FMJ.CO.UK ERGONOMICS FOCUS
JULY 2022 41
more and promote greater choice. While the
widespread adoption of these desks is still in the
early stages (most employers apportion 10-20 per
cent of their desking to sit stand), there are some
organisations who have been quick to champion
sit-stand flexibility. Interactive entertainment
company King is one such example. We designed a
mobile sit-stand desk solution so their team could
manage their personal comfort and reconfigure
furniture easily as their needs changed. These
desks changed their collaborative dynamic and
made it possible for mini-teams to coalesce easily
– whether that’s moving desks into mini huddles
or simply rotating them 90 degrees to face their
colleagues.
Space-defining structures: Flexible furniture
can help to zone open-plan spaces. Our recent
development of TT, a modular grid-based shelving
system and Scrumwall are perfect examples. Both
are space-defining structures with a high degree
of functionality and user engagement, thanks to
a wide variety of add-ons such as standing tables,
lockers, write-on surfaces, and integrated AV.
Furniture of this ilk enables numerous di erent
work settings to radiate from one central spine
and provides a cost-e ective and flexible
way to create distinct zones within large
open floor plates. Other furniture in this
category includes high-backed seating
booths, storage systems and self-contained
meeting pods – all of which create spaces
within spaces and boast multiple uses.
Alternative meeting spaces: Not all
meetings are face-to-face. Not all meetings
need to be held in private meeting rooms
either. In fact, impromptu collaboration
and quick team meetings can be best
supported with more informal and flexible
spaces. This might be achieved with denstyle
furniture - typically semi-enclosed
so seating which o ers acoustic privacy
and comfort in equal measure – or through
touch-down spaces. More collaborative
team gatherings may require a meeting
room, but kitchen table project setting
or informal company presentation areas
provide other useful options, while
conference calls or video meetings are best
suited to individual phone and AV booths,
where acoustics and privacy have been
fully considered.
Easy to move: Whether it’s being able
to quickly pull up extra seating to a
collaboration table, moving desks into a
new configuration or wheeling write-on
surfaces into a meeting area – the modern
o ice needs furniture that is quick, easy
and safe for people to move as and when
they require. This doesn’t have to mean
everything on castors either, as designers
and manufacturers have engineering
solutions that are light and simple to move.
Flexibility is at the very core of the hybrid
working concept. It a ords people greater
choice and autonomy, which typically
turns into greater wellbeing, productivity,
and loyalty too. For FMs striving to create
ergonomic, choice-led, agile and relevant
workplaces, flexible o ice furniture creates
a valuable win-win.
Valuably, it can also be used numerous
di erent ways by di erent people.
So, a large kitchen-table can support
collaborative team meetings, but it can
also provide touch-down spaces for visitors
when it’s not in use. Mobile sit-stand desks
can be set to suit individual users’ needs
and moved as tasks require while tech-rich
scrum spaces can be used for informal oneto
ones just as readily as for project team
updates.
While the benefits of flexibility do
o en centre on employees’ needs, we
must remember the value this has for
organisations and FMs too. The pandemic
made businesses of all sizes realise just
how critical the qualities of resilience,
adaptability and flexibility are. In choosing
flexible furniture, FMs are essentially
equipping their organisations with the
tools to pivot as operational needs change,
working styles and patterns evolve,
and teams grow or decline. Furniture
that serves multiple uses, or which can
be moved, reconfigured, upgraded or
customised provides the latitude agile
organisations require and FMs’ capex
budgets need.
CHOICE
Flexible o ice furniture can help make
even the smallest of workplaces meet
multiple di erent needs and styles. It can
promote choice, aid wellbeing (physical
and mental) and support employees with
an increasingly task-orientated approach
to work. With that in mind, here are four
flexible o ice furniture considerations for
the post-pandemic workplace:
Sit-stand: Designed in response to a need
to make o ice workers less sedentary,
sit stand desks help employees to move