Category Archive For "News"
Wellbeing is now one of the most important drivers of sustainability in offices
As organisations depend more and more on the skills and knowledge of people for their competitive advantage and growth, so too are they increasingly concerned about the wellbeing of individuals. They may not have a magic wand to deal with the issue completely, but they do have more awareness and a growing number of tools …
A new and simple approach to wellbeing is reshaping the office
Arguably, no workplace subject is more talked about than wellbeing. This is understandable, given the ways work can affect our wellbeing for good or bad and the fact that the subject embraces a wide range of issue and disciplines. Our general wellbeing is defined by our physical and mental health, our relationships (both in the …
Life at the coalface: How the agile workplace first appeared in the mid 20th Century
The idea of diffusion of innovation has become so embedded in our culture, and most recently so associated with the adoption of new technology, that we might assume it happens in predictable ways. The steps between innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards seem intuitive and certain even when their peaks might be …
The studied carelessness of agile workplaces
In recent years we have grown very fond of borrowing foreign words to describe some of the more difficult to express ideas about wellbeing and work. We’ve adopted Eudaimonia from the Ancient Greek of Aristotle to describe the nuances of wellbeing, happiness and purpose. We went nuts briefly for the Scandinavian idea of hygge to …
An office and culture that boosts creativity
Productivity for knowledge workers is not just measured in the amount of work they do, but their results. This can be frustrating when it comes to assessing outputs, especially in a macroeconomic sense for modern service based economies, but it needs to be assessed and we need to establish the factors that help knowledge workers …
To truly make a difference, firms should code ethics in their DNA
There is a theory that when companies talk about issues such as corporate social responsibility they are doing so because it helps them to achieve their business goals. This is the rational commercial thing to do according to people like the famous economist and proponent of the free market Milton Friedman who argued that companies …
How the Dutch pioneered agile working, wellbeing and the world’s smartest buildings
Many of the challenges we face in selecting the right office design models first became apparent during the 1960s as the world adjusted to the first signs of the technological revolution. At the same time, people across Europe were pressing for changes in the way organisations and the economy worked. The advent of formal workers’ …
Ethical behaviour and better ideas are linked to great office design
We’ve reported before on What’s Up about the important role of office design in nurturing individual wellbeing and bringing people together to collaborate. However, sophisticated the collaborative technology we have at our disposal, it always turns out that certain behaviours and ideas can best (and sometimes only) be nurtured in physical space.
Going with the flow in office design
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. …
New London showroom opened at Design Week
Clerkenwell Design Week a big success The opening of the new UK showroom last month coincided with London’s Clerkenwell Design Week. The event, held at the end of May, always creates an exciting buzz in the furniture industry. Over the three days, the UK team welcomed in almost 1000 visitors, which was around a 20 …