After personnel costs, real estate is often the second largest business expense, and the recession forced many organizations to carefully examine lease agreements and reevaluate the amount of square footage allocated to each employee. However, this trend was not brought on solely by the recession; even prior to the economic downturn, organizations began exploring and adopting new workplace strategies.

According to real-estate research firm Reis, companies since 2008 have given up 137.8 million square feet nationwide. Much of the reallocated space has been designed with an open-plan layout and incorporates benching, impromptu meeting spaces, small meeting rooms, and touchdown stations for mobile workers. This trend towards integration, collaboration, open planning, and remote access greatly reduces the need for private offices and in some cases assigned workspaces.

A 2009 Global Benchmarking Study by New Ways of Working showed that recessionary pressures expedited the adoption of alternative workplace strategies. They also facilitated the combination of non-traditional work practices, settings, and locations to supplement or replace traditional workspaces.

Workplace benching fits well into this new way of workspace planning by providing workplace solutions for several types of workers. Based on Kimball Office research completed in 2011, three dominant worker profiles were identified as thriving in benching solutions.

1. Traditional workers – Throughout the day, these employees constantly shift between collaborative and independent work modes. They rely on benching solutions to provide an environment similar to a cubicle, but with the flexibility to allow for easy interaction with teammates and co-workers. In most cases, privacy screens provide visual privacy from neighbors.
2. Transient workers – This worker profile includes employees who primarily work remotely. They visit the office on a limited basis and spend a majority of the time traveling and working off-site. Benching satisfies this type of worker’s needs because they do not require an assigned workspace in the office, but simply a space to plug-in and accomplish work-related tasks.
3. Teams – Teams spend about half their time working in group settings where collaboration is key and benching’s flexibility and ability to reconfigure easily allows them to expand or contract without disrupting work flow. Easy, visual access to teammates as well as power, data, and storage, make benching an ideal solution.

Although benching and a mobile workforce are becoming more prevalent, focused work is still important for individuals. The adoption of benching has also led to an increased use of lounge seating and small private meeting spaces in order to provide isolated areas for work requiring extra focus.

There are tradeoffs organizations must consider when evaluating whether or not to incorporate a benching solution, with one being visual privacy; however, research has shown that subtle visual cues by co-workers in an open plan can lead to decreased auditory and visual distractions.

The set up allows employees to identify when teammates are available, on the phone or focused on a project. Collaboration will continue to grow in importance to organizations, but the key is evaluating which benching solution meets workers’ needs and offers the flexibility required by emerging technology.

Studies show that a sit-stand work environment can result in:
• Smaller waist circumference
• Lower body mass index
• Reduced levels of triglycerides & glucose in the bloodstream

In addition, a combination of sitting and standing during the workday helps employees:
• Increase energy and alertness
• Reduce fatigue and improve work performance
• Enhance overall wellness

So no matter what furniture design you have for that office chair, you need to give it a break and stand up every once in awhile. Your results will show for themselves!

Today’s workplace houses four generations of diverse workers – men and women of different ethnicities who represent cultures from around the world. A successful workplace must embrace diversity and take into account the different needs and expectations of people who do not see work (or life) in the same way.

We can define four distinct generations of workers as:

·         Traditional                            1928 – 1945

·         Boomers                               1946 – 1964

·         Generation X                        1965 – 1980

·         Millennial or Generation Y     1981 – 1991

In general, Traditional workers joined the workforce before the social upheaval of the 1960s. Boomers arrived in the ’70s when digital media was still not widespread, while GenX and the Millennials came of age in a Web-based world. At work, these tech-savvy young workers exhibit high expectations of self, comfort working in teams and a fluid sense of space. Everyone “owns” all the space. Work can take place anywhere. It’s an attitude that appears to be analogous to growing up in a networked world where you can connect with others at any time and any distance, from the comfort of your own home. Everyone can access any information they need via an iPhone or BlackBerry.

To address these vast differences in preference and need, office planning must provide for variety and choice. One size does not fit all in terms of sensory stimulation (color and noise) nor is it desirable in terms of amenities and behavior (views and professional dress). Not everyone should get executive office chairs. Success lies in finding balance between uniformity – a degree of structure is necessary – and giving workers the ability to make choices. The challenge is to design appropriate variation.

As your partner in success, we wanted to share this tax benefit tip so you can utilize it and pass it along to your customers.

On December 17, 2010, the Job Creation Act of 2010 was signed into law. A potential benefit for you and your customers from this act is the acceleration of tax depreciation, which allows 100% accelerated depreciation for NEW assets purchased from September 9, 2010, through December 31, 2011. In 2012, the law moves to 50% accelerated depreciation for NEW assets purchased in that calendar year.

What does this mean?

For purchases made from September 9, 2010 through December 31, 2011, businesses can deduct sooner and at the full purchase price of qualified capital items to reduce tax expenses; therefore improving cash flow.

The next purchase of National™ your customers make could save them money in calendar 2011. For example, if they purchased $100,000 of National Office Furniture products in 2011, they could save approximately $30,000 in tax savings in calendar 2011(assuming a 35% tax rate).

This tax benefit applies to any qualified capital purchases. Informing your customers of this when preparing quotes and bids will remind them the value you bring to the relationship.

Note: Organizations should consult their tax advisors to see how this law can benefit them. The tax benefit goes to the organization that is the final purchaser and puts the items into service.

IMPORTANT Questions to Ask Yourself about Your Vital Records ?
1. Where do you store your vital  records?
2. How much would it cost to replace the documents you have in normal steel cabinets?
3. Where is your computer media stored?
4. How would losing those documents affect your business?
5. How much is your business worth?
6. Who is responsible for your records management?

A STAGGERING 50% of companies that incur a fire are out of business within 6 months. That number increases to 90% within 18 months.

WHY?
1. Insurance companies are not in the business of giving out checks.If inventory and stock levels cannot be documented the insurance agency will not honor the claim.
2. Accounts receivables are lost and due monies cannot be recovered.
3. Banks issue credit and allocate funds on yearly volume and inventory levels, if the numbers cannot be proven, money will not be granted.
4. Contracts and customer lists are gone and the business has to operate off human memory and essentially must start from scratch.
5. Human Resources are necessary for compensating employees and keeping records of time owed or time due.
6.  Tax returns must be kept– the government does not accept fire as an excuse for not having tax records.

Visit  www.fireking.com or contact your mbi’s sales represenative for more information.

 There is a hierarchy to what visually distracts individuals from working. Other people are at the top of the list.We instinctively want to recognize the emotions of others around us, so attention is given to other people,specifically their eyes, when they are present; movements and bright colors round out the other primary attention grabbers. Understanding what catches the eyes’ attention, and why, can help designers and facility managers create more efficient and less distracting work environments.

Because vision is the dominant human sense, it tells the brain where objects are and greatly drives behavior. To recognize what triggers a reaction in the eyes, it’s important to understand how the eyes focus. There are two types of photoreceptor cells In the eyes that control vision: rods and cones. The rods are sensitive to light and control peripheral vision and provide the brain with blurry details of a person’s surroundings; they help the brain understand where items, such as tables, pictures, other people, doors, lights, etc., are located. Distractions in the peripheral vision are almost impossible to ignore because the movement causes a reflexive reaction. Through this reflex, the eyes and brain acknowledge when something or someone is approaching. It’s common to see animals react to movement within their peripheral vision.

The cones are more sensitive to color, changes, and details, which is why vibrant colors sometimes create distractions. Cones are located in the fovea, which only has a visual field of approximately two degrees, or roughly an arm’s length. Visual scenes are created as the eyes scan an area and take in details, at which time the mind combines the scenes to generate a mental image. Fortunately, we have control over this process by choosing where we look, and are not left to the mercy of distractions.

 Visual distractions are the primary sensory interruption affecting focus, and for more than 40 years, office design has been addressing the issue through the implementation of screens and systems panels. Anthropometric studies reinforce that office dividing walls must be a minimum of 68 inches high for standing height visual privacy and 50 inches for seating height visual privacy. With ongoing trends to lower wall heights, visual distractions will likely increase.

 One of the fundamentals of good collaboration and communication is making work signals visible, such as indicating to someone their attention is needed. Identifying how to block visual distractions, while encouraging work mode signals is tricky. However, it is possible to design and arrange an environment that filters out unwarranted interruptions, while allowing access to necessary ones. Understanding the nature of an organization’s work and identifying employees’ needs will help designers, manufacturers, and facility managers plan an environment conducive to productivity with minimal unplanned interruptions.

Carrol, Terry  Kent Reyling, and Jay Henriott.  “The Truth Behind Visual Distractions.” Office Insight   July 2010. 1 Nov. 2010

Our working memory declines rapidly, often as quickly as 10 seconds, and studies based on working memory have proven that seven is the approximate number of items the mind can hold for a short time. Therefore, when planning an office or workspace, creating zones where similar information can be compiled for easy recall and recognition is critical. The practice of dividing numbers or items into easily understood groups is called visual chunking, which takes place in one of two modes: perceptual and goal oriented. Perceptual chunking happens unconsciously, and takes place through a series of wired-in shortcuts in the brain. An easy way to think about this is to look at a credit card or phone number. Ever notice how the numbers are chunked into groups of three and four? Without realizing it, the brain processes the information because it is divided into small, easily understood groups. Goal-oriented chunking is a more active process. It requires the brain to deliberately identify patterns or chunks to assist the memory. For example, when trying to estimate the number of paperclips that fell onto the floor, the brain would first try to divide the objects into small groups, and then add those groups to determine a total. The images accompanying this article offer a good example of how goal-oriented chunking works. Figure one shows a clustering of dots. Try to estimate how many there are in your first glance? Now take a look at figure two. By identifying the three patterns of five dots that form an ‘X’ it becomes significantly easier to count the dots. The brain strives to recognize patterns, shapes, and groups in order to make sense of a larger picture. The same holds true for workspaces. By grouping people based on projects (teams) or skills (departments), and creating zones for employees to mentally unload information (files, piles, binders, etc…), successful recall and recognition about the environment and placement of materials will increase.

Carrol, Terry  Kent Reyling, and Jay Henriott.  “How Visual Chuncking Assists with Recall .” Office Insight  2 Aug 2010. 4 Oct. 2010

Carrol, Terry and Kent Reyling.  “Pattern of Workspace Organization.” Office Insight  18 Aug 2010. 20 Sept. 2010 http://www.millerbrooks.com/KO/August10/10_OI_Column8.16.pdf.

(August 25, 2010)

What’s really nice about good indoor air is that we don’t even know it’s there.

Bad indoor air quality–we can’t see it but we sure do feel it. Itchy eyes, runny nose, scratchy throat, and headaches are some of the more immediate affects of poor indoor air. Long-term exposure can result in chronic conditions that inhibit productivity, learning, comfort, and quality of life.

Volatile organic compounds are often the culprits and there as many as a thousand different VOCs–decane, butoxyethanol, isopentane, limonene, styrene, xylenes, perchloroethylene, methylene chloride, toluene, and vinyl chloride, to name a few–that may be in the indoor environment where people can easily inhale them.

These nasty sounding pollutants get into buildings in various ways. Poorly designed and maintained ventilation systems are often the cause; however, many times we, our contractors and clients introduce the high-emitting materials and furnishings that contribute to poor IAQ. VOCs are ubiquitous, found in hundreds of products from building materials to furnishings.

 As designers we struggle with a myriad of decisions in order to provide safe environments for the occupants of the spaces we design. It’s so nice when a product comes along that makes our work easier, such as Kimball Office’s Pura, a water-based UV finish that is now available on nearly all the manufacturer’s wood product lines at no additional charge.

 Virtually VOC-free, Pura contributes to improved indoor air quality in workplaces and to achieving LEED points. It’s exceptionally clear and durable, scratch resistant and cures quickly. In addition, Pura’s composition is also helping Kimball reduce its carbon footprint. “The practices implemented drastically reduce waste,” according to Steven Brewster, Sustainability Director for Kimball Office. “Because Pura is water-based and robotically applied, material overspray can be recovered and reformulated with pure water, to circulate back into the system with new finish.”

Visit the Kimball Office’s Pura or contact a MBI sales associate for more information.