Best of Orgatec

Never mind the fashion catwalks of Milan or Paris, the place to be seen this year was the Orgatec furniture show in Cologne, Germany. Held in October, an estimated 62,000 visitors came to this year's fair – a rise of nine per cent compared to the previous show.

Bringing together leading furniture designers, manufacturers and dealers from around the world, asplanned had the chance to view some new, exciting products for the year ahead…

At the higher end of the market, B&B Italia has joined with British designer David Chipperfield to create the new Posa seating collection. Ideal for reception areas, the soft leather design is focused on providing robust seating while at the same time ensuring a luxury feel. The Posa range is available as a dining chair, easy chair and sofa.

Focusing on innovative design at the show, Bene's new B_Move chair not only wins in the style stakes but it also responds to simple body pressure and will shape with the contours of your body. Instead of having to make your own height, backrest and arm adjustments, Bene's new swivel chair will do it for you.

German/Swiss based company Vitra led the way in original furniture, featuring designs by some of the world's top designers. It showcased, for example, its brand new Playns height-adjustable workstations and Softshell Chair by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec – a colourful addition to any office.

Vitra also featured its new furniture collection designed by Antonio Citterio that focuses on transparency and light. Using homogenous mineral material and quadratic aluminum, the ACE range produces almost a transparent appearance and as a result looks way ahead of its time.

asplanned favourite Frank Gehry's FOG Office 242 range, which he specifically designed for his building on Novartis Campus in Basle, also starred at the show. Looking a bit like the back of a delivery van, the intricate model of wooden boxes and beams is set to be manufactured by Vitra.

Even more on the imaginative side, Vitra's Concept: Basket, designed by Werner Aisslinger, is aimed at creating your very own island retreat without stepping out the office. The swinging basket chair made of textile ribbons would be a very welcome addition to the not so sunny climate of Dundee!

All in all, a very exciting year at Orgatec 2008; we can't wait until 2010's show!

Chief Happiness Officer speaks exclusively to asplanned!

Alexander Kjerulf is a bit of an inspiration. The self-styled Chief Happiness Officer works with companies to improve how they work and help staff enjoy their jobs more. Here at asplanned we're always looking to give companies (including ourselves!) the best working environment, so we wholeheartedly agree with Alex's whole approach and outlook.

So who better to interview to launch our new blog? Alex spoke to the BBC earlier this year about a new study claiming happy companies have profits more than double their unhappy competitors. We caught up with him to find out why this might be...

So how can managers improve the happiness of their staff?

Managers have a huge opportunity to make people happy at work. It's also their #1 responsibility!

The two things that make us happy at work are relationships and results, i.e. making a difference and being good at your job. Managers who give their people results and relationships have happy employees.

Some simple ways to do this include praising people for their good work, always having time for people, giving people meaningful goals and taking a genuine interest in your employees as human beings.

Why do you think saying 'good morning!' to all your colleagues is so important?

Saying good morning is one of the simplest things you can do to make people happy at work - yet it's enormously effective for two reasons. First of all, studies show that good relationships are crucial in the workplace. Saying good morning is basic courtesy and a great social lubricant that helps to create good relationships between people.

Also, studies show that the mood you start your day with tends to continue for the rest of the day. So if you're greeted in the morning in a way that makes you feel happy, appreciated and welcome that mood continues. If you're largely ignored and end up thinking 'What's wrong with me? Don't they want me here?' then that mood continues.

If staff aren't happy at work, how can they take practical steps to change things?

Well, first of all find out why they're unhappy. Honestly listen to find out what makes people unhappy. Then fix what can be fixed, and explain exactly why the remaining problems can't be fixed right now.

Just being listened to and being taken seriously goes a long way to address unhappiness at work.

Which of the companies you've worked with on promoting staff happiness has been most satisfying?

I worked with a Danish insurance company that has changed around completely in a very short time. They have gone from desperately stressed, overworked and unhappy to a very happy workplace in a matter of weeks and they have kept on focusing on happiness at work because they're all now committed to it - managers and employees alike.

Professor Edmans' study mentioned in the BBC programme suggests happy employees make companies more successful. Why do you think this might be the case?

For many, many reasons. Studies show that happy employees are:

More productive
More creative
Less sick
More service oriented
More open to new ideas
Better sales people
Less prone to conflict
Better at communication
Better at teamwork
Less biased
Less likely to quit

And indeed, studies show that happy companies make more money!

Why is it that making others happy actually makes us happier too?

It's our biology. We're biologically hardwired for empathy and altruism. Being good to others and seeing others feel good makes the pleasure centre in your brain light up almost as much as when good things happen to yourself.

Some people claim that it's a dog-eat-dog world and we're all in it for ourselves. They're going against human biology - which explains why these people are often very unhappy.

If you could share one tip with our readers about improving their own happiness at work, what would it be?

The most important thing we can all do is to choose to be happy at work. It must start with that decision. Choose once and for all that enjoying the time you spend at work is critically important and that you will no longer tolerate being unhappy at work for long stretches of time.

Then do something, a little something every day to make yourself and others happy.

And finally, are you happy in your work?

Oh man yes, I love my job. I couldn't do it if I didn't.

The reason I love my job is that I constantly focus on my own happiness at work. I do what I love to do. I love speaking, writing, meeting people, learning, reading, going to conferences and blogging. So that's what I do.

Conversely, if there's something I hate doing, I don't do it. My motto is 'Do it happily or don't do it!'

A good example is bookkeeping. I hate it. So I've found a part-time bookkeeper who likes that job. Presto, everybody's happy. Remember, every time you do a job you really hate you're depriving someone who would really love it of their chance to do it.

Bravo Alex, we couldn't agree more! We wholeheartedly recommend his website http://positivesharing.com/ and his book Happy Hour is 9 to 5 http://positivesharing.com/happyhouris9to5/. We'll also be doing our bit to make your working day that bit happier with regular updates on our blog. Check back soon!