Reflections on 2022 Workplace Transitions

As 2022 draws to an end, it’s timely to reflect on the year that was, and offer some observations on the significant changes we have seen in the workplace environment, especially as a result of the transition to hybrid work.

While our client base is broad and diverse, and each client unique, some common themes have emerged. What’s also shared is the challenge, even confusion, of the post-pandemic world, and with it, the biggest upheaval in the way people work in many decades.

Among the biggest challenges for our clients is how to entice employees back to the office. Businesses need to “earn the commute” from their employees to overcome the time, cost, health, risk and frustration of travel.

Therefore, how do we create “places with purpose” to create a worthwhile and engaging experience; to facilitate collaboration, connection or concentration. Also, how do we use the office environment to help attract new recruits?

From Incorp’s point of view, here are some insights we’ve gained during this profound transition period.

Place
How much space do you need, especially if a new lease is being negotiated?

With various flexible and hybrid working models now in place, including trials of the 4-day work week, how do you determine the most effective use of space? It’s a significant challenge, and indeed it’s one that impacts – potentially dramatically – on the bottom line.

Noting the challenge, one clear observation is the importance of employee surveys to determine employees’ preferred approach to work – including where, ideally, they prefer to work; and the particular tasks they like to do at home versus the things they prefer to do in an office environment with members of their team. To facilitate this, employers should also identify appropriate tools to equip them with such information. And they should also note the tendency of employee preferences to change over time. As such, regular employee check-ins are required, as are facilitated discussions between employers and their staff (which can, potentially, help guide outcomes).

Consider the maximum amount of space necessary in order to accommodate the largest number of staff who, realistically, will attend the office at once.

Downsizing is common, however, surprisingly, others are upsizing.

As we work with clients across the country, we’ve noted that many organisations are returning staff to individual personal workspace (in contrast to the pre-pandemic trend of ‘hot-desking’) and, even where flexible work policies are in place, employees are being required to have ‘anchor’ days in the office (often 2 or 3 days a week).

In recognition of what may be permanent changes to the world of work, other organisations are, perhaps unsurprisingly, reducing their footprint office, while others are creating office neighbourhoods, or instigating in-office team days, which sees staff rotating through a workplace over the course of a week.

Another observation is that because of increased construction costs and high vacancy rates, more building owners are providing ‘turn-key’ options for employers, with many well fitted-out office space now available for lease. Others are creating precincts within their buildings, and including community facilities such wellness and social spaces, including cafes/restaurants, outdoor areas, and bonus services such as a concierge service.

With many people wanting to work in offices that are closer to home, and with the normalising of video conferencing technology, city fringe locations for office are being increasingly discussed. However, such locations nevertheless require easy access to transport, which can be a challenge in
certain parts of our capital cities. Proximity to cafes is also important as it enhances the employee experience and thereby helps employers make the case for in-office attendance.

People
Workplace culture suffered significantly with the rapid and wholesale change to working from home. The creation of ‘social spaces’ is therefore a high priority in the allocation of space within an office, recognising the great need to encourage and create a collegial environment for face-to-face interaction.

The formality of many office environments has eased off substantially. Working from home has shifted expectations of the feel of a workspace towards a residential and inviting space (like home) and moving away from corporate environments. Reception areas are slowly disappearing (along with men’s business ties!), and they are being replaced by digital sign-ins and casual waiting spaces (even a café or a bar). Perhaps beaming into each-others lounge rooms has blurred the lines between home and work, and created a more transparent and honest way of communicating.

Also in demand are social spaces for people to gather for a chat, a coffee or a drink, or even a game of pool/table tennis/darts. These areas are about enhancing team connection and collegiality, and we’ve noted that Thursday night drinks are, increasingly, the new Friday.

Investment in well-designed, quality furniture and technology is also helping attract employees back to the office. Examples include excellent, ergonomic solutions, such as sit-to-stand desks and topshelf task chairs – features employees may not have the benefit of at home.

Overall, it has been encouraging to see the weight that organisations are now placing on engaging their employees in a conversation about the direction of and model for work. Investing time in people goes a long way to putting the human element back into the workplace experience. And by providing high-quality and fit-for-purpose facilities within a workplace, it will enable people to achieve their best and become even more valuable for their organisation.

Is the world headed for a “severe, long and ugly” recession?

One of the first experts to forecast the 2008 recession is sounding the alarm bells that another big economic downturn is on the way. (Fortune.com)

In an interview with Bloomberg in September 2022, Nouriel Roubini, the economist who predicted the 2008 crash, known as Dr. Doom, said that a recession is likely to hit the U.S. by the end of 2022 before spreading globally next year, and it is going to be severe, long, and ugly.

The Great Depression

The longest, deepest, and most widespread depression in modern history was The Great Depression in the 1930s. It began with the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 which had sharp effects on the economy, rapidly spread worldwide, and led to the subsequent decade of hardship.

As in other nations, Australia suffered years of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging incomes, and economic growth and personal advancement opportunities.

Although the depression was a century ago, looking back to its roots may help in forming a better idea of whether this will happen again and will be as long and as severe.

Phase 1 – Low Interest Rate

In the aftermath of World War I, the Roaring Twenties brought considerable wealth to the United States. The Federal Reserve followed a brief post-war recession in 1920–1921 with a policy of setting interest rates artificially low and easing the reserve requirements on the nation’s largest banks. People began to speculate on wilder investments and the stock market underwent rapid expansion between 1921 and 1929.

Similarly, between early 2020 and early 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve dramatically reduced the interest rate in hopes of warming up the market, as demonstrated in graph 1 to the right.

Australia also showed the same pattern (as shown in graph 2).

Phase 2 – Bubble

During the 1920s, because the interest rates were kept low, people felt that prosperity was boundless and that extreme risks were likely tickets to wealth. Several banks, including deposit institutions that originally avoided investment loans, began to offer easy credit, allowing people to invest, even when they lacked the money to do so.

The prolonged bull market convinced many people to invest in stocks. Worse, investors began buying stock on margin, which is making a small cash down payment. As an example, with $1,000 an investor could get $10,000 worth of stock, and the rest $9,000 came from a loan from a stockbroker who could issue a margin call to protect the loan by demanding the investor repay the loan at once.

Like the 1920s, the lowered interest rates up to early 2022 had encouraged housing and construction investments in Australia.

Phase 3 – Increase of Interest Rate

Between 1928 and 1929, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates to slow the rapid rise in stock prices. The higher interest rates depressed interest-sensitive investment areas such as construction. The boom in housing construction in the mid-1920s led to an excess supply of housing.

Towards the end of 1929, U.S. stock prices gradually declined to levels that could not be justified by reasonable anticipations of future earnings. Investors lost confidence and the stock market bubble burst.

As can be seen from the above charts of interest rates, since early 2022, both US and Australian interest rates have had a sharp rise which is very likely to continue through to 2023, in order to cool down the heated market and to fight inflation.

Phase 4 – Recession

The 1929’s stock market crash reduced American aggregate demand substantially. Consumer purchases and business investment decreased largely. Because purchases dropped, manufacturers had to cut production and lay off employees. Jobless workers cut back on purchases which further reduced sales. As a result, businesses collapsed, more and more Americans lost jobs and many families had little or no savings to support themselves. In 1930 alone 26,000 businesses collapsed.

Many banks could not absorb the losses caused by their uncollectable loans to investors as well as their own investment loss by using depositors’ money in the stock market, and they were forced to close. More than 10% of the nation’s banks – nearly 3500 had been closed by 1932. People may argue that our currently low unemployment rate shows the opposite signals of recession. However, the fact is that the unemployment rate is a lagging indicator, which means it only gradually rises after a recession starts. The chart below shows that the unemployment rate only significantly increased after 1929. (See graph 3).

In addition, The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S. declined further signalling an elevated likelihood of a recession. As indicated in the figures below, history has shown that each recession happened not long after the growth rate became negative, and we are currently at the beginning of the negative territory.

“The US LEI fell again in September and its persistent downward trajectory in recent months suggests a recession is increasingly likely before year-end,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Senior Director, Economics, at The Conference Board. “The six-month growth rate of the LEI fell deeper into negative territory in September, and weaknesses among the leading indicators were widespread. Amid high inflation, slowing labour markets, rising interest rates, and tighter credit conditions, The Conference Board forecasts real GDP growth will be 1.5 percent year-over-year in 2022, before slowing further in the first half of next year.” (see graph 4)

Phase 5 – 10 Year Depression?

It is almost certain that we are stepping into a recession, but the real question is whether it is going to be “severe, long, and ugly” and lead to deflation, high unemployment, and a stagnant economy.

From my point of view, a recession is healthy for the market, and is necessary, to reduce bubbles. It may last for a few years, but it won’t be as severe as The Great Depression.

First, the bank failure is unlikely to reappear. The 1930s chaos in the banking system pushed the regulatory changes and reforms, such as the Australian Government Guarantee Scheme (AGGS) and the Financial Claims Scheme (FCS) that were introduced in Australia to strengthen depositor confidence in Australian banks.

Second, The Hawley-Smoot Tariff which worsened the depression and caused about 66% deduction in the overall world trade between 1929 and 1934, is highly doubtful to come back again. In 1929, the US increased tariffs on agricultural and industrial goods alike to protect its jobs and farmers from foreign competition. Some countries protested and others also retaliated with trade restrictions and tariffs, which in turn resulted in a 66% decrease in US imports and a 61% decrease in exports. In other words, starting a trade war during a recession is a self-destructive action, especially for countries significantly dependent on foreign trade.

Although it seems that the depression may not occur again, it is better for us, individuals, to get prepared for the worst case:

• – Reduce any unnecessary expenditures and boost your emergency savings.
• – Secure your job to maintain a regular income.
• – Stay alert as the stocks and property markets will likely continue to have big moves in the coming months. It’s a great opportunity for long-term investors to pick up additional shares and lower their average costs.
• – Invest wisely. Don’t time the market or use margin as discussed above. We never know when the market will bottom, so trying to time the market is almost always a losing battle.
• – Seize opportunities when it comes. For example, lower interest rates typically happen by the end of a recession in order to stimulate the economy.

The Post-Covid Workplace Conundrum

The Covid experience has forced us to change and adapt, like it or not. That has happened on a personal level and a business level.

We have had to find and accept new ways of getting business delivered. As a result, that imposed change has now altered our expectations of work and workplace as employees and employers.

The old ways are gone, and we have settled into our new ways. New “flexible” ways.

Working from home has had many positives, including proving presenteeism was not an effective way to manage a team. Trust is now the priority, as it should have been from the beginning.

I would contend that a “slack” disengaged employee, is a slack disengaged employee whether at home or in the office. It is the alignment and attitude and not the location, that needs to be addressed.

It is only when the metrics of productivity and value are established, that flexible and hybrid working will be successful. Firstly, we all must understand how we can contribute to the bigger picture and create real value, and then we can utilise the new digital tools and empowerment to achieve that from anywhere.

The Covid isolation, has been corrosive to an organisations culture. Collaborative endeavours have been slowed and frustrated by the separation. However, on the flip-side, the lack of commute times and the ability to carry out deep work at home, without the distractions of an open plan office, has afforded some higher quality outcomes and improved lifestyles.

As with most things in life, the successful workplace equation is neither clear cut nor binary. There are many grey areas when it comes to judging the effectiveness or success of flexible working. Some tasks are better resolved at home in a quiet space and some tasks are better achieved in a group setting, where we can doodle on whiteboards together, read the body language and not be frustrated by sketchy on-line connections.

We can all agree however, that when it comes to building meaningful connections and long-term relationships, only face-to-face interaction cuts it.

The answer is and always was, build a team based upon shared values and purpose, agree on the metrics of their deliverables, give them the tools and environment to enable the outcomes, empower them to make the decision on where they work and with whom they work, in order to best get the job done. Then trust them to make good decisions. Management’s role is to remove the roadblocks, reward the right behaviours and get out of the way.

A critical part of “coming back” from the Covid experience, will be having a fully aligned team, supported by a healthy and resilient culture. Part of the rebuilding or strengthening of that resilience, will necessitate an increase in the face-to-face time to reconnect and return to higher levels of innovation and productivity.

This will require the creation of an attractive space that uniquely reflects the brand and cultural values of the organisation. That space must provide the digital and physical tools to enable and encourage the desired behaviours, interactions, and outcomes. It must be supported by the corporate culture that is simpatico.

Post-Covid, there are many “office” spaces available, be they an organisation’s current space or new spaces to relocate to. Whatever the decision, the future space will need to be right-sized and fit-for-purpose. The space must have enough built-in flexibility to support the future business dynamics.

The sub-optimal response will be to simply take over an existing fitout that reflects and supports someone else’s brand, culture and behavioural aspirations.

Given the absolute necessity to get the team back together to reconnect and innovate collaboratively, the space must be good enough to entice the team back. Attractive enough for the team to put up with the time, costs and frustration of the commute.

Coming to the office is no longer an automatic given, it is now a conscious choice. The decision to deal with the commute must be justified with a real purpose. We will choose to go to the office to either reconnect with the team, collaboratively work, or find a quiet space to carry out deep work. We value our time and consider the most effective environment to achieve the required outcome.

The future office must be purposefully designed to support the specific needs of the team, outcome, culture and brand, and cannot simply be forced into someone else’s leftover office. After all, this is supposed to be the organisation’s home where the team feels safe and comfortable, a place where they belong and can meaningfully contribute.

The Incorp team can help you and your team ensure that you can create or find that space that reflects and supports the aspirations of the organisation, now and into the future.

Call for Construction Sector Supply Chain Strategy

The Australian Institute of Architects has called on the Australian Government to establish a construction sector supply chain strategy that addresses the shortages and unprecedented price rises impacting the nation’s building and construction sectors.

According to reports, Australia’s building and construction sectors are facing ongoing supply chain strain leading to escalating materials prices and shortages, as well as a significant shortage of construction trades. Labour costs have also increased due to governments’ stimulus measures, the rebuilding of communities in New South Wales and Queensland affected by the floods, as well as the accumulation of outstanding work in Victoria from last July’s storms, repeating flood events in Sydney and bushfires over the past two to three years.

The Institute has written to Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the Minister for Finance Katy Gallagher, calling for the October 2022 Budget to establish a national supply chain strategy for building and construction materials, components and fittings, so that Australia’s building and construction supply chain is less vulnerable to pandemics, disasters or overseas conflicts. 

A lot of stimulus funding was allowed in 2020 as the pandemic took hold, so there is no doubt that both sides of politics recognise how important construction is to the Australian economy and for jobs. That immediate crisis has passed, but now a supply chain strategy is required that gives the Australian construction sector much greater resilience both now and into the future.

The previous Morrison-led Coalition Government established the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) and Sovereign Capability Manufacturing Plan (SCMP), but these only addressed a highly select range of critical products such as medicines and agricultural chemicals.  

It has also been noted that the Architecture profession is also facing its own pressures with respect to skills shortages over the longer term.

The previous federal government had been approached by the Australian Institute of Architects with a detailed proposal to subsidise architect practices to employ architecture graduates – who need their 3,300 hours of supervised employment as a requirement for undertaking the Architecture Practice Exam in order to attain their registration. However, it was never approved. Due to this, the Institute believes Australia will lose its future architects.

According to sources, the construction supply and labour shortages and associated prices increases and volatility, also have daily impacts for architects, designers and project managers, including:

– Project Delays: this is of particular importance when administering a building contract and extension of time or cost claims clauses may become activated.

– Project Estimates: providing accurate project construction cost estimates when clients do not wish to engage the specialist services of quantity surveyor.

– Needing to source alternative materials: Notwithstanding the original principal’s project requirements brief, materials shortages may also require you to work with the client and/or contractor to seek appropriate compliant materials and products substitutions.

– Business Impacts: Price increases to total construction costs as well as increased time spent in contract administration and sourcing alternatives may have impacts on financial performance of your company.

Source: Australian Institute of Architects

The Advantages of Green Zones

Green zones not only act as a feature or visual statement piece. Studies have shown they can also provide an increased feeling of wellbeing by improving the health, mood and productivity of employees.

It has been proven that green zones can also act as a biofilter that capture pollutants, purify the air, reduce your carbon footprint by not only absorbing CO2 and increasing oxygen output, but also helping to regulate the temperature of buildings. It can also act as an insulator or sound barrier in an open plan office by absorbing some ambient noise.

Employees have reported that plants in general can have a great effect on their mood and provide a relaxing feel to any workplace, which in turn can reduce stress levels.

There are many applications and formats to generate a green zone, ranging from Vertical Green Walls, Stair void Green Zones, Ceiling Features, storage cabinet toppers – the options are endless. There are also many varieties of greenery ranging from Living, Artificial, Moss, and Pot Plants. A Green Zone can be created to your choice and tailored to your style.

Green zone applications are not only confined to commercial offices, building foyers, retail centres, universities and residential applications. Green zones can also assist in earning credits towards achieving a Green Star rating.

To the right are some examples of Green Zones in a variety of different applications that Incorp have incorporated into some of our projects that have received great results and feedback from our clients.

On a side note, a clever approach was recently adopted by a local council to retrofit an existing car park with rotating modular green wall system to absorb exhaust fumes generated by cars to create not only a visually appealing structure but to more importantly filter & clean the air within the carpark & its surrounds. Click here to go to a video explaining how the design firm and client came together to create this innovative solution.

The Incorp team have been incorporating Green Zones into our projects for the past 34 years, and would welcome the opportunity to assist you in providing workplace or building solutions that can improve your team’s wellbeing and productivity.

Staying at Home is Working

by Melissa Boyle

The Covid pandemic disrupted the way we work and has illustrated that traditional ways of working, which placed great value on presenteeism, are now firmly in the past. These major changes to employees’ preferences about different workplaces, work times and patterns are here to stay.

According to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last August, the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns sparked rapid growth in Australia’s digital economy, evidenced by the widespread uptake of remote working and a shift toward shopping online.

Australians spent close to $42 billion online over the past 12 months, while more than 40% of employed people now regularly work from home, up from around 30% before the pandemic.

It is expected the shift to working from home will persist after the pandemic, despite efforts by employers to get workers back into the office. This disruption has generated new ways of working which people will sometimes find more suitable than their modes of working before the pandemic.

A recent survey of Australia’s largest companies and biggest employers also revealed an overwhelming majority expect to continue allowing employees to work at least part of the week from home once the pandemic ends. Many commented that they are happy to work with staff to strike a balance between remote and in-office work.

Australia’s Productivity Commission states that flexible working arrangements have already made us more productive – and have been associated with improved organisational productivity; an enhanced ability to attract and retain employees; and improved employee well-being.

Companies obviously want people to be in the office, and imbibing the culture of the organisation, especially people who are new to the organisation. But now they can also provide flexibility for people to spend some proportion of their week working from home.

When embraced correctly by management, working from home can extend to a wide variety of roles – perhaps wider than many appreciate. In our industry, you will still need Designers, Project Managers or Construction Managers available to attend project sites, but this can be balanced with working from home when not required on site.

It’s about choosing the environment for your day, and Australian and international research shows that people want to go into the office for collaboration and people connection, and be at home for deep thinking and administrative tasks.

Demand for flexible working conditions has seen the occupancy levels in CBD office markets decrease around Australia. Many of Australia’s biggest employers are reviewing their office footprints, deciding whether to cut back on space, and stating that hybrid work models will be entrenched even after the danger of the pandemic has passed.

The majority of organisations are still coming to terms with how their model of hybrid working will impact their need for space. Flexible models including “hub and spoke” and third party space are being explored in order to be accessible to their employee pool. While undoubtedly most businesses won’t require their pre-covid footprints today, the increased requirement for communal space paired with post-covid organic growth, will most likely take up the space reduction quickly, post-covid.

The flexible work revolution is set to be one of the most enduring legacies of the coronavirus pandemic, with the potential to reshape Australia’s workplaces.

The Incorp team have been reshaping Australia’s workplaces for the past 34 years, and would welcome the opportunity to co-create and deliver a unique hybrid environment that provides effective collaboration and social engagement for your team.

Business must brace for “Long-Covid”

• Covid impacts business in a very similar way to how it effects the individual.
• Once infected, we triage the short-term symptoms to get through the suffering.
• Business has done just that. We have dealt with the lock downs, isolation and disruption to business, and found a way to survive.
• Now we must come to grips with the “Long-Covid” issues.
• On an individual basis, Long-Covid takes many forms, such as extreme fatigue, problems with memory and concentration, heart palpitations etc.
• We are only now seeing the long-term effects on the health of an organisation, on a business level.
• In order to keep the team safe, the short-term remedies over the last 2.5 years, focused on isolation and working from home.
• While necessary and sensible, what does that mean for business long term?
• We are now hearing terms like “The Great Resignation” and “Quiet Quitting”.
• Are these symptoms of Long-Covid, or simply a consequence of teams that were never engaged in the first place?
• Business is in a very difficult position in that, it needs to rebuild eroded connection, culture and performance and understands that physically bringing the team together, is a crucial part of that rebuilding.
• However, the power has shifted from corporate to the individual within an environment of staff shortages and ubiquitous social media.
• Further, anecdotal self-reporting suggests working from home can work, and in some cases improved productivity.
• The conundrum is, how do we get people back together, when the team don’t want to commute, and the business can operate with everyone at home?
• The last 2.5 years had adversely effected connection, culture, brand, performance, innovation, morale, turnover, mentoring, loyalty, engagement, belonging, collaboration, purpose, security.
• These are all soft metrics that take a lot of time and trust to rebuild and grow. However, it is these soft metrics that are indicators of a resilient culture that fuels a high-performance team and organisation.
• Every organisation is different, functioning in varying environments, which necessitates a bespoke response to how they can recover and deal with the effects of Long-Covid.
• The answer will always be a “hybrid” environment, because every organisation is hybrid, as indeed its teams must be.
• The team need to physically be together to rebuild the existing culture as well as onboard and train new talent. How often, where, and in what kind of environment, will be different for every organisation, and will shift over time.
• As before Covid, there is no “silver bullet” or “one size fits all”. The solution will be as individual as the make up of the team. It must be co-created. It must have the voice of the customer (team) at its heart. It must be authentic, emergent, and evolving.

These unique environments that balance the agendas of the corporate, cultural, operational, virtual and physical environments, to provide purposeful gathering and effective collaboration, is what the Incorp team have been doing globally for 34 years.

We would welcome the opportunity to co-create and deliver the perfect new home for you and your team to combat the effects of long-covid.

Genea Sydney Co-Lab Creation

Incorp were engaged by Genea in 2020 to review their Kent Street workplace in lieu of expanding agile working practices throughout their business groups. In particular, they wanted to see what a new agile accommodation, alongside operational requirements, might achieve in terms of reducing Genea’s overall workplace footprint.
The main driver of the project was to increase staff wellbeing, by creating a collaboration area where team members could go to experience a range of spaces to come together and connect with each other. Part of the brief was to make this space quite different from the existing calming workspaces – something “zesty”. The subsequently named “Co-Lab” evokes the vibe and culture similar to a blend of hospitality and corporate design, and offers a variety of collaboration zones for Genea’s staff.
The key challenges lay around the fact that Kent Street was a live site with extremely sensitive medical facilities and operations.
However, the final solution was delivered on time and budget with very positive staff feedback, particularly for the breakout and collaboration spaces.

Artificial Intelligence – the way of the present

The topic of artificial intelligence and its impact is becoming more and more prominent in the workforce and across industries.

In fact, a recent article by The Wall Street Journal delved deeper into the topic, stating that “robots are turning up on more factory floors and assembly lines as companies struggle to hire enough workers to keep up with the influx of new orders.”

Post-pandemic labour shortages are apparent in every industry, from waiters to construction workers. In addition, supply chain bottlenecks and shortages in materials are continuing to cause havoc within the construction industry. Issues like a lack of insight into when mechanical units or structural timber might show up on a project site, for example, and where to find enough skilled labourers to keep a project tracking, are testing the resilience and resolve of construction companies across the globe, to the point where many are exploring more efficient and agile approaches to manage projects. Many industry leaders are turning to the implementation of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, data analytics and 3D printing in search of better productivity, lower operating costs and higher margins.

Though the adoption of innovative technology and artificial intelligence within our industry is still emerging, industry experts believe many of these developments will assist project teams in managing design and planning, monitoring and reducing site wastage, tracking on-site visibility and increasing safety and efficiency. For instance, one company in the US is trialling a new 5D BIM technology for project design, planning and cost estimation. They have reported a significant reduction in coordination errors, and at the same time, teams have been enabled to make decisions promptly and effectively. Another company is using image and video analytics to assess worker productivity and better identify on-site complications.

AI-based technology is proving to assist project managers in effectively mapping sites, sharing real-time information with stakeholders and clients from projects in regional areas or hard-to-travel locations. 3D helmet cameras are a relatively new technology and are changing the nature of data available on projects, providing daily updates and allowing for the ability to maintain progress across time. Site staff generally walk through a development site equipped with specialised cameras, which in turn maps their travel path while digitally converting images to create an online 3D map that stakeholders and managers can inspect and access directly from their respective offices.

While implementation of such technologies may not completely eliminate issues related to supply chain, labour shortages, inflation and other factors, it does provide businesses with the opportunity to think about developing and implementing new organisational strategies in areas of the project cycle they can control. AI has the potential to change construction business models, eliminate costly mistakes, decrease worker accidents, and improve building operations. Ultimately, this puts companies in a better position to maximize opportunities while minimizing the impact any potential disruptions have on their business.

Working From Home Tax Tips

With the end of the financial year almost upon us, it is a good time to talk about tax (if ever there is a good time to talk about tax!).

Pandemics and lockdowns have seen many of us working from home for large portions of the last year or two, and there are both pros and cons around this. We are seeing an inexorable return to the office for many people, for at least a portion of their work week, a trend that is very likely to continue and grow. But now that many office workers have experienced working from home, they will be seeking to continue to do so at least for some of their working week.

There is no shortage of information about the benefits of working from home, nor about the desirability of being amongst your work colleagues in the workplace. The income tax benefits of working from home however do not receive as much attention. Whilst these benefits will reduce as people return to the workplace, they do continue for anyone who spends any part of their working week working from home.

The benefit comes in the form of tax deductions available to employees for any increased expenses they incur as a result of working from a home office.

Whether working from home part or full time, if these conditions are met, a tax deduction can be claimed. There are 2 types of expenses that can be claimed, running expenses and occupancy expenses.

Running expenses include energy expenses for heating/cooling and lighting, cleaning, depreciation of office furniture and equipment used for work, and outgoings such as printer supplies and internet and phone expenses.

Occupancy expenses include items such as rent, mortgage interest, rates, insurance premiums and land taxes. Occupancy expenses have more stringent conditions attached to them to be able to claim these expenses. Firstly, they are only available if your employer does not provide you with an alternative place to work. Secondly, there needs to be a dedicated area of your home where you work, which is used almost exclusively for working from home purposes. The other very important thing to note about claiming occupancy expenses, particularly for homeowners is that any claim for mortgage interest may result in capital gains tax being payable upon the sale of the property as you will not be entitled to the full main residence exemption. So before making a claim for this deduction, it would be very wise to seek professional tax advice.

There are a few different ways to claim working from home expenses and as with all claims for deductions, it is imperative that you keep records that show that you incurred the expense. Not to state the obvious, but if you are reimbursed for any expense you incur, or if equipment is provided by your employer, then you are not able to claim deductions for these items. You can only claim for additional costs you incur solely.

The first method to claim was introduced in response to the shutdowns due to Covid – the Shortcut method. This is the last financial year that this method will be available and will not be available from 2022-23 and beyond. It is a very simple way to claim as all you need is to keep a record of your hours working from home and the deduction is allowed at the rate of $0.80 per hour. This covers all work from home expenses including depreciation of equipment and furniture expenses. Even though this is a very simple claim with little required in terms of records being kept, all records will need to be kept if you intend to claim for depreciation of assets in future years. You will also need to be able to show how you calculated the work-related percentage use of the asset and your depreciation calculation in future years.

The second method is the Fixed-Rate method which is similar in the calculation to the Shortcut method. For each hour worked from home, you can claim $0.52, which takes into account energy expenses, cleaning, and the decline in value of home furnishings such as work desks and chairs

Other working from home expenses can be claimed but are not included in the $0.52 per hour rate. These are phone, data and internet expenses; consumables and stationery; and the decline in value of depreciating assets other than furniture – such as computers, phones and laptops.

To be able to support your claim you need to be able to verify the actual hours worked from home, retain receipts etc. to show the amount of expense incurred or value of assets purchased and phone accounts that you can use to identify work-related calls. You also need to maintain a diary that shows your work-related internet use and the percentage of the year that the depreciating assets were used exclusively for work. If your work from home hours are consistent throughout the year, then you can keep the record for a four-week period and use this as representative for the full year. Otherwise, the records need to be maintained for the full year and if your work from home pattern changes, a new record is required.

The final method of claiming a deduction is via the Actual Cost method which is the most detailed method of claiming and has a higher hurdle in terms of supporting the deduction. For this reason, it would typically only be used if the claim using this method is likely to be substantially more than the deduction available using the Fixed-Rate method. The items that can be claimed as deductions are identical to those available under the other methods however the method requires that there is a dedicated work area in the home that is not shared with others. Additionally, any private (i.e. non work purpose) usage needs to be calculated and the claim is reduced by this percentage for each item that has an element of private usage.

The ATO website goes into some detail regarding working from home deductions and also provides links to tools that can be used to assist in calculating the deduction and keeping track of everything throughout the year in preparation for completing your tax return. A very good starting point can be found here where allowable deductions, record keeping requirements and calculation methods are fully detailed:

https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Deductions-you-can-claim/Working-from-home-expenses/

The return to the workplace is gathering momentum as people recognise the importance and benefits of interactions that can only happen in a common workplace. However, the idea of working from home has gained a foothold that is unlikely to slip for the foreseeable future, and the information provided above is as applicable moving forward as it has been over the past couple of years.

A final disclaimer – the information above is very general in nature and is not intended as specific advice for any particular set of circumstances. The links provided should be consulted and applied to your own circumstances and if unclear about anything, professional advice should be sort from a qualified tax specialist.

Culture: your best ally or worst nightmare?

The health of an organisation’s culture shows when that team is under stress or duress.

Did the team take the challenges in stride and grow from the experience or did it crumble?

The COVID pandemic put every organisation under major stress, with some coming through it stronger, but most a little bruised and fractured.

Every progressive leadership team understands that a company’s culture is its “secret sauce” and is the foundation of its enduring success.

Unfortunately, this understanding of the importance of a healthy and resilient culture is mostly intuitive. There are no hard data measures, with such anecdotal metrics of net promoter scores, engagement levels, etc being seasonal and self-serving. These are not real indicators of the health of a culture.

Being so amorphous and intangible makes it very hard to understand or grasp and even harder to “control”.

Worse still, even though we intuitively understand the critical importance of a healthy and resilient culture, and as we can’t attach hard metrics to it and directly link it to company profits, the finance and executive teams find it almost impossible to build the business case to fund investment in building a “great culture”. To further complicate the business case, it requires a long term investment that doesn’t align with some short term agendas.

The highest performing businesses get it. As famously stated by Peter Thiel when providing funding to a start-up called Airbnb in 2012, when asked for the single most important piece of advice, he said “Don’t f#ck the culture”.

The culture needs to evolve in the desired direction and speed that will support the long-term corporate vision.

The Incorp team gets it. We can help your executive team get it too.

The Perfect Storm – Time to Adapt

The ever-changing face of construction which has been forced upon us through the never-ending pandemic, global supply chain issues, political and civil unrest, and global warming can only be termed as The Perfect Storm, where this rare combination of events has blighted our industry and made us change the way projects are delivered.

Once we were guided by the iron triangle; three constraints made up of Time, Cost & Quality – typically based around a waterfall delivery system, then depending on what sector you were based in, we had several more methodologies to choose from. However with all these differing approaches, one has remained constant in all project manager’s minds – that being the iron triangle.

Time, cost, and quality have now been joined by transparency, wellbeing and sustainability. With these additional constraints, the iron triangle as we know it has evolved into a more complex shape and this evolution will mean that as project managers, we too will have to evolve and adapt to this new delivery system.

To adapt we must first understand each constraint and how that relates not only to the project and its outcome but to all stakeholders that we have a duty of care to. With this, we must prioritise the need to not just manage a project but to engage, influence and lead our stakeholders into this new adaptable way of thinking.

We must be transparent in highlighting the uncertainty or risk whilst clearly managing the client’s and stakeholder’s expectations of time and cost, without numerous variations or notices of delay of days gone past.

Construction projects are typically predictive where we know what we want, and we know how to get it, however, here at Incorp, we adopt a hybrid-delivery approach wherein both predictive and adaptive methodologies are used to obtain the optimum results.

To put simply, at Incorp our delivery teams pre-empt change, respond appropriately and collaborate with our stakeholders in response to the ever-changing landscape, sharing in both the risks and opportunities for the duration of the project. 

How to Stop Young Lawyers Moving On

The Problem

With Law firms working remotely, they are finding their people are feeling less connected and it is diluting their culture. Culture is one of the differentiators that attracts people to a law firm in the first place and makes people want to continue being a part of that firm. This lack of connection and not feeling part of the culture is resulting in an increased turnover in Law firms of up to 25% in the last year, especially among young lawyers. The problem is how to stop the staff exodus.

Cost of Doing Nothing

Doing nothing to stop the exodus of young lawyers is costly. Training new staff and getting them up to speed takes time. It costs firms thousands of dollars each year. Not having a stable base of young lawyers coming through the ranks affects a firm’s future. Today’s young lawyers are tomorrow’s leaders.

If you do nothing, staff will leave to join your more progressive competitors, and you will end up like such dinosaurs as Video Ezy, Kodak and others who failed to act and evolve.

Understanding the Disconnect – it has a Generational Dynamic

With culture eroded and people feeling less connected, young lawyers are missing the human connection they get from their work colleagues. With the confidential nature of the work, they should not work from a café or a shared workplace. More importantly, they are missing the mentoring from senior colleagues. Working remotely is a disaster for cultural and business health in law firms.

Partners need to understand that although younger people may have similar values, their priorities are different. There is a different generational dynamic happening. Where partners are Baby Boomers or Gen x, younger lawyers are Millennials. Partners need to understand what drives Millennials. Baby boomers would stay in a job for 20 years or more and put the job above almost everything else. Gen Xers opted for a work-life balance. Millennials look for a work-life blend.

They will vote with their feet not only if they are not being fulfilled. Ash Barty is a good example of this – walking away from tennis at the top of her game. Young lawyers are frustrated with working remotely and the lack of proper mentoring. On top of this, there is pressure to return to the old office and lose their flexibility.

The Solution

A recent Seek study showed that compensation and work-life balance continue to be the top two drivers for Millennials. As part of the work-life balance, flexible working was right up there along with mentoring for young lawyers. 

The solution to this conundrum is simple. A hybrid working arrangement with remote working split between time in the office. Not the same old office. Young lawyers today are looking for an exciting replanned and refurbished office for hybrid working arrangements with more open and collaborative spaces where teams can come together while still being safe. A place to flourish and reconnect. This will lead to resurrecting the culture and will reduce employee turnover.

Legal businesses should engage with their team to understand what they would need to increase their satisfaction and feel more connected to the firm. Incorp can help you engage with your team to find out what works for them and what works for the firm. Having an experienced consultant involved gets staff reinvigorated, because it shows you care are about them and value their input.

It improves the culture, reverses the disconnect and excites them about the future. Millennials want to feel connected and work in a caring culture that engages them.

Incorp has been working with some of the world’s largest and most innovative organisations globally since 1988, to help them formulate and implement people and property solutions that drive innovation and deliver sustainable competitive advantage.

We would welcome the opportunity to assist you and your team to create high-performance cultures and workspaces.

New Ways of Working?

Every year it seems we are all told how we need to adopt “new ways of working”.

Workplace trends come and go, along with the catchy titles such as Hybrid, Cross Functional Teaming, Squads and Tribes, Activity Based Working (ABW), Flex, etc, etc.

Ultimately (within reason) business doesn’t care how the results are achieved, they just need the outcomes.
Any progressive organisation will hire people they trust to get the job done. It is then the organisation’s responsibility to set the vision, purpose and specific outcomes required from the individuals and teams.
When the teams are trusted, enabled and empowered, they will work out how best to achieve the desired business outcome.
So we need to remove the focus from trends and activity and work on creating clear and measurable outcomes.
A major role for any business is to ensure their trusted team have the tools and permissions in place, and that any obstacles to achieving the agreed outcomes are removed.
The holy grail for any business is to have measurable “outcome” metrics for every individual and team.
Once these metrics are aligned with the business goals and understood in the full context of the business/role, with the team empowered to deliver these outcomes in the manner and place that works most efficiently for them, then a high-performance culture and organisation will emerge.
Leadership needs to focus less on the trends and staff location and more on the clarity of purpose and outcome metrics, along with empowerment and enabling.
When the team has clarity on the required measurable outcomes, it matters not where they are sitting and for how many days.
The “best” workplace strategy will fall apart if the team aren’t on board with the outcome they need to deliver and then trusted to deliver it in the manner that works best for them. It will also fall apart if the “system” is administered by micromanagers, busy building layers to protect their position and justify their job.
With shared purpose, clear outcomes, cultural alignment, trust and the tools that enable intuitive and frictionless processes, management just need to get out of the way.

Irrespective of the current workplace strategy, the team at Incorp can help you and your team develop your OBW (Outcome Based Workplace).

2022 – A time for Action

So you survived 2021. Great.

You watched and observed your teams carefully to understand how they responded to the lockdown and the covid challenges with isolation and remote working.

While clunky, your technology worked and you managed to get the job done.

However, just managing to struggle through and only getting the job done is fine as an immediate response to a crisis but is neither a long term solution nor a way to sustainably grow. Your competitors are coming up with solutions that are better, faster, cheaper plus more. Triaging the situation means you are losing ground, competitive advantage, clients, opportunity and profits. Costs of people and property have not stopped despite business being heavily impacted. The time to make decisions and take action is now. And if not now then when?

Covid has undermined culture, communication, connection and efficiency. Just waiting and watching is not good enough. Action to remedy the ground lost, the culture eroded and the efficiencies degraded is needed now. Sitting on your hands for another year will spell disaster for culture and business performance as well as miss the opportunity to reduce property costs and or leverage workplace efficiency.

When it comes to an organisation second-biggest expense, property, our strategies and actions should be put in place to ensure the portfolio is constantly right-sized and fit for purpose. When those strategies are actually implemented, are largely determined by lease expiry dates and the following questions:-

The Incorp team has been working with some of the world’s largest and most innovative organisations globally since 1988, to help them formulate and implement people and property solutions that drive innovation and deliver sustainable competitive advantage.

We would welcome the opportunity to assist you and your team to create high-performance cultures and workplaces.

Transforming Beiersdorf’s Australian Headquarters into a WELL workplace

How do you unify a business and create a culture and environment which prioritises the health and wellbeing of their people? This was the starting point and catalyst for Beiersdorf’s Australian Headquarters.

Our conversation with Managing Director, Clynton Bartholomeusz, began with the need to relocate staff from their Erskine Park Warehouse to an upgraded lower ground floor of their North Ryde head office. However, the scope evolved based on Clynton’s vision and desire to transform Beiersdorf’s way of working to help their people work, live, perform, and feel their best. Beiersdorf, considered to be the inventor of modern skincare with 130+ years of success as a cosmetics and skincare brand, wanted to set a benchmark for not only the business, but for the industry, both nationwide and for the Beiersdorf brand globally.

The objective of the project aimed to create an environment that reflected Beiersdorf’s brand, commitment to sustainability, and facilitate increased collaboration, communication, and innovation company-wide. Beiersdorf’s wellness centered ethos provided a framework for Incorp to move away from their previously ‘clinical’ environment and transition the staff from offices to open plan, creating a WELL standard workplace. “Project Unity” became the name and driver in principle for Beiersdorf’s complete workplace transformation. The project aligned with leadership’s desire to be an exemplar of best practice globally, unifying both Beiersdorf and Beiersdorf Healthcare teams under one roof, and the refurbishment of their entire North Ryde workplace targeting a WELL standard.

The process initially began with the need to relocate staff from the Beiersdorf Healthcare brand into temporary space in the basement area of their North Ryde space. It was a move that would unify their Erskine Park and North Ryde staff into one location. What started as a design and construction project transformed when the Project Unity team saw the opportunity to:

Put Beiersdorf’s people first and create an environment that prioritises the health of every employee.

At the time this was one of a handful of projects undertaking WELL certification – the world’s first Standard focused solely on the health and wellbeing of staff based on 7 concepts – Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Fitness, Comfort and Mind

Gain valuable insights from a business analysis and change program BEFORE designing their workplace.

By examining workplace behaviours, neighbourhoods, adjacencies, how the existing ways of working, and workstyles weren’t facilitating increased interaction and teaming, we were able to co-design a culture-infused change management program and workplace suited to Beiersdorf’s immediate and longer-term needs.

Involve employees as Evolution Champions with developing change strategies, implementing initiatives, and ensuring the change sticks so Beiersdorf continues to evolve.

Together with focus groups conducted with all office staff, the champions enabled employees to be heard as individuals, as teams, and as a group, and ensured buy-in from initiatives based on their ideas, suggestions, and comments.

Survey for Success to baseline current perception Pre-Project Unity vs Post-Project Unity.

Employees were asked to rate the success of key drivers of success for Beiersdorf around culture, work process, decision making, communication, innovation, and learning before and after Project Unity. The intention being, to build and leverage this knowledge as a way to retain and attract staff through a sense of community, belonging, and excellence, reinforcing and building upon an already strong company culture.

Beiersdorf’s key achievement was creating an environment that broke down siloes and unified their culture, provided a highly productive and enriching place to work, and lifted the brand to truly reflect Beiersdorf as a modern skin and healthcare organisation. The journey through the space provides a journey through Beiersdorf’s brand itself – being greeted by an impressive lightbox display at entry, to the round meeting room windows paying homage to the globally renowned “Blue Nivea cream pot”, to the integration of the trusted Nivea blue. Collaboration spaces and technology have facilitated the change in Beiersdorf’s culture to be one of open communication and collaboration while encouraging free movement and the flexibility to optimise their working styles to suit their outcomes.

‘Stunning Success’: Newcastle Council CEO says office move ushers in new era

“Frankly, it has been a stunning success. The feedback has been universally popular. It has been a little bit of a disruptive week but it’s wonderful to hear how positively staff have embraced not just the new location, but the very different way staff are expected to work.” – Jeremy Bath, City of Newcastle’s CEO

Click this link to read the full story published in the Newcastle Herald

Our Interior Design and Cultural Evolution teams played a major role in this transformative project to create a modern, collaborative workplace that not only looks incredible but truly unlocks the full potential of the organisation’s 450 employees. Through Incorp’s unique model putting people at the heart of the workplace, the property, design and technology upgrades underpin the values and embedded behaviours aspired to by the City of Newcastle team.

“The greatest value we were able to bring was to support City of Newcastle’s leadership team, to step fully into their powerful sponsorship role, and to role model the expected mindset and behaviours for the whole organisation.” – Tony Coyle, Incorp’s Director of Cultural Evolution

The new offices and activity-based working model reflects the Council’s efforts to keep up with the technological changes of the 21^st Century, and their commitment to boost staff morale while creating a more attractive workplace for prospective employees.

“I see a very bright future” – Jeremy Bath, City of Newcastle’s CEO

Please contact Tony Coyle to discuss how to realise the full potential of your organisation’s leadership team, culture and people.

Alicia Discusses Generational Dynamics on ABC Radio

Our very own Director of Generational Dynamics, Alicia Stephenson, was invited by ABC Radio to discuss the implications of a multi-generational workplace.

Alicia joined Lisa Leong and additional guests including Holly Ransom, Demographer, Mark McCrindle, and CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce, James Pearson, on ‘This Working Life’. They shared their experiences of how individual working styles are influenced by age, and discussed how the leadership styles they were exposed to in their formative years shaped the approach they now adopt.

Click this link to listen to the full episode

Here are 5 key points to help you understand Generational Dynamics, and its impact on the current workplace:

1. 1. Companies need to view generations as a type of diversity, the same way as culture and gender diversity.

1. 2. Millennials coming into leadership roles now, have the responsibility to lead in an ever-changing or fast-paced environment. In response, they are having to flatten the hierarchical structure, clear the top-down chain of communication, and learn
2. on the go.

1. 3. As millennials are changing jobs quite rapidly, the leadership style they adopted during their formative years is now constantly evolving based on their learnings from different workplaces and industries. Millennials are responding by implementing their own unique leadership style.

1. 4. Two things great millennial managers bring to the table are a sense of empathy, and a willingness to learn.

1. 5. To ensure a successful transition to any new way of working, it is recommended to first understand the generational differences and trends that underpin your organisational culture to then inform how to design your future workplace.

Please contact Alicia Stephenson to discuss how to realise the potential of your multi-generational workforce
or introduce engagement strategies to build strong workplace culture.

Incorp turns the Big Three Oh!

This week Incorp turns 30. Like any birthday, they come far too quickly. Thirty years sounds like a long time but we feel like we are just getting going.

I started Incorp in Sydney in 1988 with a desire to do great things with great people, for great people and along the way address some major flaws in our industry and improve the customer experience. I am very pleased to report, we have managed to do just that, with our unique model and global expertise.

I have been blessed to be able to work with some incredible and inspiring people both inside the Incorp family and as business partners/clients.

We have been crystal clear on whom and what we value, wearing our hearts on our sleeves and speaking the truth. We have built trust, expert knowledge, great friendships and world class environments that nurture and improve the quality of working life. I am incredibly proud of what our amazing team have achieved for our loyal partners.

We continue to grow within Australia and around the world. Our thought leadership and courage has been validated by being awarded several global agreements with some of the largest organisations on the planet. We have been encouraged by the enthusiastic uptake of our global expertise by many world leading brands. Our mission is to ensure our partners gain sustainable competitive advantage through unlocking the full potential of their people. So far, it seems to be working.

I would like to whole-heartedly thank the amazing team at Incorp past and present, as well as our incredible clients/partners for their undying belief and support. We will continue to live our 6C values and to improve the quality of life for millions of people across the planet. Thirty years down and we are just beginning.

Thanks again to all who have been part of the Incorp journey and for helping us to achieve so much. We look forward to exponential growth around the world and continuing to do great things with great people.

Cheers,

Rear view series final #6: Collaboration or Distraction

Written in 2008:

In our modern, knowledge-based economy, a common goal for business is to increase collaboration. But are we solving the wrong problem? Our partners’ brief always includes: “we want improved communication and increased collaboration within our new workplace”. Collaboration has become cliché. We need to understand just why collaboration is so sought after.

The intention of collaboration is well founded in unlocking and unleashing the maximum potential of collective knowledge and resource. Its purpose is to leverage the power of a team to realise an outcome that is greater than the sum of its parts. However, for collaboration to bear meaningful fruit, it needs to be controlled and managed. Simply putting some cool furniture in leftover space where people can “communicate and collaborate” will very rarely, if ever, provide meaningful output. Collaborative space, as a minimum, needs to include all of the 5 P’s (see diagram) to have a chance of yielding valuable outcomes.

Gathering is not collaborating. Putting people in a room, no matter how well designed, without a purpose they value, or a sensible agenda, or any emotional buy-in, will not garner the personal investment required to achieve the desired solution. If the discourse is not controlled within the agreed cultural boundaries, then we do not unearth the hidden gems from the brightest people, but are instead subjected to the “squeakiest wheels” monologue.

Timing is critical to meaningful collaboration. What are the chances of having two people in the perfect mindset and simpatico at any given moment in time in order to create magic? As hard as that is, now try and get 6-12 individuals ready and in harmony at one moment. The reality of that happening is highly unlikely, however, we still insist on demanding “collaboration”. Management forces people out of “flow” to meet an agenda that suits them and not when it suits the individual to contribute meaningfully.

We need to understand the collateral damage and opportunity cost for taking people out of flow to “collaborate”. Having too many meetings is the scourge of the modern workplace. The most productive work happens when individuals are given the time, space and permission to engage deeply in the problem or opportunity at hand.

Creative and innovative thinking happens on its own time frame and certainly does not happen on demand. We need to ensure that business does not insist upon over collaboration for the sake of it. Organisations that are looking to unlock the full potential of their team, need to provide enough quiet undisturbed space, along with the cultural permissions that will create the environment for flow. This helps unlock the power of the introvert or outliers ahead of the dumbed down and “averaged” crowd sourced ideas.

In conjunction with quiet individual space, there needs to be communal space where creative friction can exist in a “safe” environment and can emerge organically. These spaces are needed to build social ties and networks and for transferring cultural clues. These spaces are where individuals can find their tribes and a sense of belonging. These places tend to be serendipitous and self-actuated, rather than preordained or contrived. Organic collaboration will unlock the magic, while forced meetings will simply disturb and frustrate.

What has changed in 2018?

The basics of human needs remain consistent and certainly has not changed in 10 years. The over-saturation of ways to collaborate is increasing and the culture of FOMO looms large. We are attempting more and achieving less. In ten years another generation has entered the workforce, brought up on sharing and consuming information in bite-sized pieces. This constant desire for information self-distracts, further eroding the possibility for deeply focused work. Therefore in 2018, the collaboration conundrum still exists, it just has more channels and mediums to contend with. I say, attempt less and achieve more.

This is the final of the series. We hope you have found it interesting. 
Series #5: Tough times need clever solutions
Series #4: Top 10 office refurbishment tips
Series #3: Downsizing Your Office Space Liability
Series #2: Stay or Go?
Series #1: Tired Office: Tired Thinking

Please email the Incorp team if you would like to discuss any of the series in more detail.