Search Results for: office

An emerging crisis of trust at work fuelled by remote work

An emerging crisis of trust at work fuelled by remote work

trustQatalog has published a survey of 2,000 knowledge workers which uncovers a crisis of trust within the modern workplace, fuelled by a chronic lack of visibility within companies. The study claims that remote work is feeding a chronic visibility problem within the modern workplace. When working remotely, two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents reported that they lack visibility of what colleagues are working on and how it fits into the bigger picture. More →

Employees ready for hybrid work—employers, not so much

Employees ready for hybrid work—employers, not so much

hybridGlobal Workplace Analytics and Owl Labs, have released the annual State of Remote Work 2021 report. More than 2,000 full-time employees across the United States were surveyed to gain insights into who is still working from home, who has returned to the office. Also pandemic-related job and residential moves and the motivations behind them, dependent care issues, the pros and cons of hybrid communications, employee desire for flexibility, intent to leave a current job, employee productivity, stress and its causes, pet adoption during the pandemic, how office spaces are changing, and much more. More →

Workplace data proves that the devil is in the detail for the new era of work

Workplace data proves that the devil is in the detail for the new era of work

workplace data and the future of workPredicting the future is a fool’s errand. History is littered with examples of people who got it horribly wrong. In 1876, William Orten, the president of then telegraphy pioneer Western Union, claimed that the telephone was an idiotic, ungainly and impractical idea that would never catch on. Almost a century later, Microsoft’s Bill Gates said that nobody would ever need more than 640KB of memory in a computer. Today’s home computers and laptops can store up to 32GB of memory. More →

Only half of employers are confident they’ll treat employees evenly and fairly

Only half of employers are confident they’ll treat employees evenly and fairly

employersNew research has highlighted concerns over the treatment of staff in the world of hybrid work. The Mind the Gap report from WorkNest, which is based on a survey of over 490 employers and 1,000 employees, claims that only around half (52 percent) of employers are confident that office-based and home-based employees will be treated evenly and fairly in the next 12 months. More →

Time to stop playing around with the issue of workplace sustainability

Time to stop playing around with the issue of workplace sustainability

workplace sustainabilityThe  so-called green agenda, sustainability and climate change have finally hit centre stage. Various announcements are being made by UK Government and numerous high profile figures are crying a call to action to implement carbon reduction plans now. Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman William Russell, stated at the Annual Lord Mayor Gresham Lecture early in 2021: “Climate change is a bigger threat to the world than COVID-19.” He called on the financial and professional services sector to take urgent action to tackle climate change and ensure sustainability is at the heart of every financial decision. More →

EDGE delivers iconic Valley development to RJB Group of Companies

EDGE delivers iconic Valley development to RJB Group of Companies

EDGE is proud to announce the successful delivery of its eye-catching 75,000 sq m mixed-use development Valley, designed by MVRDV, to owner RJB Group of Companies. EDGE has won the tender in 2015 and started construction in 2017 with the ambitious goal to bring a new dynamism to Amsterdam’s Zuidas. More →

‘A New Space Race’ to transform infrastructure

‘A New Space Race’ to transform infrastructure

infrastructureA new research report released by Siemens Smart Infrastructure, titled ‘A New Space Race,’ has highlighted the increasingly urgent need to transform global infrastructure to focus on adaptability, resiliency and decarbonisation. Data from the report claims infrastructure leaders worldwide recognise the need for digitalisation to tackle challenges in energy systems and the built environment. More →

Five million UK employees considering ditching home-working due to rising energy bills

Five million UK employees considering ditching home-working due to rising energy bills

energyDespite having to get up earlier, commute, and the heightened risk of Covid-19 transmission in the office, almost five million UK employees are considering ditching working from home this winter, due to concerns around rising energy costs. More →

Powell Software launches Together to allow SMEs to connect and collaborate with ease

Powell Software launches Together to allow SMEs to connect and collaborate with ease

TogetherAs SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) grapple with a myriad of challenges to keep their companies running successfully, Powell Software introduces Together, the small business intranet accessible from Microsoft Teams that helps meet their productivity, communication and collaboration needs. More →

Hybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year

Hybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year

hybrid workingHybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year by giving workers more time to look after themselves and their families, according to a new study by Virgin Media O2 Business and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). More →

Hybrid working is both a challenge and opportunity for comms firms

Hybrid working is both a challenge and opportunity for comms firms

hybrid working and commsHuge swathes of workers have been returning to the office in recent weeks – many for the first time in almost two years. A significant number of companies, however, will never return to the pre-pandemic ‘normal’ of a five-day office week and will instead integrate hybrid working permanently. According to the CIPD, 40 percent of employers expect more than half their workforce to regularly work from home after the pandemic has ended.  More →

Going with the flow in the way we work

Going with the flow in the way we work

Sedus Smart Office

Throughout history we’ve been aware of the state we now refer to as flow. It describes the sensation of existing purely in the moment of some activity, effortlessly achieving what we have set out to achieve and unaware of distractions. Mystics have described it as ecstasy, artists as rapture and athletes as in the zone. This state was first described as flow by the Hungarian psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi in 1975 and has been developed by him and a wide range of other researchers in a number of fields since that time.

The essential characteristic of flow is an individual’s total and enjoyable absorption in an activity to the point that they lose a sense of space and time. It is related to focus but it is not the same. Flow is a state of transcendence and it is just as important in office design as any other domain of human activity.

The idea has been widely talked about as a desirable state in which to complete work, especially creative tasks. Indeed, the idea of heightened states while engaged in tasks predates the work of Csíkszentmihályi. Perhaps the best-known organisational psychologist of all time Abraham Maslow coined the term peak experience to describe intensely joyous and exciting moments. In these moments, we feel more whole, integrated, aware of ourselves and deeply happy. Maslow described them as those “moments of highest happiness and fulfilment” in his 1964 work Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences. He linked them to the idea of self-actualisation from his famous Hierarchy of Needs.

 

Flow is more common at work

Such moments are more likely when we are at work than in other periods of our lives and are relatively common. According to an article by Csíkszentmihályi published in Psychology Today, in a survey of 6,469 Germans, when asked how often they entered a flow state: 23 percent said often; 40 percent said sometimes; 25 percent said rarely; and 12 percent said never or don’t know.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Organisations should seek to develop activities, cultures and environments that make it easier for people to enter flow states[/perfectpullquote]

His own research using more objective methods found that work was better suited to the creation of flow states than passive activities such as watching television, leading him to conclude that ‘work is much more like a game than most other things we do during the day. It usually has clear goals and rules of performance. It provides feedback either in the form of knowing that one has finished a job well done, in terms of measurable sales or through an evaluation by one’s supervisor. A job tends to encourage concentration and prevent distractions, and ideally, its difficulties match the worker’s skills.’

Csikszentmihályi argues that organisations should seek to develop activities, cultures and environments that make it easier for people to enter flow states in their work. This isn’t just about making them more productive and more likely to have good ideas, although those are two of the most important outcomes. In his 2003 book Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning, Csikszentmihályi argues that fostering flow states improves morale by creating a sense of greater happiness and accomplishment. He looks at how flow states are essential for the creation of ‘good work’ in which you enjoy the feelings of “doing your best while at the same time contributing to something beyond yourself.” He also highlights the importance of regular feedback as an essential ingredient for the fostering of flow states.

For this reason, flow is not just an important goal for the individual. Because it contributes to organisational goals such as higher productivity, better ideas and improved morale, it can improve the overall performance of the organisation and encourage greater collaboration.

Csikszentmihályi concludes that there are three conditions for the creation of flow states at work:

• One must be involved in an activity with a clear set of goals and progress. This adds direction and structure to the task.

• The task at hand must have clear and immediate feedback. This helps the person negotiate any changing demands and allows them to adjust their performance to maintain the flow state.

• One must have a good balance between the perceived challenges of the task at hand and their own perceived skills. One must have confidence in one’s ability to complete the task at hand.

Designing for flow

There are several characteristics of an office environment that can encourage flow states and meet these prerequisites. The ability to focus and work free from distraction is perhaps the most obvious, but so too are the creation of an enjoyable working culture, strong bonds with colleagues, immediate feedback on tasks, an affinity with each job and regular communication with colleagues.

This demands a sophisticated and intelligent approach that embraces a number of features of office design. The most progressive office design concepts seem ready-made to deliver a working environment that can encourage flow states. By empowering people to work in ways that suit them best with a choice of work styles and offering the sorts of spaces in which people can enter flow states undisturbed, such offices increase the likelihood of flow. This principle of office design aligns completely with the characteristics of flow states.

In addition, the democratic structure of the space makes feedback significantly more likely, while the social spaces, collaborative space and more playful aspects of the design encourage people to be aware of ‘something greater than themselves’.

This article first appeared on the What’s Up blog of Sedus

Image: Sedus Smart Office