Is it time for a Spring Cleaning Refresh of your office space? Are you tripping over stacks of papers piled up behind your desk?  Or, is there always a line at the photocopier?

According to Gensler’s San Francisco office, these are signs that your office space is not configured very well.  Just a few, very simple changes can make a huge difference to how your work space functions and feels.

CBS News did a feature interview on Gensler’s methods for determining how well an office space is functioning and they discussed the type of red flags that would indicate that your office is due for a makeover.

It’s important to figure out whether your workspace layout is helping or hindering your company’s work activities.  Gensler suggests that you can figure this out by shadowing the employees over the course of a few days as they work. You can do this by visiting areas such as conference rooms and desk areas to see just how busy they are.  Checking every half hour will give you a pretty good idea of just how well a space is being utilized.

Another way is to ask employees to track their own movements during the work day and then have them report back to you so that you can get an accurate idea of just how much time it takes to get from point A to point B.

There are a number of red flags that you should look out for.

If you find that these flags are present, this will give you a very good indication that your space does, in fact, need a makeover.

Red Flags:

• Collaborative spaces are all bunched right at the far end of the building
• Employees spend a lot of time in transit to meeting rooms, printers, copiers, and fax machines
• An area is always either empty or really overcrowded
• Workers are competing for certain furnishings or equipment and not using others much at all
• Employees meet at a coffee shop because they can’t find common space in which to hold informal discussion
• Employees bring lamps from home to avoid exposure to the office’s harsh fluorescent lighting

How To Fix These Red Flag Issues:

Get everyone together and get the ideas rolling!  But first, you should be aware this can be a double-edged sword, if it’s not handled correctly.  While most people will be only too happy to give you their feedback on what’s not working for them as far as the office space design is concerned, it can also give rise to some pretty unrealistic expectationswhich will need to be managed in order to avoid any resentment arising when people feel that their ideas did not receive enough attention, or did not get implemented.

When you request ideas and involvement from everyone who uses the office, it’s important to stress that no office space design will ever be perfect for everyone, but that the goal is to achieve as many of the items on the collective wish list as are practical and possible for the company to implement. With any major changes at work, keeping everyone in the loop will help avoid any possible backlash.

It’s all about COMMUNICATION.  No one likes to be surprised with major, or unexpected changes, so discussing the plans fully and frequently will go a long way to making sure that everyone is comfortable with the new design and that you have the greatest amount of support possible.

Gensler suggests that once the design has been finalized, that you call a meeting to let everyone know just what they can expect, especially if the changes are quite significant.  Concentrate on the highlights and the positives that will result as the outcome of the new work space design as this will help people realize that those things which they perceive as negative are more than likely far outweighed by the obvious advantages they will gain.

Reconfiguring office space is not a purely physical or logistical exercise, it can be a very emotional experience for most people and it’s wise to remain sensitive to this aspect throughout the process. Having said this, a successful office makeover can do wonders for employee morale, motivation and job satisfaction, if it is handled correctly.

If you’re seeing any or all of the red flags we mentioned earlier, it may very well mean that your office needs a makeover. If that’s the case… well, you know who to call! Inside Source, of course! 

Read the full article here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-51190221/office-design-how-to-build-a-better-office/

Recently we went back to the Second Harvest Food Bank to help distribute and package canned goods in San Carlos, CA.  Six of us went together and started helping.  Stepping into the warehouse gave us all a great sense of happiness and care.  To know that we are all making a difference and helping our community in the Silicon Valley is so wonderful and we enjoy doing it!  We plan to visit the food bank again in June.

Have a wonderful day!

You’ve read that the way an office space is planned and configured directly impacts how productive, focused and happy we are at work.

Studies have shown that furniture design and placement as well as the colors that surround us strongly influence our performance. As we spend about 80% of our time indoors, it makes sense to design our interiors in ways that improve our lives both from a productivity and a health perspective.

You may have noticed the greater awareness of these factors being taken into account in today’s office space design with cube walls becoming lower, more casual meeting spaces where people can gather and a great deal of attention being paid to giving more access to natural light.

In fact, you may even be working in an office with this kind of thoughtfully designed environments as you read this blog!

Some offices are also incorporating living plants to make their spaces more pleasant. While this in itself is not a new concept as architects have designed living walls for both interior and exterior spaces for some time, but there’s new evidence to suggest that this will take on a greater importance in the future. 

Would you believe that plants improve efficiency at work?

There are recent studies that give some surprising insights into the positive impact indoor plants can have on our work environment. We are seeing more and more of our clients incorporating living plants into their office space design and there are good reasons for this.
Not only do living plants make office spaces more visually appealing which positively influences employee satisfaction, but there’s an even more important benefit: improved air quality.

One recent study revealed the surprising fact that by including 3 commonly available and inexpensive plants in our offices, we can not only create clean indoor air, but raise the level of oxygen in our blood and that this factor alone boosts our mental alertness which positively impacts our productivity.

Karmal Meattle, a member of a team in India, studied the effects that these plants had on the work environment in a building in Delhi, India – one of the most air-polluted cities in the world. The study revealed that incorporating the Areca Palm, Mother-in-Law’s-Tongue and the Money Plant into the office spaces throughout the building not only cleaned up the air, but actually produced a higher level of available oxygen. You can watch a video here: http://www.ted.com/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_own_fresh_air.html

In fact, according to Meattle, if you were to seal yourself into an airtight dome together with these plants, and remove all the oxygen, you wouldn’t die as these plants actually ‘grow’ fresh air.

The building in which the initial experiment was conducted was an older building with no special attention paid during construction to any environmental concerns. After the experiment, when the indoor environment was tested, the building was declared the ‘cleanest in Delhi’.

Pretty impressive for a building of this age and in this location. This type of low tech solution is extremely interesting when it comes to meeting our modern day environmental challenges. This factor alone deserves attention as increased levels of available oxygen boosts our mental alertness and this, in turn, positively impacts our productivity.

If you need something more quantifiable to bring to the table when you’re planning your office space design, you’ll be interested to know that there are reputable studies that show that by incorporating indoor plants you can actually improve productivity by 12% and reduce absenteeism by 14%.

When it comes to employee happiness – something which is intangible and sometimes difficult to define – according to the study, this asset is valued at 10 times building operating cost and 100 times the energy cost.
http://www.uvm.edu/pss/ppp/articles/plantswork.html

All pretty solid statistics to back up what most of us already know: living plants make office spaces a whole lot more pleasant to spend time in!

Have you already begun using indoor plants in your office environment in positive and creative ways?  If you have, we’d love to see some photos and hear how about what you’ve done and the positive effects you’ve experienced. Let us know by leaving us a note!

If you’re interested in reading more about this subject, and finding ways that you can improve your own office environment, here are a few links you may like to explore:

http://greenplantsforgreenbuildings.org/attachments/contentmanagers/25/InteriorPlantsWorkerProductivity.pdf
http://www.plants-in-buildings.com/acoustic.php
http://www.plants-in-buildings.com/whyplantsstressreduction.php

Yesterday we volunteered at Second Harvest Food Bank in San Carlos and helped with sorting and distributing of the donated canned foods.  It was a fun and exciting event!

We sorted food to be distributed to families struggling with low-wage jobs, growing housing costs and homelessness. Our efforts helped feed low-income seniors, as well as low-income volunteers who are helping others while helping themselves. Volunteer support is essential for Second Harvest to maintain efficient and cost effective services. The food is distributed through our partnering agencies, their satellites, and through Second Harvest Food Bank’s direct service programs.

Food Banks are always in need of volunteer help!  Here are some pictures!

A few years ago, casual interaction among employees was discouraged. Managers thought that chitchatting in the break room was a noisy distraction. Times have changed and we now understand that on-the-job socialization promotes cooperation and innovation. In fact, companies are now designing their floor plans to encourage more social and cooperative corporate cultures.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, “On the Secrets of Great Teams,” MIT professor and director of MIT’s Human Dynamics laboratory, Alex “Sandy” Pentland, shares his research on the science behind building great teams. His findings surprised us.

Have you ever wondered what makes a great team? Is it the personalities of the people in the team? Is it how they interact? Their tone of voice and their mannerisms? How do personalities, as opposed to skills, affect team dynamics? Studies have shown that how we communicate is much more important to the success of the team than what we communicate.

In his research, Pentland identified intangible group dynamics that characterize high-performance teams. He then tested his theory by having team members wear electronic badges which were able to monitor these dynamics. By observing the data, Pentland was able to predict which teams would win a business plan contest.

According to the research, the three essential elements of communication are:

1. Energy – How team members contribute to a team as a whole.
2. Engagement – How team members communicate with one another individually.
3. Exploration – How teams as communicate with one another.

Face-to-face energy is considered the most valuable form of communication. For this reason, we’re seeing some workplaces moving from phone and video conferencing, to making use of face-to-face collaborative “break out” areas. These areas provide creative space for private meetings, casual brainstorm team gatherings and occasionally even an alternative work space for those who become bored by being tethered to a desk in a cubicle.

So, what did Pentland conclude from his research? He found that the best way to build a great team is not to select individuals for their abilities or accomplishments alone, but to observe how they communicate and then shape and guide the team so that it follows successful communication patterns.

In one study, he had employees all take a coffee break at the same time. With more time to socialize, productivity increased and communication patterns improved more than 50%.

It’s these kinds of findings that affirm that work environments must not only be functional but also encourage collaboration and creativity. Just as words and ideas influence the way we work and think, color, texture and inspirational furniture have a positive impact and help support the development of better teams and great organizations!