Activity Based Working – what is it?
Let’s face it, the human body wasn’t designed to sit all day long.
Yet many of us try and pull that off. Many unsuccessfully.
Common issues that can arise from this include back ache, neck aches and headaches. There is also increasing evidence that more general wellbeing issues can be exacerbated by sitting for long periods. As discussed in previous articles – Sedentary work is being viewed as “the new smoking” when it comes to effects on your health.
For office workers, being proactive about your physical health and wellbeing means moving around more in your working day.
This is the movement movement we are promoting at PHW Group.
One growing trend in workplaces to help prevent sedentary work is the designing the workplace to include what is known as activity based work stations.
Activity based work station features
Activity based work stations vary from the traditional office model by encouraging quiet areas in the open plan work stations and dedicating a variety of spaces (with a variety of designs) to meeting and collaboration.
Activity based work spaces promote versatility, movement and collaboration in the work place.
They may include meeting pods where people can stand, more collaborative meeting areas, flexible work stations that permit more standing and movement, etc…
Workplace neighbourhoods
Activity based work stations use the concept of neighbourhoods where you can move between depending on the sort of work you are engaged in at the time. Spaces are designed to suit individual work, one on one collaboration, group meetings, break out space, etc…
It’s innovative and not everyone warms to it straight away. When well designed the results can be improved productivity and a greater sense of wellbeing. Piloting different design options before committing to a final design is an important way of ensuring the workplace design is going to hit the mark and be user friendly.
Want to find out more? Talk to us and we’d be happy to share more ideas and stories from the field..
Have a healthy and productive day,
- Six tips for working from home - March 17, 2020
- Using Laptops Well - November 3, 2019
- A Chair You Can Flip - July 14, 2019
