Search Results for: office

A twenty minute connection with natural surroundings reduces stress

A twenty minute connection with natural surroundings reduces stress

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Nature and the workplaceA twenty to thirty minute stroll in a park is one of the best ways to reduce stress levels for people in cities and as a way of dealing with workplace related anxiety, claims a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan. The study Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life published today in the Journal Frontiers in Psychology suggests that any half hour connection with surroundings that make people feel connected to the natural world can reduce the key stress hormone by around 10 percent and so improve a person’s sense of wellbeing. Longer period of time increase the beneficial effects but at lower levels.  (more…)

Workplace art can draw the distinction between branding and corporate identity

Workplace art can draw the distinction between branding and corporate identity 0

by • Comment, Workplace design

One of the many traps that lies in wait for unwary organisations is to confuse corporate identity with their brand. The visual aspects of an identity may reflect the firm’s personality and values, and a change may go in hand in hand with the development of a new strategic direction or culture, but a mismatch can be jarring if the stakeholder perception of the organisation does not marry up with its branding. (more…)

People, not cost now most important factor behind corporate real estate decisions

People, not cost now most important factor behind corporate real estate decisions

by • Facilities management, News, Property

One Creechurch PlaceThe corporate appetite for flexible space continues to grow as around two-thirds of occupiers rank employee engagement (68 percent) and talent attraction & development (65 percent) as two of the three most important drivers of corporate real estate (CRE) strategy. According to the 2019 EMEA Occupier Survey by CBRE over a third of companies see labour and skills shortages as a key strategic challenge, double last year’s result. In line with last year’s survey, technology disruption (36 percent) economic uncertainty (43 percent) and cost escalation (31 percent) all feature highly as key challenges for occupiers.

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Coworking and a new golden era for the workplace and the people who inhabit it

Coworking and a new golden era for the workplace and the people who inhabit it

by • Comment, Coworking, Workplace design

coworking officeThe idea of coworking is starting to resonate with a growing number of businesses and for a growing number of reasons. People new to the concept, or those who are aware primarily of its roots, may discover or retain a notion that it is a way for start-ups and freelancers to share space as a way of keeping down costs or networking with similar organisations. There is still a great deal of truth in this, given that the initial growth of coworking was based almost exclusively on the need for small tech and creative organisations to occupy space near to their larger clients, in precisely those urban enclaves that demand eye-watering rents and conventional leases.

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London, Paris and Stockholm lead ranks of European coworking hotspots

London, Paris and Stockholm lead ranks of European coworking hotspots

by • Coworking, News, Property

Epicenter Coworking Space in StockholmLondon, Paris and Stockholm are among the major cities featured in a new research report from Cushman & Wakefield (registration) into the coworking and flexible office sectors, which pinpoints future demand and the next likely growth hotspots across Europe. According to the report, coworking’s rapid expansion in recent years has quickly disrupted global office markets. The report charts the current state of the sector, the emergence of flexible working space across continental Europe and where future growth will occur. (more…)

Gaslighting widespread in the UK workplace

Gaslighting widespread in the UK workplace

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

More than half of people questioned in  research by HR software and services provider MHR claim they have experienced what they consider to be gaslighting at work. The Twitter poll of 3,033 people aged between 18 and 54 found that 58 percent of respondents have experienced what they consider to be gaslighting during their working lives. Thirty percent of respondents said they hadn’t experienced gaslighting in the workplace, with 12 percent saying they didn’t know. (more…)

Channel 4 chooses Bristol’s Finzels Reach for its new Creative Hub

Channel 4 chooses Bristol’s Finzels Reach for its new Creative Hub

by • News

Channel 4 Bristol new creative hubChannel 4 is in advanced negotiations with developer Cubex to locate its new Creative Hub at Finzels Reach, Bristol’s new waterfront quarter. Channel 4 will lease 3,200 sq ft of space on the second floor of the Fermentation Buildings at Finzels Reach. Channel 4 announced in October 2018 that it had confirmed that Leeds would be the new National HQ alongside Glasgow and Bristol as its Creative Hubs.

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Against metrics: how measuring performance by numbers backfires

Against metrics: how measuring performance by numbers backfires

by • Features, Workplace

A still from Jacques Tati's film playtime as the protagonist looks out over cubicles in an officeMore and more companies, government agencies, educational institutions and philanthropic organisations are today in the grip of a new phenomenon. I’ve termed it ‘metric fixation’. The key components of metric fixation are the belief that it is possible – and desirable – to replace professional judgment (acquired through personal experience and talent) with numerical indicators of comparative performance based upon standardised data (metrics); and that the best way to motivate people within these organisations is by attaching rewards and penalties to their measured performance. (more…)

Green Building Council releases guidance on social value for local authorities

Green Building Council releases guidance on social value for local authorities

by • Environment, News, Property, Public Sector

Two people in an office discuss green building designThe UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has released its latest guidance document, detailing how local authorities can help ensure that new construction and property development in their area positively impacts people and communities by delivering social value. (more…)

Co-design is an old idea, but it belongs to the 21st Century like never before

Co-design is an old idea, but it belongs to the 21st Century like never before

by • Comment, Workplace design

A group of people share ideas around a tableAs with so many apparently new ideas that resonate in a contemporary context, co-design has a long history. Originally referred to as cooperative or participatory design, it was first applied in Scandinavia in the 1960s and 70s, especially as a way of engaging stakeholders in the public sector in the design and development of IT projects, healthcare and workplaces. Arguably, our modern understanding of the idea was first set out by C.K. Prahalad and Venkatram Ramaswamy in a 2000 Harvard Business Review article called Co-opting Customer Competence and a subsequent book by the authors on the subject. They argue that there is a growing trend for firms to actively seek the insight and competence of customers to offer them better solutions, tailored to their own needs. (more…)

Government lacks the know-how to help disabled people get into work

Government lacks the know-how to help disabled people get into work

by • News, Workplace

disabled people working in an office and smilingThe Department for Work Pensions has limited evidence of what works when it comes to supporting disabled people to work, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) in a report published today. The number of disabled­­ people in work has risen by 930,000 (31 percent) in the last five years, but this has not been matched by a reduction in the number of disabled people who are out of work. The NAO found that the government’s headline goal of getting one million more disabled people into work from 2017 to 2027 cannot be used to measure the success of its efforts. The Department itself recognises that this measure cannot be linked directly to any specific government policy or programme. Broader factors, such as more people who are already in work reporting a disability, and rising employment rates, have a significant effect on the measure. It therefore lacks a target for which it is willing to be held to account. (more…)

Managers frustrated by email from colleagues in the same building

Managers frustrated by email from colleagues in the same building

by • News, Technology

email iconOver a third of managers find it frustrating when colleagues email them when they are based in the same building, according to a new survey from 247meeting. The study of 2,000 managers with varying degrees of seniority claims that 36 percent find it frustrating when colleagues email them when they are based in the same building, proving that face-to-face interaction is still the preferred communication at work. Other irritants described in the report include lack of communication from senior management and lunchtime meetings (cited by 41 percent). Overall the two most preferred forms of communication are face to face meetings and phone calls. (more…)

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