http://ping.fm/aIbUv 12
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
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The time it takes the Earth to rotate on its axis – the definition of a day – is now about two milliseconds longer than it was 100 years ago
An extra second! How will you use it?
Increased use of remote work may be changing management styles and the tech tools teams use to communicate, but as we’ve covered here on GigaOM before, it’s also changing our physical workspaces. Some offices are opting to go modular, making their workspaces as flexible as their occupants’ work schedules. Others are emphasizing spaces for collaboration, ripping out some traditional individual work areas in favor of places where groups can huddle together.
Now another big company is going one step further and chucking out the concept of the individual desk entirely. Forbes reports that massive pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline is going deskless at its Philadelphia office, entirely eliminating anything resembling a private office or cubicle for the 1,300 employees based there. It already has one such deskless office in Bogota, Colombia. Forbes explains:
GlaxoSmithKline, the global pharmaceutical giant, thinks it has found the cure for the drab, inefficient office: fluid spaces where you do what the moment requires, alone or in groups, moving throughout the day. Each employee has a laptop with a built-in “soft phone,” a locker for personal possessions, and maybe one file drawer. That’s it. Even U.S. head Deirdre Connelly doesn’t have an office….
Why do it? “We found that only 35% of work activity took place in offices and cubes, yet we were dedicating 85% of our space to those,” says Edward Danyo, manager of workplace strategy. “It’s about creating environments so people can do their best work, and we’ve seen a 45% increase in the speed of decision making. But our biggest surprise is that within two weeks most folks say they wouldn’t go back to cellular space.” Bonus: The design saves money by saving space.
Check out the complete article for a visual explaining exactly how these innovative offices are laid out. GlaxoSmithKline is certainly not the only company trying a fairly radical re-thinking of the office. Zappos, for example, has even gone so far as to try to re-imagine the relationship between corporate campus and surrounding city, blurring the line between work and home life in their new downtown Las Vegas space.
Play office futurist – what do you foresee for the office space of the future?
Image courtesy of Flickr user mark sebastian.
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http://ping.fm/Hd4qr This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Credit: Petze
Credit: Schewel
By: | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: June 23, 2012» Comments | Post a CommentTechnology startup SkyFoundry may have only three and a half employees, but computer giant IBM sees big potential in its technology.
Richmond-based SkyFoundry is one of two winners in IBM’s SmartCamp Boston, the North American final of the global competition.
Danny Wahlquist Wordpress Blog 