Workplace Strategy

Students design workstations that accommodate groups and individuals

New school and office workspace designs created by a group of Penn State engineering students are intended to allow users to share space and materials while maintaining their own work areas—a dual purpose the researchers say has been neglected.

Source: phys.org

Stegmeier Consulting Group applauds Penn State University and their engineering students for their hard work and years of study on continuous improvement of shared workspace environments. 

In 2002, the General Services Administration (GSA) began the Workplace 2020 initiative which was a project that sought to research what workplaces of the future may look like.  It was back then when the administration noticed the workplace becoming “increasingly more team-based and collaborative.”  Two of the “Hallmarks of the Productive Workplace” they identified were spacial equity and comfort: two areas this Penn State research program has worked hard to master since 2010!


Continuing to push the frontier on how organizations can work more efficiently and collaborate better is a passion we share as well.  We have worked with several clients across many industries who have successfully transitioned their employees away from confining and isolated work areas to open, more team-oriented settings.


Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change


Workplace Flexibility, Workplace Strategy

Office Design: The Right Environment for the Right Space

Poorly designed office spaces have been proven to not only have a negative impact on an employees’ mood, but productivity and wellbeing. Extensive international research from Ipsos and the Workspace Futures Team of Steelcase shows 85% of people are dissatisfied with their work environment and can’t concentrate; of those, 95% said working privately was important to them.

However some businesses have incorporated fun in their office design without compromising productivity.

Source: interfacedesignwithpurpose.com.au

Proof that a workplace does not need to be a dry, bland environment, this article highlights some very interesting workspaces designed to make employees feel comfortable and stimulated!  When companies create work environments that their people enjoy, productivity increases, morale improves, and internal relationships strengthen.  We’re not suggesting every office needs a ping-pong table, but we do feel it is important organizations reinforce their culture through the design of their physical space!

If your company is considering a drastic, or even a minor, change to the work environment, let the experienced consultants at Stegmeier Consulting Group help make your transition smooth by preparing your workforce for new ways of working.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Workplace Flexibility, Workplace Strategy

Millennials are more like Boomers than you think, in workplace preference

Millennial-oriented workspaces – those wide-open, funky zones designed to foster “collaboration” – have become such a part of the tech office landscape that the hip HBO series “Silicon Valley” has made a running gag out of them.

But a new CBRE study of more than 5,500 office workers shows that Millennial employees don’t actually work that much differently than their more seasoned colleagues. Indeed, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers and Millennials all gravitate toward similar working environments.

Source: www.bizjournals.com

Implementing a workplace change strategy does not have to mean a complete elimination of privacy in the office.  Instead, a well-designed organizational layout should provide employees and managers alike easy access to a variety of work settings including areas for individual work to take place as well asspaces for collaboration.  Even workplaces that have shifted to a more open space environment where everyone is easily visible and accessible can implement policies such as visual cues to indicate when someone is not currently available.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management, Workplace Strategy

Why companies are doing away with assigned desks

It sounds like a gag straight out of a Dilbert cartoon. But for a growing number of companies, taking away assigned desks and turning employees into office nomads has its advantages.

At Citi, executives saw office work space going unused because employees were home sick, out on vacation or on flexible schedules. So the company filled an entire floor of a building in Long Island City with conference rooms, meeting areas and desks — but no assigned desks. In fact, there are only 150 spaces for 200 people, according to Harvard Business Review. Employees put their personal belongings in lockers and simply find a space where they want to work.

Source: www.cbsnews.com

The trend of companies seeking a more mobile and “agile” workforce continues to grow as this article documents.  Presently, most work environments are set up to maximize productivity.  What a redesigned and more team-focused environment does however is inspire collaboration and innovation.  The goal?  Maximize productivity AND innovation simultaneously.  At Stegmeier Consulting Group, we work with organizations in various fields and of all sizes to help with transitions to new office layouts and new ways of thinking about workplace efficiency.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management, Workplace Strategy

5 Ways to Increase Your Workplace Innovation

How can you spur innovation? Recently, I attended an internal workshop on strategy and growth, and my workgroup was asked to tackle this very question. We quickly came to the conclusion that innovation and learning are closely aligned; that is, creating the condition for innovation requires creating a “learning culture,” or a culture in which new ideas and fresh thinking are welcome.

Source: www.kineo.com

At Stegmeier Consulting Group, we believe that innovation can come from anywhere at anytime within an organization.  Innovation should not just be a responsibility left up to the marketing department or the research and development teams.  This article brings to light 5 great suggestions on how to foster a more innovative culture.  Here at SCG, we’d like to propose a 6th suggestion: Consider a workplace redesign that allows for more collaboration and efficiency.  The changes can range from simply providing employees more space to hold small meetings, to considering a telework program that will allow employees more flexibility and more of the most precious resource of all: time. 

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management, Workplace Flexibility, Workplace Strategy

Winston-Salem’s Flywheel coworking space opens – Greensboro – Triad Business Journal

An event space housed in a basketball court, complimentary snacks and beverages, billiards and darts may seem more at home in a fraternity house than an office. But those amenities fit right in at coworking space Flywheel, which opened this week at the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter.

Flywheel is located in 11,585 square feet of the research park’s 525@vine building. Its flexible, collaborative working space offers a “casual and contemporary” environment for entrepreneurs, independent professionals and innovators to work “on the fly.”

Source: www.bizjournals.com

There is a common misconception that the demand for coworking space only lies in the largest cities (think NYC, LA, Chicago). We’re seeing that this is not the case.

Winston-Salem is a great example of a smaller city embracing new ways of working. The city population is a little over 236,000 and it already has two coworking office locations, including the one in this article. These working offices are both around 10,000 square feet and open 7 days a week.

Would you consider working in a coworking office? Why or why not? 

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management, Telework, Work Life Balance, Workplace Flexibility, Workplace Strategy

A Culture of Presenteeism is Damaging to Productivity

A ubiquitous culture of presenteeism is damaging productivity in UK offices, according to new research by fit out and refurbishment specialist Overbury. This is despite 77% of office workers having more flexible working options open to them than five years ago and expecting this trend to continue into 2014.


Four in five (80%) claim those who spend more hours in the office are thought by bosses to be working harder, while two thirds (66%) say being seen to work late increases an employee’s chance of promotion. More than two thirds (67%) of those who sometimes work from home admit to sending emails early in the morning to stop colleagues thinking they’re having a lie-in.

Source: www.hrreview.co.uk

Companies are willing to invest millions building collaborative work settings. However, many of those same companies forget to focus on establishing and consistently supporting an appropriate workplace culture that leverages collaborative settings. Presenteeism is one of the culture “roadblocks” that can keep that investment from paying off.

From the article: “More businesses need to realise that great ideas don’t arise from sitting at the same desk all day. Instead we must enable people to work in different environments depending on what they’re doing at any one time to push productivity through the roof.”


Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change


Workplace Flexibility, Workplace Strategy

New Survey Reveals Top Workplace Trends for 2014

Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology surveyed some 8,000 industrial-organisational psychologists to unearth what they believed to be the top 10 workplace trends of 2014. Many of these will be familiar to readers of this blog, but some might be new. Check them out and see what you think.

Source: www.socialmediatoday.com

This list links Remote Working (#9) to Work-Life Balance (#7). We also see a link between Remote Working (#9) and Locating Talent (#3).


By providing an option to work remotely, your organization can avoid geographical barriers to hiring and retaining top talent.    

 

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management, Workplace Strategy

Why Brooklyn Is The New Mecca For Fledgling Tech Startups

Although every city is mired by challenges and no neighborhood truly represents an urban planner’s paradise, Brooklyn’s live-work lifestyle comes quite close. While recent pieces have chronicled the detrimental effects of large tech firms on cities, a new perspective is warranted.

Perhaps the grass is greener on the East Coast, but here in Brooklyn and throughout New York City, tech companies have been helping neighborhoods flourish because they are choosing to work in collaborative, creative environments.

Source: www.businessinsider.com

The trend of startups using shared space and coworking locations can teach established corporations something about attracting and retaining Gen Y, which populates the tech sector.

The youngest generation in the workplace wants to work in a collaborative setting or close to where they live (generally gentrified, urban settings).  Either provide a modern workplace or operate downtown. 

Another possibility, which we’ve seen organizations whose HQ is not in a ‘hot market’ embrace, is the adoption of telework.  By allowing employees to work remotely (and live where they want, not just where you are), they’ve found they can finally start recruiting the workforce of the future.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Telework, Workplace Flexibility, Workplace Strategy

Telework, once a ‘mom perk,’ keeps government humming during snow storms

On Tuesday morning, snow and ice covered the streets around Mika Cross’ home in southern Maryland. Commuter accidents clogged roadways. Her kids’ school closed because of the stormy weather. Many businesses, medical offices and shops were shuttered. And Cross’ employer, the federal government decided to shut down.

But for Cross and thousands of federal and private sector workers who can work remotely, or telework, Tuesday was just a typical work day. Except that her kids, at her ex-husband’s house, played in the snow all day and she, instead of getting in a workout at lunch, shoveled snow…

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Telework isn’t a mere perk–it’s a risk mitigation tactic. If the thought of business interruption doesn’t cross your mind when developing or reassessing your company’s workplace strategy, you’re missing the boat.

Technology has finally advanced to the point where many people can work quite efficiently at home, or a third place. Why risk huge work stoppages by having an archaic workforce strategy that only enables or allows your team to work at one site?

We saw it after Superstorm Sandy–some of the organizations best equipped for staying afoot and avoiding an utter shut down were those that had a strong workforce mobility program already in place.  If you’re still viewing telework as a perk for employees–it may be time to reconsider your stance!

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change