Osmond Ergonomics

This article was originally emailed as issue 165 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 09/08/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

ARE EMPLOYERS GIVING UP ON HYBRID WORKING?

Google has just offered employees ‘a special deal’ at their campus hotel to ‘make it easier for Googlers to transition to the hybrid workplace’, President Biden is urging federal workers to return to the office and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has just reported that homeworkers work, on average, 2.5 hours less per day than office workers. In the USA, at least, it seems that the productivity claims for homeworking are now being challenged.

Of course, this could just be a case of what’s making the headlines this month and the reverse will be highlighted in the next few weeks! In the UK, it’s not long since we were laughing at Jacob Rees-Mogg and his ‘sorry I missed you’ notes to civil servants when many of us knew that government departments had been running very successful smart working programmes since long before Covid. Equally, does it really matter how many hours you work if you get all your work done? Maybe homeworkers work less hours because they just get through things more efficiently.

In the UK, it seems that many SMEs have returned to the office fully, but the view of larger European employers is still strongly supportive of the hybrid working model, even if they are still working at getting it right! There is no doubt in my mind that all-in or all-out is not the ideal solution for the vast majority of organisations and a balance can be found. It just needs care – and probably time. Neil Usher’s recent article provides a good insight into key considerations in workplace design.

THE DEEP WORK HYPOTHESIS

Do you remember when the only distractions from the work we were doing were phone calls or a colleague stopping by our desk? Now we are constantly bombarded by digital communications – like this one! We have been doing further research into the lead topic from last month’s eBulletin and thinking about ways to address the issue. Set aside some time to read our latest blog which explores the background and possible solutions, as well as providing access to Cal Newport’s book – Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.

WEBINARS & PODCASTS

Our regular monthly webinars continue. The latest upcoming topics can always be found on this page and you can find previous webinar recordings here. We are also continuing our internal discussions about the future of these two communication styles and exploring formats for possible podcasts in the future. In the meantime, our Webinars & Podcasts survey is still open (for a few more days) so please take a couple of minutes to give us your views on the two formats and you could win a £100 Amazon gift voucher.

ISO 9001/14001 AUDIT

It’s an irony that our previous quality auditor gave us poor and inconsistent service! However, that’s now history and we are very pleased to have moved to NQA. Our first audit with the new assessor took place at the end of July and I am delighted to confirm that feedback was all positive. Our commitment to these standards is central to how we operate and they provide a structure for continuous improvement processes.

This article was originally emailed as issue 164 of our monthly eBulletin at 9:30 on 19/07/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

THE DEEP WORK HYPOTHESIS

Are the low-friction communications tools, like email, Teams and Slack, actually reducing our productivity? How often do you get to the end of a workday and think ‘All I’ve really done today is answer emails’? Author and computer science professor, Calvin Newport, argues that our almost-constant interaction with these tools distracts us so much from concentrated, deep thought that we may actually be losing the ability to think deeply at all. Newport says that, to learn hard things quickly, we need to focus intensely without distraction but that’s a skill that seems to be on the decline. Find out more from this podcast or join our discussion on LinkedIn.

PODCAST & WEBINAR SURVEY

We are reviewing our communications and considering the introduction of a monthly podcast. Recently, the growth of industry and commercial podcasts has been conspicuous and the abundance of these, alongside webinars, ensures a constant stream of online information, entertainment and education. Somewhat late to the party, I have become a podcast enthusiast myself since the start of the year and I am curious about your preferences. Please take a few minutes to give us your views in this short survey before 11.08.23. We shall be presenting a £100 Amazon voucher to one lucky participant..

THE VALUE OF AN OVERHEARD CONVERSATION

In the meantime, our webinar programme continues from a slightly different angle this month. Whilst we recognise the overall hybrid working trend since the Covid pandemic, the conversation about the pros and cons of office and homeworking continues to be complex, with widely dispersed individual experiences. This month, we have taken one element of the debate to highlight. It is based on my presentation at Clerkenwell Design Week and I look forward to exploring it further. Information and registration can be found here.

GOOD WORK DESIGN

The CIEHF (Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors) has just launched a new infographic about Good Work Design. It lays out a three-phase, human-centric approach to the design of work for people to both enjoy and thrive. It is available as either a single, scrollable document for onscreen use or, if you want to print it, a 2-page A4 pdf. You can find both on this page. There was also a webinar about it earlier this month, the recording of which can be found on this page.

ELECTRIC CARS

As with all our business activities, our company vehicle policy is to reduce our carbon impact at every opportunity and, in particular, with each replacement. This is not the place to debate the environmental value of electric cars vs. petrol / diesel / hydrogen / etc. but my personal move away from Tesla driving has made me acutely aware of the fractured nature of UK charging infrastructure for other marques. In just three months’ ownership, I have accumulated 14 apps to accommodate the various charging companies I have encountered! If you’re an EV driver, what is your experience? I would love to hear.

This article was originally emailed as issue 163 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 14/06/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

HOW HAVE OUR WORKPLACES CHANGED SINCE THE PANDEMIC?

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work. The lockdown-mandated flip to homeworking had a profound impact, not only on how and where we work, but also on work culture, office space design and work-life balance. So, three years out, what have we learned, and what will we take forward? How have our expectations and priorities shifted and what may the future of the physical office look like? [more]

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS TRILOGY

Our mental health webinar series, created and delivered by Robert Manson of Haldane Health, finishes with Part 3 on Wednesday June 21st at 10:00 (postponed from earlier in the month). Managing Stress at Work addresses the main causes and common indicators of stress and concludes with methods for reducing it in the workplace. In doing so, it draws together the themes already raised. Find out more and register for Episode 3 here. If you missed the first two sessions, you can find the recordings on our Webinars on Demand page.

DXT3 MOUSE

I don’t often talk about products in this newsletter but we are getting great feedback about the latest version of the DXT, particularly from a recent survey of DSE assessors. The DXT3 is slightly larger than the DXT2 so suits a bigger hand. It has also had a significant technology upgrade that includes a bespoke app for easy configuration. The precision grip offers an excellent alternative to more traditional vertical mice, especially where accurate and detailed work is required. To find out more, including two explanatory videos, click here. If you want to buy, use code DXTOSMOND10 for a 10% discount..

WOW ERGONOMICS

I spent an entertaining hour with Graham Coath and Steven Howe this month, as guest of the Wow Ergonomics podcast. We had a wide-ranging conversation about, amongst other things, Hybrid Working, the complexity of designing for everyone, neurodiversity and the validity of DSE assessments. I may even have nearly answered some of Graham’s questions! If you would like to know more, the recording can be found here.

WORKPLACE TRENDS – NEXT UK EVENT

I have mentioned the Workplace Trends conference series in the past and much of my thinking evolves from presentations and conversations at these events. The next one is in London on October 18, 2023 and the theme is The Office as a Desired Destination. Ideas about hybrid working continue to evolve and I have mentioned the ‘magnetic office’ before. Put simply, you have to make the office a place people want to attend, whether it’s full- or part-time. Early-bird tickets are available now.

This article was originally emailed as issue 162 of our monthly eBulletin at 14:30 on 10/05/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH

It is entirely logical that Stress Awareness Month (April) is immediately followed by Mental Health Awareness Month (May) which contains, for those with a limited attention span, Mental Health Awareness Week (15th – 21st). This year’s theme is Anxiety. If you find yourself thinking that anxiety and stress are much the same thing, then perhaps you have never experienced either. Whilst the symptoms have a lot in common, their origin is completely different. For our long-standing supporters, the attention we are giving to these topics may, at first, seem surprising for a company that has been talking about physical ergonomics and musculoskeletal health for over 30 years. However, we have been talking about the connection between physical and mental health for over a decade – long before the Covid pandemic drew attention to mental health issues. Expect to see even more from us in the future!

THE ROBERT MANSON SHOW!

Last month we introduced our first guest speaker to our free webinars and we are delighted with the response to the first of three interlinked sessions delivered for us by Robert Manson of Haldane Health. Starting with Personal Energy Management (now available on catch-up), we are progressing through Developing Personal Resilience and Managing Stress at Work in May and June. Robert’s wide experience in global organisations brings unique insights and a healthy pragmatism to his broadcasts.

AND THE STUART ENTWISTLE SHOW!

Alongside our guest sessions, we are also extending the scope of our in-house webinars. As previously mentioned, our Training Manager, Stuart, is exploring more mental-health-related topics over coming weeks. His May session is Sleep and, in June, he will be talking about Biophilia. For insights and tips about how to optimise your personal benefits from these two topics, find out more and register here.

CLERKENWELL DESIGN WEEK

I also mentioned CDW last month, but a lot has been happening in the meantime. There are some important relocations; some international companies opening Clerkenwell showrooms for the first time and even companies I have never heard of announcing new premises. In addition, there are significant presentations and discussions between industry celebrities, influencers, international designers – and me! To hear me talk about The Value of an Overheard Conversation, come to the new Dynamobel showroom for 11:30 on Wednesday 24th May. To find out more about CDW and register, click here.

FREE RESOURCE ACCESS

Do you carry out workstation assessments? Do you use our online resources? Do you ever want to show them to clients during the assessment process? If so, you will be pleased to know that you no longer need to login to do so. During conversations at our recent, highly successful DSE Assessor Event in Bristol, it was suggested that the need to login or register is really inconvenient – so we have removed this feature! You can now access our entire website without logging in.

This article was originally emailed as issue 161 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 12/04/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

STRESS AWARENESS MONTH

As you probably already know, April is Stress Awareness Month. What you may not realise is that this has been the case for over 30 years. I am delighted to see that stress and its successful management is finally getting the attention and support it deserves. In recognition of this (and Mental Health Awareness Week on May 15-21), we shall be offering a free 3-part webinar series, starting on April 19th. This is also our first Guest Speaker Series, featuring Robert Manson. Robert has extensive experience from senior roles at RWE, Morrisons and GlaxoSmithKline and now runs his own consultancy, Haldane Health. Find out more about our free webinars and register here.

CLERKENWELL DESIGN WEEK

London’s Clerkenwell is home to more creative businesses and architects per square mile than anywhere else on the planet. ‘The UK’s leading independent design festival’, CDW returns on May 23-25 this year. Amongst the numerous events and presentations taking place, the key manufacturers in the UK workplace design and furniture industry throw open their showrooms to display their latest products. I shall be speaking at 11:30 on Wednesday May 24 at the new Dynamobel showroom (so new that it hasn’t even opened yet!). Look out for full details in the May eBulletin.

NEW PRODUCTS

Whilst many of our competitors add anything and everything to their portfolio, we are much more selective. Even products from existing manufacturing partners have to go through our WoW Factor process to make it into our range and onto our website. As you might expect, we reject more than we accept! Since the start of 2023, we have declined 60% of the new designs we have assessed. To stay abreast of our recommendations, many clients subscribe to our Product Radar newsletters. Unlike this eBulletin, Product Radar emails are published ad hoc and only when we have a worthy new contender to show you. See our recent additions and/or register here.

WEBINARS ON DEMAND

All our live webinars are recorded and added to our website. A link is then emailed to all registered delegates for access to the video recording after the event. It is, therefore, always worth registering for any topic that interests you, even if the timing conflicts with other diary commitments. That way, you can catch up in your own time at some stage in the future. You can see our archive of View on Demand recordings here. They are all free but you will need to register for access.

SWITCHBOARD HOURS

From Monday April 17th, our switchboard hours will change to 09:00 – 17:00 Monday to Friday. This is an industry norm and, since other electronic communication methods have now eclipsed the telephone, the volume of calls has diminished significantly over the years and especially since the pandemic. This slight restriction of core telephone hours also allows us to give the Customer Service team greater flexibility over start and finish times so you may well find that you get email responses outside these hours.

This article was originally emailed as issue 160 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 08/03/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

WELLBEING & PRODUCTIVITY WEBINAR SERIES

We have now started to roll out our 2023 plans for further webinar and training topics. These cover a broader spectrum of subjects. They go beyond our traditional DSE base but they still fall under the heading of Wellbeing & Productivity. General webinar sessions are available free and cover the fundamentals of each topic. They can also be branded or tailored for use on your intranet, in Lunch & Learns, on Wellbeing Days or as part of a more comprehensive Learning and Development programme. For a full consultancy service, we are teaming up with industry experts to offer a holistic approach to your L&D needs. See our free webinar programme here or view the new ones individually: Email Management – Sleep – Biophilia.

DSE ASSESSOR DAY EVENT – 18.04.23

We have been agreeably surprised by the number of registrations for our Bristol training day. We thought the venue would be big enough but we are getting close to capacity. Whilst the content is obviously attracting delegates, several have also mentioned the vineyard venue. Is there a better way to end a great day of learning and networking than a bottle of wine to take home afterwards? To be sure of a place, check out the agenda and register now.

WORKPLACE TRENDS RESEARCH SUMMIT – 19.04.23

The 2023 event is on April 19th. This year looks very promising once again with a broad range of UK and overseas presenters from both commerce and academia. Employers everywhere are asking for data on which to base their decisions about hybrid working, corporate real estate and employee wellbeing. This is the place to find it! This year’s topics include Indoor Positioning Systems, Organisational Network Analysis, Acoustic Perception, Human-Centric Transformation and Self Determination Theory. It may sound like Buzzword Bingo in a single sentence but it’s actually lots of really valuable information! Find out more and register here.

TOP TIPS VIDEOS

When we declared 2022 our ‘Year of Knowledge Sharing’, one of our new initiatives was the introduction of our Top Tips video library. We continue to add to this and now have over 20 clips covering topics as diverse as ‘Acoustics’ and ‘Why use a compact keyboard?’. Almost all of them last less than a minute so they are a great way to share wellbeing and ergonomics ideas with your colleagues or clients. Check the latest additions at bit.ly/oe-top-tips  or here if you prefer YouTube. And feel free to share them!

SUSTAINABILITY IN THE OFFICE FURNITURE INDUSTRY

Historically, the process of equipping and re-equipping the workplace has been very wasteful and sustainability was not given much consideration. In recent years, and especially since the post-Covid focus on Net Zero, designers, manufacturers and office dealers like ourselves have been reviewing every element of the industry to see where improvements can be made. Perhaps 3D printing will also become a key part of that process. I explored this idea in my recent blog about the Stockholm Furniture Fair.

This article was originally emailed as issue 159 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 11/01/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

BRISTOL DSE EVENT

Following last month’s teaser, we are delighted to announce our next event for DSE Assessors on Tuesday April 18, 2023. This time, we are teaming up with our friends at Ergochair and the location is just outside Bristol. We always aim to ensure our events are far-from-standard so we have chosen a vineyard location (and guess what your goodie bag will include!). Since it’s a little out of town, we shall be providing collection and return services for both Bristol Temple Meads Station and Bristol Airport. Obviously, it’s a full and varied programme with plenty of interaction and networking opportunities. And, of course, it’s free! Find out more and be one of the first to register here.

CONFERENCES & EXHIBITIONS

Depending when you read this, I am actually attending – or just back from – the Stockholm Furniture Fair. Watch out for my report blog in the near future. We are now entering the conference and exhibition season so here are a few more events that I shall be attending as a delegate. Depending on your background and role, one or more of these should be of interest.

Workspace Design Show (London)
Health & Wellbeing at Work (Birmingham)
Workplace Trends Research Summit (London)
Clerkenwell Design Week (London)

Let me know if you decide to attend one or more of these and want to meet up.

PRODUCT RADAR

We introduced our Product Radar emails in September 2020 to provide an effective way to keep subscribers informed of new products as we add them to our range and ensure they are ‘on your radar’. All products have been through our WoW Factor process so they are tested and endorsed by us, not just ‘new stuff’. This has proved particularly popular with assessors, Health & Safety professionals and Occupational Health personnel supporting office workers. We have had a flurry of new products since the start of the year so it is opportune to remind our readers who have not yet subscribed. You can see the archive of postings here or register here.

VAT ONLINE

You may have noticed that everything on our website has increased in price in the last few days. In fact, no prices have changed but everything is showing a 20% increase because we now show VAT-inclusive pricing. In an ideal world, we should be able to give you the choice to see VAT-inclusive or -exclusive pricing but that apparently straightforward requirement turns out to be far more complicated than expected with our current website platform (and we have researched this thoroughly). Since we are receiving more and more personal purchases for homeworkers, this change makes sense for the time being.

WEBSITE FEEDBACK

For many reasons, including the VAT issue, we are currently working on a new platform for a brand new website. We would love more feedback from users about your experience. Please let me know anything you think is missing, what drives you up the wall, what you find really useful or just a general comment about how you get on with the current format. We have lots of our own ideas but your feedback is even more important. You can email me here.

This article was originally emailed as issue 158 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 11/01/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

DXTMOUSE 3

We rarely use the eBulletin as a product platform but the imminent arrival of the new DXTMouse 3 ambidextrous mouse is something I am keen to share. I was involved in discussions about the DXT as far back as the first design outline, cut from a piece of wood from the designer’s garden shed! It was the first truly ambidextrous mouse with strong ergonomics credentials and a radical departure from the traditional ‘power grip’ of most vertical mice. The DXTMouse 3 extends the capability of the ‘precision grip’ concept to include programmable keys, enhanced performance, increased resolution and a slightly larger size. Our first deliveries are on the way from the factory now. Pre-order yours here and get a 10% discount with code DXT3TEN.

STOCKHOLM FURNITURE FAIR

My October visit to Orgatec in Germany reminded me why I used to attend so many overseas events (in a far-away time pre-Covid). I believe it is important to see the market from different national and cultural perspectives whilst examining new products and concepts that may not yet be known in the UK. In the still-fluid world of Hybrid Working, it is also valuable to see and hear different international attitudes and approaches to homeworking and redesigning the traditional office. I shall be at Stockholm Furniture Fair at the beginning of February and blogging about it soon after.

DSE ASSESSORS’ EVENT

Following the significant success of our 2022 events at Orangebox, we are now working on our next event in the Bristol area with our friends at Ergochair. Plans are well under way and full details will be circulated via social media and the February eBulletin. Expect excellent content, a brilliant location, fine food, great networking, a CPD certificate and, as always, a noteworthy goodie bag! Watch this space.

ARTICLES & PODCASTS

As regular readers know, 2022 was our Year of Knowledge Sharing. During the year, we introduced several new features, including our Top Tips videos and the events referred to above. We also had several articles circulated in on- and offline publications. The significance of published articles is they all have to be approved by the editor and they are often on topics they suggest, unlike blogs which, of course, are self-published. Access to all of these has now been consolidated, together with two podcasts in which I was interviewed. Others will be added as they are published (We already have two more on the way). Find them here.

CHAIR & EQUIPMENT MEASUREMENT

When specifying chairs and furniture for homeworkers, one problem that has arisen many times is the leg clearance under the desk or table. This has never been an issue in the office but many homeworkers use dressing tables and other domestic furniture with central drawers that cause posture issues. When we decided to add this data to our Chair Measurement Form, we also decided it was time to completely refresh it and add a few more key questions. The new format is also available as an online form here.

This article was originally emailed as issue 157 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 14/12/2022. You can register here to receive them monthly.

ANOTHER YEAR OF EBULLETINS

Compared to our other anniversaries this year (company 60th and 30 years in ergonomics), 13 years may not seem very long but we believe delivering our email newsletter consistently, at the scheduled time on the same day each month for 156 consecutive months is quite an achievement! The appearance has evolved over those 13 years but the intent remains unchanged: to deliver useful, interesting and valuable content in a professional but casual format. Our steadily growing audience in a world of email bombardment is reassuring and very much appreciated. Thank you for your continued interest and support.

YEAR END INFORMATION

As we approach the festive season, please note that the order deadline for pre-Christmas delivery of stock items is 12:30 on Tuesday 20.12.22. We shall be closed from 12:30 on Friday 23.12.22 and reopen at 08:30 on Tuesday 03.01.23. As usual, we are making a donation instead of sending Christmas cards. On behalf of all of us at Osmond Ergonomics, we hope you are able to have an excellent break, spend quality time with your loved ones and recharge your batteries.

OUR YEAR OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING

At the start of 2022, we committed to a significant increase in the valuable content we create to educate, inform and advise our clients, friends and influencers. To that end, we have published 12 blogs, hosted three full-day seminars with our partners at Orangebox, run free monthly webinars, trained umpteen DSE assessors, had articles in 14 publications, participated in two podcast interviews, created 19 Top-Tips videos, countless social media postings and, of course, published 12 eBulletins! Watch for more new ideas in 2023.

STOCK AND LOGISTIC ISSUES? WE CAN HELP

I know I mentioned this last month but it is now even more apparent that conscientious employers are being let down by furniture dealers who have made homeworker supply promises that they can’t deliver. Either the supplier can’t cope with the demands of homeworker deliveries (it really isn’t as simple as it sounds) or they have agreed terms on products with growing lead times or that are simply not available. With years of experience in homeworker supply, we have the stock, processes and logistics that just make your life easier. Try us!

PRIZE DRAW WINNERS

We don’t take part in many exhibitions these days but, when we do, there’s always a prize draw. We also give away a £180 voucher code every two months to one of the people who has provided feedback about our products or services. Recent winners have been Louise Weald of Wokingham (Mid Downs OH Group), a customer in Oxford (Sept/Oct feedback draw) and Debbie Martin of BWT Physio (DCCI Business Exhibition). You would be amazed how difficult it actually is to give things away. We usually have to send an email, a separate explanatory text and sometimes even a LinkedIn message so that people don’t think it’s a scam!

This article was originally emailed as issue 156 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 09/11/2022. You can register here to receive them monthly.

ORGATEC 2022

I attended my first Orgatec in 1994. At the time, I was overwhelmed by the scale of the event. It was certainly the largest exhibition I had ever attended, with a couple of manufacturers even occupying their own complete hall.  It was also the year that Herman Miller launched the Aeron chair. Orgatec occurs every two years but, due to Covid, this year’s event was the first since 2018. It was about half the size I remember, many major manufacturers did not exhibit and the most innovative design I encountered was an unfinished product presented by a component manufacturer! However, as a bellwether for the furniture industry, there was still a lot to observe. [read more]

60TH ANNIVERSARY

We decided that the company’s sixtieth anniversary warranted a month of celebrations, rather than a single day so you may have noticed that we were more active than usual on social media. It was fun looking back on our various adventures and milestones through the years, although there were some pretty dodgy mugshots dragged out of the archives! The net impact was that a couple of our most successful posts on LinkedIn achieved nearly 4,000 impressions and our October reach was more than double our highest previous month. What that actually means for the business, I’m not altogether sure, but it was fun anyway. You can see some of our reflections in the October blogs.

YEAR END ORDER CUT-OFF

With more manufacturer price rises scheduled for January 1st, there is still time to fulfil most orders before we close for the year end break. The last order deadline for individual items to be delivered before Christmas is noon on December 20th. For larger enquiries, please start the conversation with me or your Customer Development Manager as a matter of urgency.

LOGISTICS PROBLEMS OR SUPPLY ISSUES?

We are receiving a steady flow of enquiries from clients who are being let down by their existing supply partners. It seems that some furniture dealers took on homeworker delivery commitments during Covid, assuming it would be much like office worker supplies but ‘with a few extra drops’. From our 12+ years of homeworker support, we know that communications and logistics are far more complicated and require bullet-proof systems and processes – as well as a reliable supply of products to deliver! Contact us if you’re being let down, even if it’s for a short-term solution until you get everything back on track.

OCTOBER FACE-TO-FACE EVENTS

Following the success of our July DSE Assessor Event, we repeated it in October and added a similar day for Facilities Managers and Health & Safety professionals. Feedback was very favourable with an average satisfaction score of 9.3/10 across all 3 events. We now have a proven format with lots more content still to share. In particular, there is no doubt that all delegates enjoyed the opportunity to meet other professionals face-to-face and discuss common problems in a relaxed and supportive setting. We are working on more events for 2023. Watch this space.