I am incredibly fortunate to work in an amazingly well planned and thought out open office and hot desk environment. But even with full focus zones it can be difficult at times to concentrate because of distracting background conversations.
Cornell University researchers conducted a study that involved tinkering with the thermostat of an insurance office. When temperatures were low (68 degrees, to be precise), employees committed 44% more errors and were less than half as productive as when temperatures were warm (a cozy 77 degrees).
I’ve posted a few stories on the stand up desk trend. Here’s the science story about the health problems caused by constant sitting from ABC’s Catalyst: http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3568627.htm
My previous post included an image of a standing desk at Faceboook HQ, and a while ago I posted a story about a seemingly wacky treadmill desk. What I thought was a fringe trend of tech firms has hit the mainstream at Sydney’s Commonwealth Bank headquarters as well as Macquarie Group, GPT Group and Jones Lang LaSalle, Jonathan Swan of the SMH reports.
Some highlights from the article to encourage your further reading:
It’s worth reading this article about the treadmill desk. Don’t dismiss it as a novelty. Its an example of how an idea was born, implemented, how its usage changed over time and how the concept spawned a new idea — the walking meeting.
