Business leaders urged to consider the impact of design, as report shows it can affect workforce performance by up to 11per cent.

Business leaders are being urged to take more account of the links between good workplace design and improved business performance. That's according to the findings of a new report by the Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment (CABE) and the British Council for Offices (BCO) being launched today at a seminar at the refurbished HM Treasury building.

I have always thought that picking out upscale office design is sort of an art. It is much more difficult than picking out dining room design or other home design. You see, most people don't spend very long on any of the chairs in their house. They will sit down for a meal, hang out on the recliner in front of the TV for an hour, and that's it. By contrast, you spend hours and hours in your office.

In a 2006 survey by Management Today magazine, virtually all 97 per cent of those responding said that they regarded their place of work as a symbol of whether or not they were valued by their employer. Yet only 37 per cent thought that their offices had office design with people in mind, and no less a third said that they were too ashamed of their offices to bring back colleagues or clients.

Many organizations considering a new office design or office move make a number of basic errors. They will often choose the building first, before considering the interior design to match the organization needs. Then,having made one error, they compound it by giving the job running the move to the IT Department.

Now, IT Departments have a lot of qualities: they are using technology to deliver business benefits, to cut costs, even introduce process innovation to deliver competitive advantage.

Business leaders urged to consider the impact of design, as report shows it can affect workforce performance by up to 11per cent.

Business leaders are being urged to take more account of the links between good workplace design and improved business performance. That's according to the findings of a new report by the Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment (CABE) and the British Council for Offices (BCO) being launched today at a seminar at the refurbished HM Treasury building.

I have always thought that picking out upscale office design is sort of an art. It is much more difficult than picking out dining room design or other home design. You see, most people don't spend very long on any of the chairs in their house. They will sit down for a meal, hang out on the recliner in front of the TV for an hour, and that's it. By contrast, you spend hours and hours in your office.

Many organizations considering a new office design or office move make a number of basic errors. They will often choose the building first, before considering the interior design to match the organization needs. Then,having made one error, they compound it by giving the job running the move to the IT Department.

Now, IT Departments have a lot of qualities: they are using technology to deliver business benefits, to cut costs, even introduce process innovation to deliver competitive advantage.

In a 2006 survey by Management Today magazine, virtually all 97 per cent of those responding said that they regarded their place of work as a symbol of whether or not they were valued by their employer. Yet only 37 per cent thought that their offices had office design with people in mind, and no less a third said that they were too ashamed of their offices to bring back colleagues or clients.

Our current survey brought forward some results that, though not altogether surprising, were very concerning on PowerPoint presentations. As you would expect 85% of respondents organisations used PowerPoint and 33% of these users use it every day. That just goes to show how embedded into the commerce world PowerPoint is.

In the 95% of respondents who use PowerPoint 83% used it in face to face presentations.

Our latest survey brought forward some results that, though not altogether amazing, were very concerning on presentation tools. As you would expect, 95% of respondents organisations used PowerPoint and 35% of these people use it every day. That just goes to show how entrenched into the commerce world PowerPoint is. In the 90% of people who use PowerPoint 83% used it in face to face presentations.