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In this section we highlight
creative approaches to office design and use. We also look at
the opportunities for reduction of office costs. We provide
guidance on how to find out if your property costs are
excessive, and how changing work practices can lead to both
improved productivity and cost reduction.
Articles:
Shrinking the office
For many employers, one of the most sought-for benefits of
flexible working is to create the potential to reduce office
costs. But moving from aspiration to implementation can be
tricky. How do you know what can be achieved, what are the
steps you need to take to maximise the benefits and how do you
get everyone to buy into the process?
Sharing space - the
final frontier?
Desk sharing - often characterised or caricatured as "hotdesking"
- is often a concept too far for people who otherwise want more
flexibility. As they say in Switzerland, "Love your
neighbour - but don't tear down the fences yet".
Here we look at the arguments for desk sharing in the context of
flexible work, and how to get it right.
Flexible work needs flexible workplaces
We profile the Guildford-based Worklife Centre, which specialises
in advising on and kitting out flexible working environments.
Do computers have to
look so ugly? Not if they look like this!
Style on the outside, technology on the inside. This is the
motto of PowerDesk, a company producing "intelligent
furniture" for the office and the home office. If you want a
bit of class and more elbow room in the office, one of these
should do the trick.
Hot-desking in your
part-time office
Your staff have a variable need
for space. Maybe it doesn't make sense any more to add to your
fixed costs with property that may be vacant half the time. We
profile a third-party serviced "hot-desking" solution.
Know your space: measure for
change
HOP Associates has developed
an online tool to help those responsible for office accommodation
make the most of the space available. Using this tool in the
context of a flexible working programme can reduce dramatically
the demand for office space, with the case for change built on
solid data.
Property, facilities,
output and productivity
What impact does your investment
in property and the way you manage it have on business output and
productivity? We profile the work of Occupier.org who are building up an online knowledge base of studies looking at the relationship
between property and facilities on the one hand, and corporate
output and productivity on the other. Fun in the office
The recruitment firm Office Angels surveyed 1500 workers
and employers to find out what would make offices better to work
in. Football, pets and more natural air and light featured in the
list.
Guide
to flexible facilities
A mini-series this - 7 pages looking at how to develop the flexible
office.
Tomorrow's
Office
Review of a book illustrating innovative best practice
and advocating an holistic approach to workplace
redesign
The
office is dead?
Flexibility takes an unfashionable look at the history
of the offices and assumptions about their future |
