Tag: meeting room

Three Simple Choices Which Can Create Workspace Satisfaction

Posted on by aubizconsulting

Most of us spend a reasonable chunk of our working week within the four walls of our office, so it makes sense that we do whatever we can to maximise the level of satisfaction we feel inside our workspace. Flexibility is quickly becoming a buzzword in workspaces across the world and with it, the ability for employees to design a workspace specific to their needs has increased.

A recent e-book from Office Depot – A Quick Guide to Collaborative Workspace Design – explores how creating the right office can lead to increased employee satisfaction and productivity. In it the experts agree that offering employees choice over how their workspace looks and feels – even regarding mundane issues like chairs, desks and personal items – can lead to increased morale, employees that report feeling healthier at work and even employees feeling they are getting more work done.

Choice 1: Make The Space Your Own  
Too many offices and cubicles look the same. White walls and bland furniture colours and an apparently ergonomic chair with very little else. Research is showing that allowing employees significant choice over how their workspace looks and feels has a deeply personal effect. Furthermore allowing employees to personalise their workstation helps them to feel ownership over ‘their’ space and leads them to be more comfortable in their working surroundings. To add some personality to an office things like photographs, momentos from past holidays and other things that remind you of life on the outside are great options. Allowing staff to do this, will not only help them feel more satisfied within the space but may also help them to communicate their personal side potentially leading to stronger inter-personal relationships between employees.

Choice 2: Furnish The Space To Suit You 
It’s a fact – each employee is going to have a different requirement from their office furnishings. Whether this is due to their storage requirements or personal health considerations, it just makes sense to allow everyone some control over their office furniture needs. Beyond the obvious of allowing employees to have easy access to all the tools which they require to do their job, tailoring furnishing to employees specific needs can also make them feel much more comfortable at work. A popular trend is the use of height adjustable furniture in workspaces. There is evidence that indicates that sitting for several hours each day can have adverse effects on your health and even increase the chance of certain health issues. Adjustable furniture allows each employee to easily ‘adjust’ their whole office layout to meet their specific needs on demand – either weekly, daily or hourly. Such control can also allow them to determine how much to sit and stand each day which can provide significant health benefits.

Choice 3: Make Sure Your Office Support Your Outside Life 
With employees spending an increasing proportion of their time in the office, it is more important than ever that their workspace supports how they live away from work. Many people today are committed to living a healthy lifestyle, so it is important that the office supports these choices. Considerations like providing employees access to natural light, working in a space which allows for occasional movement away from the desk, and providing healthy eating options – within the office environment or available nearby – are just a few examples of how workspaces can support the lifestyle choices employees make away from the office. Research suggests that such design can assist employees to feel more focused and productive while they are at work – providing mutual benefit for the employee and employer.

Whilst at the end of the day the responsibility for ensuring that employees feel satisfied at work falls upon employers, there are significant benefits for both the employer and employees if the later is empowered to take some control over these factors.

Wilkin Group is an independent provider of Workspace solutions in the Adelaide CBD for small and medium businesses. Much of their success is driven by offering flexibility to their clients in all aspects of the office space.

 

Are Face-To-Face Meetings A Thing Of The Past?

Posted on by aubizconsulting

We Think Not … and here are the Reasons.

In today’s age of technology-fuelled remote workforces and virtual teams, the age-old ritual method of a meeting (face to face) may be seen to have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

Go To Meetings & conference calling is rife. But often, the problem with virtual conferences is that most people “aren’t there”, that is they are not actually present. By this, I mean they are probably doing something else. Be it planning the weekend, reading the news or putting themselves on mute to carry on another conversation, 60% of conference call attendees admit to “multitasking” during these meetings. Is having over half of your attendees not fully engaged in the meeting really that productive?

Traditional face-to-face contact has power; this is where the work gets done. There is something about sitting around a table to thrash things out, it drives accountability, outcomes and in turn productivity.

It often makes sense to meet face-to-face despite the fact that it may be perceived as

more expensive,

more inconvenient and

taking longer.

However it actually drives outcomes and after all, that is the purpose of communication.

5 Reasons You Need To Meet Face-To-Face

Body Language
Studies show that 65% of communication is nonverbal. It is not what you say, but how it is said, both in tone and visually. This aspect of communication is completely lost in a phone call. Face-to-face communication allows you to more accurately gauge the impression you are leaving and will result in a more measured and meaningful conversation.

Clarity
Face-to-face meetings are much more conducive to sending a clear message. Some other communication mediums are just not appropriate for clarifying misunderstandings. You generally don’t get much of a response when you raise your hand while on a teleconference.

Drives Participation
When in a room together, participation is more easily encouraged. People cannot easily turn their back on the meeting like they can during a phone call. If someone has not provided much input to the meeting, the chair can much more easily bring them into the conversation if they are actually sitting there.

More Efficient Delivery of Outcomes
Face-to-face meetings often demand and encourage outcomes. As time is a premium for people these days, there is pressure to get to the point. A sense of achievement needs to be fulfilled for attendees to walk away from a meeting feeling that it was a productive use of their time.

The Creative Flow
Face-to-face meetings are ideal moments to encourage creativity and “on the fly” thought processes. Using visual aids like a whiteboard allow you to quickly change your tact and begin exploring new ideas with a “sketch pad” mentality. As they say, some of the best ideas and business deals were first scrawled on the back of a cocktail napkin!

Wilkin Group in the Adelaide CBD have numerous meeting spaces for rental. By the hour, By the half or full day, Our role is to help you organise productive meetings as painless as possible.

We can be contacted at info@wilkingroup.com.au or (08) 7071 7071.

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