Asplanned Blog

Office launch goes asplanned!

2009-03-11T11:59:00.003Z

December 2008

2008 ended on a high when asplanned held an official launch in December to celebrate the opening of its new office at Exchange Court (see our photos below of some of our guests enjoying the event).

After months of working on the office, originally a shell, our guests seemed very impressed by the result after seeing a computer slideshow of the progress made.

Our new mezzanine level soon became the new alternative party hang out area over the 'kitchen', but this soon changed when the tasty canapes arrived and the putting in our astroturfed kitchen heated up. The Wii Sports in the boardroom also proved to be a popular choice, with Stewart's mum giving the Kokuyo guys a good run for their money!

A big thanks goes to everyone who attended our launch party, especially our suppliers Della Rovere and Kokuyo who flew in all the way from Italy and Japan respectively.

A great time was had by all, the only problem was everyone was having such a good time no one wanted to leave in the end!

2009-03-10T16:12:00.001Z

December 2008

The recent office launch also meant there was an opportunity to be presented with the official asplanned sponsored sub-suits for Harris Academy FP RFC this season.

Harris vice president Neil Mason brought along one of the suits for asplanned to take a look at, and we're pleased to say that the Harris lads sitting on the bench will be the best dressed in the Scottish Hydro Electric Caledonia League. Our only concern is that all the team will want to wear them on the bench this season!

Created by Kukri Sports Ltd, the sub-suits feature a large asplanned logo on the back, accompanied by the harrisrugby.com website address across the shoulders – look out for them next time you go see Harris play.

Harris are currently performing well in the league, sitting at second in the table. We hope they have an outstanding season and everything goes asplanned!

Best of Orgatec

2008-12-02T16:20:00.004Z

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!

2008-12-02T12:47:00.002Z

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!

Orgatec trip

2008-11-13T09:24:00.005Z

Andy and Stewart recently returned from a brief trip to Cologne in Germany for the Orgatec furniture show. We'll be blogging on some of the fantastic products we saw there soon, but for now here's some holiday snaps.

The first picture is of Stewart outside the cathedral, and the other wonderful architecture is parts of the Kolumba Museum (http://www.kolumba.de/?language=eng). Stay tuned for another update soon...

The perfect office... what's on your wish list?

2008-11-10T15:09:00.002Z

To celebrate our new blog – which we hope will brighten your working day, and give you some fun design ideas too – we're starting a bit of a competition for suggestions of what the perfect office should include.

Now unsurprisingly answers on this may vary quite considerably, but we're prepared to adjudicate! As a starting point, have a look at this great post from Alexander Kjerulf, the Chief Happiness Officer.

He's also got some superb examples of funky office furniture here. It's hard not to be envious, although some of the suggestions aren't too practical!

So what's on your wish list? Is it a Nintendo Wii and plasma screen in the boardroom, or perhaps a sparkling water tap in the staff kitchen? Get in touch with us on Facebook and we'll include the best suggestions in our new posts. Stay tuned to see what weird and wonderful ideas come up!

Welcome...

2008-09-16T12:15:00.003+01:00

to asplanned's beanbag blog! We're very close to setting this live, so check back soon or sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know...