new £55m Bristol Business School building. All participants were invited to respond with images and accompanying comments to two simple questions: How do you feel about the building and how are you using the building? (more…)

The cargo cult of modern office design

The cargo cult of modern office design

by • Comment, Workplace design

 

The cargo cult of modern office designThe idea of the cargo cult derives from anthropological observations made about the behaviour of societies that encounter more technologically advanced societies. In particular it is rooted in those rituals and objects created by Pacific islanders in an attempt to attract modern goods and technology and generally earn favour with people who they thought could prevent terrible events. (more…)

Research casts doubt on environmental benefits of hybrid working

Research casts doubt on environmental benefits of hybrid working

by • Flexible working, News

commuters and hybrid workingA permanent post-pandemic switch to hybrid working may do little to reduce carbon emissions as the majority of remote workers travel further each week than their office-based counterparts, new research from the University of Sussex Business School reveals. The newly published study finds that, prior to the pandemic, most remote workers in England travelled further each week than office-based workers – despite taking fewer trips. This was partly because remote workers tended to live further from their workplace than non-teleworkers, so had longer, if less frequent, commutes. In addition, remote workers engaged in more travel on the days when they worked from home – for example, by making extra trips to shops and cafes. (more…)

Making sense of an uncertain but energetic return to some sort of normal

Making sense of an uncertain but energetic return to some sort of normal

by • Features, Flexible working

The first Omnirama event on the 23rd of March launched the series exploring different factors challenging the world of work in a time of prevailing  uncertainty. Underlying Ominirama’s raison d’etre is that recent events have turned the status quo on its head with some major structural and systemic changes taking place. Nobody seems to have any clear idea of how to deal with this enormous transformation in the ways we work  All the playbooks and all the guidance that we have all relied upon for so many years have now gone out the window. (more…)

The Great Resignation and what is really happening

The Great Resignation and what is really happening

by • Features, Workplace

Great ResignationThe ‘Great Resignation’ is a buzzphrase that first appeared in May 2021, and has struck fear into the hearts of employers ever since. Coined in the US, the term refers to the unprecedented rise in the number of workers resigning from their jobs following the pandemic. There has since been a huge amount of research trying to work out why this has happened. Are workers quitting work entirely, as the pandemic makes us re-evaluate our priorities? Or are they quitting to pursue their dreams in a different career? (more…)

Working from home means getting your priorities right

Working from home means getting your priorities right

by • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design

working from home with SedusIt should come as no great surprise to learn that data from Leesman, the world’s leading workplace analyst, found that the chair was seen by remote working employees as the second most important feature in creating a productive working from home environment. Cited by 90 percent of people, it was narrowly beaten into second place only by a desk or table (91 percent). A ‘mere’ 89 percent of people cited WiFi, which is what you may have assumed was the most important need of remote workers, especially given that Hierarchy of Needs meme we’ve all seen. That needs to be reworked because clearly broadband matters slightly less than comfort and safety. (more…)

The compadre of teleworking, with Jack Nilles

The compadre of teleworking, with Jack Nilles

by • Features, Flexible working, Podcasts

teleworking Jack NillesIn episode four of Workplace Geeks, Chris and Ian cross seven time zones to learn from the father of teleworking and environmental activist, Jack Nilles, about the multi-disciplinary research project that led to his 1976 book ‘The Telecommunications-Transportation Trade-off: Options for Tomorrow’. Teleworking has been proven to be an effective and valued part of hybrid working solutions since the 1970s. The barriers to implementation are rarely, if ever, technological or economic: they are cultural, often specifically managerial, and always have been. Despite this, tried and tested change methodologies can overcome these challenges. Now, more than ever, we need to embrace the many benefits of teleworking, not just for organizational and personal gain, but also as part of our strategies to address the climate emergency. (more…)

Bisley Hideaway will maximise your working from home space

Bisley Hideaway will maximise your working from home space

by • Company news

Bisley HideawayAs we adapt to a new way of working, whether it be working from home (WFH) full-time, or hybrid working, now is the time to reassess our home office setup to ensure it works for us – day in, day out. Building on the success of its Belong collection designed specifically for home working, the Bisley Hideaway is designed to suit homes where space is at a premium. The firm has also introduced a new Swing Desk to its Hideaway range, to help you create a multipurpose yet well-organised workspace. (more…)

New ways of working and what we’ve learned about them over the past two years

New ways of working and what we’ve learned about them over the past two years

by • Flexible working, News

new ways of workingA report published by Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA): Change For Good: 10 Lessons From The Pandemic identifies what it says is the transformative effect of the new ways of working and why there is ‘no going back’ for employers or employees. (more…)

Wellbeing, skills and diversity data absent from majority of FTSE 100 firms’ annual reports

Wellbeing, skills and diversity data absent from majority of FTSE 100 firms’ annual reports

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

wellbeing, skills, diversityNew analysis of FTSE 100 annual reports finds that while workforce reporting has improved in the past two years, the quantity and quality of disclosures still varies significantly and remains very poor in places. The new report, How do companies report on their ‘most important asset?, from the CIPD, the PLSA and Railpen, analysed the quality of workforce disclosures in the 2021 annual reports of FTSE 100 companies against seven key themes: Workforce cost and composition; employee relations and wellbeing; reward; voice; skills, capabilities and recruitment; and response to COVID-19. (more…)

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