June 17, 2020

Time to apply the lessons we learned during lockdown

by Louise Bancroft • Features, Flexible working, Wellbeing

So far, 2020 has not gone to plan. For businesses, and the people they employ, the next few months may be just as bumpy, as each country, state and city takes its own approach to a phased return to work after lockdown. Today, in Houston, offices are limited to 25 percent capacity, in London, the underground is capped at 13-15 percent capacity, while in New Zealand and other countries hospitality and retail are returning with heightened hygiene measures and social distancing in place. (more…)

June 16, 2020

Workplace technology enters new `golden age`

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

A ‘golden age’ of workplace technology could be coming, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic according to a new report, co-authored by Professor Michael Dickmann from Cranfield University which investigated the Global Mobility response to COVID-19. The report claims that some multinational companies were completely lacking crisis response plans when the pandemic hit, and many are now adjusting their goals because of movement restrictions and employee wellbeing. (more…)

June 11, 2020

Mental health in UK tech deteriorates in lockdown

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

The easing of lockdown restrictions and a return to offices is raising the stress levels of over a quarter of UK tech professionals (26 percent) at a time when over 1 in 3 (36 percent) report that their mental health has deteriorated during Covid-19, according to a new Harvey Nash Study. The relaxing of restrictions has left tech professionals worrying most about bringing Covid-19 back into the home, and the health risk of their daily commute. (more…)

June 10, 2020

IWBI launches WELL health and safety rating for buildings

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has annouced the launch of the WELL Health-Safety Rating for all building and facility types, an “evidence-based, third-party verified rating focusing on operational policies, maintenance protocols and design strategies to address a post COVID-19 environment”. The new health and safety rating is one of the earliest outcomes of IWBI’s Task Force on COVID-19, a group of nearly 600 public health officials, virologists, government officials, academics, business leaders, architects, designers, building scientists and real estate professionals, which was established in late March to help guide a response to the pandemic. (more…)

June 4, 2020

Right, said Fred. Here I am again

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing

If there has been an underlying driver of workplace thinking over the past several decades, it has been a rejection of the principles of scientific management. These begat the idea of the office as a factory, subject to the same rigid times and places of work and the same culture of process, efficiency and productivity. This made a pantomime villain of its key figure Frederick Taylor. The worst adjective you could use to describe a working culture was Taylorist. (more…)

May 20, 2020

Wellbeing nosedives as people miss interactions with colleagues

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Wellbeing amongst professionals has taken a dive since lockdown restrictions were enforced in March, according to a new survey by recruiting firm Hays. From a survey of over 16,200 professionals, close to two thirds (61 percent) rated their wellbeing as positive before restrictions were put in place, but only 35 percent said it remained positive since lockdown. Those who rated their wellbeing as negative rose from 7 percent to 23 percent. (more…)

May 18, 2020

CIPD Festival of Work goes digital for 2020

by Freddie Steele • Events, News, Workplace

There’s just one month to go until CIPD hosts its Festival of Work, which has moved online for the first time. Extended to three days, it will provide even more access to expert masterclasses, discussions and skills sessions, and a taste of large-scale events of this kind for the future. It is following a well trodden path in the current climate as a number of other events have moved online. (For an up to date list of workplace events and their status visit our Events page). (more…)

May 17, 2020

About

by Mark Eltringham •

Insight Publishing is one of the world’s leading platforms for workplace news, commentary and features. It publishes podcasts, reports, daily updates and now IN and Works magazines.

Workplace Insight is the UK’s most widely read publication dedicated to the design and management of workplaces, offering a definitive source of daily ideas, comment, news and information. Launched in 2013, it publishes a weekly newsletter and has a readership of up to 8,000 unique users a day including workplace professionals, suppliers, purchasing, HR, IT and facilities managers and specifiers including fit-out firms, architects and designers.

IN Magazine was launched in 2020 to offer a new way of talking about the physical office and the digital and cultural aspects of work. Aimed at occupiers and managers, it is published every two months and has around 90,000 readers per issue. In the Spring of 2022, Works Magazine was launched aimed at Europe’s workplace interiors sector. It has quickly established itself as one of the continent’s essential reads for everybody interested in office design.

Insight Publishing is led by Mark Eltringham, a professional with over thirty years’ specialist experience working as an editor, writer and commentator. Mark is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and is the European Director of Work&Place Journal. Works magazine is edited and published by Mick Jordan, who has been a mainstay of the European office design scene for over twenty years. Insight Publishing employs an experienced and knowledgeable team of industry experts, journalists and professionals to offer you the most independent reporting of issues relating to workplace design, culture and management, property, cities and technology.

Philosophy

From day one, we have worked on the premise that modern ways of working are no longer about just physical offices, but about cultural and digital work spaces too. This is the driving force behind a new discipline that embraces existing professions like general management, facilities management, HR, IT, real estate, design and architecture. The end result is a coherent way of looking at a wide range of workplace issues centred on the needs of people that occupy the three domains of 21st Century work. We offer a platform for all those with new, insightful and meaningful things to say about related issues. We prefer not to follow received wisdom but produce thought-provoking, informative and occasionally challenging content.

Contact

Insight Publishing Ltd

Brampton House

10 Queen Street

Newcastle

Staffs ST5 0PS

England

E. enquiries@workplaceinsight.net

May 15, 2020

Lockdown drives shift in attitudes to environmental issues

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

Almost two-thirds of workers (64 percent) have evaluated their environmental impact during the coronavirus pandemic, and the majority (53 percent) are seeking permanent changes to their working week once lockdown restrictions ease, according to a new survey. (more…)

May 12, 2020

From the archive: The future of work will be defined by a harmony of people and technology

by Peter Harte • Comment, Technology

Originally published November 26, 2019. As modern-day employees and consumers, technology has become so commonplace that it now impacts almost every aspect of our lives – both personally and professionally. We can now communicate with whomever we want, wherever we want with the simple click of a button or tap of a smartphone. We can also automate mundane workplace tasks, and even customise software to our hearts’ content. This is not the future of work but the present. (more…)

May 11, 2020

Hygiene remains main concern of people returning to work

by Neil Franklin • News

As lockdown measures begin to ease, many UK office workers are concerned about going back to the office – with worries rife over being able to maintain social distancing (59 percent) and appropriate hygiene and cleaning standards (44 percent), according to new research. The YouGov poll, for the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) surveyed office workers across the country to reveal that over a third (34 percent) are concerned about getting used to a corporate office culture again after the lockdown. (more…)

May 7, 2020

Coronavirus crisis drives freelancer confidence to unimagined lows

by Neil Franklin • News

Freelancers’ confidence in their businesses and the wider economy has been driven to record lows by the Coronavirus crisis, according to research by IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) and PeoplePerHour, Europe’s largest freelance marketplace. Freelancers’ three month confidence in their businesses had already fallen to a six-year low last quarter because of concerns about the changes to IR35 tax regulations. (more…)