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Law firms are finally embracing the agile workplace

Law firms are finally embracing the agile workplace

by • Comment, Workplace design

Strong office space take-up is predicted for this year after activity from law firms was down in 2017 against 10-year averages and compared to other sectors. Many legal companies are anticipating how their approach to workspace might have to change. This includes trialling new ways of working and years of overreliance on private offices. The legal sector is compared to many other services’ professions “closed” – and therefore ripe for change. There is an abundance of technology start-ups looking to introduce disruptive tech that will render many legal roles obsolete. The sector is also haemorrhaging senior talent as experienced professionals leave and the sector has failed thus far to adapt to modern working conventions including the agile workplace. Despite working in the digital age of wireless tech and cloud computing, 64 percent of lawyers found it difficult to work remotely because their technology wasn’t suitable (according to research from Lexis Nexis).

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Some thoughts on the addictive power of workplace design

Some thoughts on the addictive power of workplace design

by • Comment, Workplace design

The search for some concoction or contraption to improve our performance at work is nothing new. Lawyers, bankers and other professionals have famously used performance-enhancing drugs to gain a competitive advantage. But the design of a workspace can actually have similar effects on those who create it, consume it or pursue it. And, just like a drug, workplace design can have good and bad effects. Instead of chemicals, design manipulates space to change behaviour. An increase in the length of a lunch table, for example, can encourage people who did not know one another to interact more.

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BSRIA publishes list of new and upcoming legislation and guidance for buildings

BSRIA publishes list of new and upcoming legislation and guidance for buildings

by • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Property

The Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) has published a list of the most up to date legislation and guidance that affects the design, construction and management of buildings. While a couple are relevant primarily for domestic buildings, the emphasis is very much on commercial property and will be of interest to a range of professionals. BSRIA members also have access to a legislation service on building and building services legislation and relevant guidance. (more…)

World Bank report sets out the challenges of the changing nature of work

World Bank report sets out the challenges of the changing nature of work

by • News, Technology

Work is constantly reshaped by technological progress. New ways of production are adopted, markets expand, and societies evolve. But some changes provoke more attention than others, in part due to the vast uncertainty involved in making predictions about the future. The 2019 World Development Report studies how the nature of work is changing as a result of advances in technology today.

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European research network sets out to discover exactly how the Internet is bad for us

European research network sets out to discover exactly how the Internet is bad for us

by • News, Technology, Wellbeing

A pan-European network to tackle problematic internet usage officially launches today with the publication of its manifesto, setting out the important questions that need to be addressed by the research community. As the internet has become an integral part of modern life and its use has grown, so too has its problematic use become a growing concern across all age groups. It has provided a new environment in which a wide range of problematic behaviours may emerge, such as those relating to gaming, gambling, buying, pornography viewing, social networking, ‘cyber-bullying’ and ‘cyberchondria’, which can have mental and physical health consequences.

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The Genesis of ideation and the places we go to have our best ideas

The Genesis of ideation and the places we go to have our best ideas 0

by • Facilities management, Features, Technology, Work&Place, Workplace design

Picture1Because collaboration, creativity and innovation are increasingly perceived as key objectives and differentiators of performance, the genesis and mechanisms behind ideation and creativity are an an integral part of both business and personal development. As a consequence, there is growing interest in the way the physical attributes of work settings may influence or even trigger creative behaviour. The cliché of the shower as one of these favourite places comes to mind and yet experience does show that the idea of seeking a setting, a “zone” if you will, for a specific purpose is intuitively right. This needn’t be a retreat or cocoon, as is often assumed, but can also be a crowded, busy, noisy place, which might explain why so often the most animated work conversations move out of the office shop into the coffee shop. Equally, highlight events or special meetings tend to be held in a “venue’, often dressed for the occasion.

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Majority of staff feel there is more awareness of mental health at work

Majority of staff feel there is more awareness of mental health at work

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Majority of staff feel there is more awareness of mental health at workThe majority of employees (77 percent) agree that people should take proactive steps to manage their mental health a new survey has revealed. Of those surveyed, the vast majority felt that there is increased awareness about mental health (87 percent) and that people are more willing to talk openly about mental health issues than they were a few years ago (82 percent). The impact of high-profile people speaking out about their own mental health challenges was believed to be the biggest influencing factor, cited by more than half (53 percent) of respondents. (more…)

Brexit has already caused banks to move head counts away from UK

Brexit has already caused banks to move head counts away from UK

by • News, Technology, Workplace

Brexit has already caused banks to move head counts out of UKA new report published by Information Services Group (ISG) claims that UK banks are already moving headcount out of the UK and building new centres of excellence in other EU countries. The reason it suggests is because Brexit is likely to disrupt the UK and Europe applications development and maintenance (ADM) services markets in the coming months, with the impact felt most notably in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), healthcare and life sciences (HCLS) and manufacturing sectors. However, a September report from Reuters found that so far just 630 jobs in the finance sector have been relocated from the UK.  (more…)

Learning to learn will be key skill in new world of work

Learning to learn will be key skill in new world of work

by • News

A joint report by the Secretariat of the All Party Parliamentary Group on AI, Big Innovation Centre, and professional services firm KPMG has been published, identifying the key skills individuals and organisations will need if they are to survive and thrive in the unfolding future. The report finds that jobs in the labour market of the future will look very different from today and the transformation is likely to be dramatic. It also calls for companies and governments to equip citizens and employees for that future, to help them learn the new skills needed to be relevant in a world of constant transformation.

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British Council for Offices announces names of best workplaces in UK

British Council for Offices announces names of best workplaces in UK

by • Architecture, News, Property, Workplace design

Bloomberg’s London HQ (left) came out on top at the British Council for Offices (BCO) National Awards in the UK’s capital last night, taking home both the ‘Best of the Best’ and the ‘Corporate Workplace’ awards. The office was joined by five other award winners recognised for excellence in office space. The BCO’s respected National Awards programme sets out to recognise top quality office design and functionality, with the objective of setting the standard for excellence across the office sector in the UK. The awards dinner attracted over 1,200 players from the office sector to celebrate the best-in-class talent. Winners from the 2018 Regional Awards programme attended the event at London’s Grosvenor House, hoping to take home the National Award for their category.

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Stressed, ignored and knackered – the lot of British workers in 2018

Stressed, ignored and knackered – the lot of British workers in 2018

by • News, Wellbeing

Workers in Britain feel that they are working harder than ever before, new research reveals. The Skills and Employment Survey, a joint project between Cardiff University, University College London and the University of Oxford, has been researching the views of workers since the mid-1980s.

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National Work Life Week research reinforces appeal of flexible hours

National Work Life Week research reinforces appeal of flexible hours

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

National Work Life Week research reinforces appeal of flexible hoursNational Work Life Week (1st – 5th October 2018) starts today with the aim of encouraging companies to think about their employees’ wellbeing and happiness. To mark the week new research asked British workers about the things they most want from their work. The YouGov survey of 2,000 adults, commissioned by the Oxford Open Learning Trust, found that while money is predictably the biggest motivator behind career choice (64 percent), over half of the respondents cited working hours and flexible working as an important factor (55 percent). (more…)

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