A Guide to Workplace Planning

Introduction

In the current economic climate, it’s not just employees who are coming under scrutiny in many organisations, but the effective use of work space as well.

With major advancements in the use and availability of mobile technology, it’s much easier and in some cases much more efficient for both the employer and employee to agree a flexible working arrangement. So as well as the more traditional accommodation for office based personnel, employees are now able to work from home and work from several locations during the working week. Even when in an office environment, hot-desking, touch-down areas or hotelling are all common arrangements being made for the mobile employee.

In providing this flexibility, it’s important that the employer considers how to ensure that the business premises are used to their maximum efficiency. It’s a major challenge for any employer, who will not want to see rows and rows of empty desks day after day.
Effective workplace planning is something that many organisations are now considering. There is much to consider such as minimum space requirements, lighting requirements, fire exit and disabled access considerations , to name but a few. So seeking the advice of a specialist workplace planning contractor could prove a effective investment.

It’s not just about effective planning and utilisation of space. Is mobile working and the creation of touch down areas right for your business? In some organisations, the company culture and the flexibility of employees will mean that such initiatives will work. In other companies it may not. There are many things to consider in planning the workplace environment. No two companies are the same. For one organisation, it may be decided that a stimulating working environment for employees is required, whereas with other organisations effective use of space around the office location will be a priority. Which ever is effective for your organisation, you will want to ensure that the company’s culture and values remain clearly understood by employees.

The work schedule can take several weeks or in the case of more complex projects several months to complete. Either way, from the outset the project needs to demonstrate a clear plan to maximise the use of space, office and layout design, construction timescales and management of contractors whilst on site. The company’s employees will also need to be temporarily relocated whilst the work is undertaken. There are also stringent health and safety regulations concerning the office environment, which must be adhered to in the planning of the project.

Workplace planning contractors will undertake an audit of the business premises to try and understand if such a scheme is likely to be a success. From the contractors point of view, it is a worthwhile exercise, to take time to discuss and agree the options with the client to ensure that once the plan of action is agreed, work will be planned to ensure the minimum disruption to the business.

Contractors undertake office fit outs to improve the working environment of any organisation.

What should be taken into consideration when planning the workplace area?

One of the most critical considerations when undertaking workplace planning is to be absolutely clear about what tasks will be performed in the designated areas. Different layouts, different furniture, the amount of space required, should all be considered depending upon the tasks to be employed in the area. So whether the workplace is to be for permanent staff or flexible workers, consideration needs to be given to the comfort of the working environment, to aid productivity.

Permanent workers will spend many hours at their work station so it is important that consideration is given to individual work areas. The correct provision of the appropriate office furniture and equipment all aid productivity and efficiency levels. Each employee will require their own personal space around their work station. No one likes to be cramped in and there are many variations of desk design, from single to multi desk designs to ensure enough space for each employee.

Comfort at the desk is a key priority to ensure that health problems are avoided through being in the seated position for long periods of time, so a comfortable chair is essential. Lighting is also a key consideration. A more pleasant working environment is created where the office is well lit , but consideration will also need to be given to avoid glare on computer screens. Telephone communication also needs to be well appointed on the desk. Equally, for the mobile worker, ease of connecting up a laptop and mobile phone will be essential.

It is important to consider all of these issues to, as far as possible avoid distractions from other areas of the office which could interfere with work. However, employers need to get the balance right, as it is just as important to maintain good communication and working relationships within the office. Ensure that every employee has enough space to effectively and efficiently undertake their tasks, without being distracted by other workers close by. Therefore, in some cases, the provision of a meeting room to enable one-to-one or group discussions to be held, may be another effective element of the office design.

In my opinion, the most effective way in which to ensure that employees buy-in to what the employer is trying to achieve is to consult with the employees. Through consultation, the employees can give their views on what type of workstation will be best suited to performing the tasks.

For example if the environment is to be used by a sales person, where regular communication with clients is required, then a slightly more secluded working environment may be preferred to avoid background noise, particularly if discussing detailed proposals or contracts. A sales person is one type of employee who will have mobile working requirements, where a small amount of their working week will be spent in the office, whilst the rest of their time will be spent out on the road visiting potential and existing clients.

If the environment is in a finance department or call centre, then the use of system desking or multi seated work stations may be a more appropriate solution, where a number of employees can be seated in a work area together. Whatever the intended working environment consider the views of the employees.

Where businesses are looking to reduce costs, consider office refurbs and workspace review projects.

Health and Safety in the office

Whatever the office conditions, the employees should be allowed a degree of flexibility to set up their work station to suit their own needs. As long as the employer has provided and considered the requirements of the working environment to allow employees to undertake their work effectively, employees will want to add a personal touch to their own work area. As long as employees do not place their own health and safety or that of others at risk, then there is nothing wrong with the employer allowing some flexibility with this.
Guidelines for use of equipment at the workstation

Taking time to ensure the comfort of employees at the workstation can eliminate health and safety problems in the future. Every one enjoys working near a window and if this is possible, the glare from windows onto a computer screen can make reading of the screen difficult. Therefore, window blinds or shades need will need to be supplied to enable employees to control lighting conditions.

In situations, where the workstation is to be used for longer periods of time, guidelines recommend that the use of computers may require an anti-glare filter to be placed across the screen to reduce problems with reflection. A computer screen is recommended to be at least 25cm from eye level.

It is also necessary to ensure that enough electrical points are available, for additional communications equipment such as mobile phone chargers and laptops.

Employees may also require printers or scanners to be located on their workstation.
The correct seating is critical of any workstation design. Perhaps the most important feature of the workstation is the provision of the correct type of office chair. Many hours will be spent seated at the workstation, so the better the quality of office furniture, the less likelihood there will be of receiving complaints from employees about discomfort in the back, shoulder or neck area of the body. The chairs comfort and design can impact upon how effective or productive the employee will be. So it is good practice to test some desk chairs for comfort before purchasing too many.

Good morale amongst employees is positive for your business and a comfortable working environment will help the cause. I was recently involved in a project to set up a new call centre to accommodate eighty call centre agents. Following much discussion with the office design contractor and consultation with around twenty existing agents, plans for the new look office were formulated before the contractor went away to draft the plans. The existing agents felt that team working was important and therefore it was agreed that the most effective office layout would be for the call centre agents to be located in teams of six around a circular desk system.

Once the plans were finalized, over a three month period the office layout was developed. Taking time to involve the existing agents has proved very effective indeed, with all call centre disciplines showing good signs of improvement. Another major plus point is that in a call centre, staff turnover can be high, but any new starter is quickly integrated into a ‘team table’ and through training, conversation and listening to team colleagues, quickly adapts to the requirements and targets of that team.

A vast range of industrial shelving is available to suit every businesses needs.

Fire Exit Considerations

No matter what type of business you operate, employers must comply with regulations around safety at work, and this includes what to do in the event of a fire.In today’s health and safety led environment whether it is at home or in the office, the installation of smoke detectors is common place.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, was introduced to provide advice for businesses on what reasonable steps should be taken to reduce the risk from fire, to occupants of the building . More importantly the Order contains advice to business owners to ensure that a safe escape plan is in place should fire occur.

Generally speaking, ensuring fire safety within premises is a common sense approach. It is important that in any workplace planning programme, that time is taken to identify for example, where the nearest exit routes are for employees to safely leave the building and where employees should congregate upon evacuation of the premises.

In some premises of course, hazardous materials may be in use within the building and therefore it is wise to seek further advice from the fire service who can advise on how to take specific precautions. Equally, office buildings on several floors will also require advice from fire safety experts to ensure safe escape routes are identified. Many businesses now appoint fire marshals whose responsibility it is, to make sure that every one within the building is informed about what they should do in the event of a fire.

In any work place , escape routes should be safely and immediately accessible at all times and suitable for the number of people likely to use them. They should not be obstructed in any way and accessible for emergency services.

Guidelines do recommend that at least two fire exits should be available if a office is to be occupied by more than 60 people. The guidelines also extend to the number of flights of stairs and passages of corridors, so your workplace planning considerations will need to comply with the regulations.

Disabled Access

There are many considerations for employers to be mindful of when planning to accommodate disabled people within offices and premises. Under the Disability Discrimination Act every business is required to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to the working environment to ensure that people with disabilities are not discriminated against.

These include making adjustments to the workplace to ensure ease of access for the disabled and providing suitable modified office furniture to provide the same level of office comfort as able bodied employees. The inclusion of a stair lift may also be necessary to accommodate disabled employees in areas other than the ground floor area.

Conclusion

It can be a cost effective solution to engage with a workplace planning specialist to review the layout of your current office environment. There are many rules and regulations to comply with, so taking time to consider the implications of precisely what is required is imperative. Do not under estimate the amount of issues to consider in making your workplace a pleasant working environment.

Unfortunately we live in a society where employees are quick to point the finger of blame at their employer for failing to provide the correct workstation or office furniture. So the contractor and client should take time to undertake a site survey, establish what is required from both the employer’s point of view and that of the employee to ensure that the end result meets both the needs of the employer and the employee. Productivity and morale will be greatly improved in a pleasant working environment.

Why must I pay to lookup a cell number?

Is it really possible to run a free cell phone reverse lookup on the Internet? Many people have been dismayed and frustrated in the past with sites that appear to provide free services online, but in actuality aren’t. Is this the case for the cell phone lookup?

To begin let’s discuss what we mean by a phone number search. When you have a home phone number but no idea who the number belongs to. You can use a reverse lookup site like Yahoo to see the details. Of course in situations when you lost contact with someone but still have a record of their phone number, or just to check who owns the number. There are many places where you can make these business and residential phone inquiries online searches for free, including fax numbers.

Unfortunately, trouble arises when you need to run a reverse lookup on a cell phone as the free databases don’t contain such phone numbers. So, if you’re searching an Oregon cell number you will have a problem. These listings do not contain cell phone numbers as this information is only in the hands of carriers and telecommunications companies. Do these records exist & are they available free?

The good news is that there are programs that offer a large number of cell numbers, but they aren’t free. These programs of course need to pay a premium to gain access to some of this data, and go to the great difficulty and cost of compiling all data in a single place and therefore, you must pay a small fee for access to their database. However, the fee is generally a single fee and you can do as many searches as you want. These records usually include cell owner details, address , carrier information, and the phone type and connection status. It should also be noted that the databases offered by each company differ to some degree, but most include cell phones, residential, business, fax, toll-free and pagers. With these websites your searches are guaranteed legal & confidential.

We have seen web sites that claim to provide free cell research, but that has always led to web sites charging a fee in the end. Some do allow people to search for free and then see the results. The sad truth is that the only place where you can find detailed reverse cell records is within the legitimate paid directories. In conclusion, cell phone searches are not free. However, if you really want to access this information, we think that it’s worth the fee.

Mobile entertainment: beltonen, mp3 tones and funny realtones

Downloading new ringtones is fun, but there are hazards that mobile phone users should avoid. Many sites offer free cell phone ringtones to encourage customers to patronize their products. Downloading ringtones on cellphones using Virgin mobile carriers is the same as the other networks. You can download beltonen directly to your phone through WAP or SMS. Download the latest hot Ringtones absolutely free. Whether you’re looking to express yourself or represent your best friend, www.tonetastic.nl has exactly what you’re looking for.

Realtone, sometimes called real music ringtone, has now replaced polyphonies. Realtone has now taken over the market making it a growing consumer spending mobile content on music personalization. real music ringtones have, no doubt, fetched large amount of business for mobile music industrialists. Record labels, for instance, frequently release the tones before the single to enjoy the first-mover advantage in the market, as realtones usually outperform singles.

Polyphonic ring tones, however, lack the ability to use digitalized audio samples. Polyphonic ringtones allow more than one note to be played at once and also increase the sounds that are available to be played by using the SP-MIDI format. This will increase the range of music that will now be able to be created as a ringtone. Polyphonic ringtones, true MP3 real tones, wallpapers and much more for your cell phone.

Want to pimp your phone with some Nokia ringtones? Truetones often outsell singles. funny beltonen are mp3 sounds of real things. Like a mowing cat or the mowing of a cow is always funny.

How To Make A Desert

Reverse Cell Lookup Web Sites Show You The Numbers You Should Know

You simply can’t contemplate the effect that mobile telephones have had on our culture. No matter where we are, the cell phone is our constant companion, keeping us connected with the world, twenty-four seven. This comes at some disadvantages, however. To protect our security, cell companies routinely make cell numbers unlisted.

Almost all mobile numbers are non-published these days, and that makes it very difficult to find the owner of a number you don’t know. I get many of these type calls each day, and I’m sure you do, too. So, if those numbers don’t show up in the phone book, then how to do find out who is calling? You can use a web site called a reverse cell lookup site to locate that number.

How do these sites reverse cell lookup sites work? Actually, they are super-easy and pretty darned accurate, particularly for the low cost that they charge for access. Just pay the low fee, and in just a few moments, you can find out the identity of the unknown number that is calling you.

How do these internet reverse cell search sites get the numbers? They utilize many different public and private sources, and must constantly change and update their lists, as phone numbers change all the time. It’s pretty amazing how accurate these websites are, since there are vast quantity of numbers to monitor. The small price you pay is well worth the information you get from these sites. Give one of these web sites a try the next time you need to find the owner of a phone number, you will be impressed with the results.

With all of the modern, useful web services that exist now, the lack of a good reverse cell phone lookup was a real problem for users who get unwanted or strange phone calls on their cell phones. Log on to one of these services and you’ll become more informed about the identity of your callers.

Working News

Guaranteed Contract Phone Even if You Have Bad Credit History

Sometimes it is a big pain, getting a contract phone. You will feel delighted, if you were previously rejected and now somebody promises you guaranteed contract phone. You can fail to get a phone contract, mainly because of your poor credit standings. All the retailers of phone plans will check your credit history before signing a contract with you. However, there are now options and workarounds.

Guaranteed Contract Phone Even if You Have Bad Credit History

Your pay as you go phone is giving you major headaches. You can’t top up your phone with enough money, because you can’t find the right shop in the new city you are in. You also hurl curses at the world at large, when you exceed your credit and your phone goes silent. You tried a contract phone and what you repeatedly get is rejection. How can that be when all the phone companies want your business? A guaranteed contract phone is not everyone’s right. Learn to live with it, or continue reading.

The companies that choose to give you contract phone irrespective of your credit history are 3, O2 and T-mobile. However, you just can’t walk into a showroom and get a guaranteed mobile phone. You can, if you have been in the United Kingdom for many years and you have good credit history. If that is not the case, you can go online and get the contract – of as low as £9 a month, for a minimum of 18 months. And that is cool.

And the place is not the website of the mobile phone service providers. It is somewhere else. A few websites offer you Guaranteed Contract Phones.

However, don’t be surprised if you are faced with the requirement of a deposit, higher interest rate and higher per month commitment. Those are the common features almost everywhere. However, with the condition of the economy and business, services are now more than willing to give you a good contract, which lets you stay connected to your friends and family.

At least a few retailers can now give you the regular contracts, even if you have bad credit history to show off. It is because, these phone companies need your business. They have rejected your application only because of the potential risk of lending to you. After all, everybody knows history repeats itself and the phone companies are worried if you will pay them.

Going through certain websites, you can surely get your phone and the ability to chat in the network of your choice. This is because, the phone companies trust these online retailers to sell their products to reliable persons.

With the right kind of online retailer, the only catch you have is to sign a direct debit contract. Of course, you need to submit proof of address and employment. Address proof is a prerequisite for pay as you go plans too.

Get the guaranteed contract phone, even if you have bad credit history. Just make sure you find the website that gives you all the benefits and convenience of a regular application, which is supported by good credit standing.

Can a cell phone lookup service tell me what I need to know?

There are a whole number of reasons that you have to a reverse cell phone service to find out details about a number – but can they help you and how do they work? These sites started to emerge a few years ago now when companies started to get access to the closely guarded information that cell phone companies have on their customers. Since then a huge demand has emerged and literally thousands of people every day are searching for this information.

The websites just provide a way to get that information, you give them the cell number (they also will provide information on residential and commercial landline numbers, but you can get some of the information for free for them from elsewhere) and they check it against their database and tell you what information they have for you.

You then make up your mind whether you want to pay to access that level of information and if you do then you will see it straight after payment. So what kind of information can they provide? Well you can get the name of the owner, and the billing address (plus sometimes the changes they have made to their address over the years) but you also get the phone company who looks after it, which is handy if you want to make a complaint, and most services let you make a complaint right from that screen. You can also get information about other people at the billing address, other phone numbers that person may have etc.

So you can get a great deal of useful information from these sites, if that is what you are looking for then you will find these are a priceless resource.

Laptop Desk For Car

Ringtones, Realtones and Truetones

Did it ever happen to you that you were in a public place and you got a call that not only you but several other people reach for there mobile phone because they have the same ringtone? This is very annoying and I think you should try everything to not let this happen again, dare to be different and get a customised ringtone.

As everybody knows new ringtones are not cheap but if you look for the right websites you can find mobile content that is also available for your budget. Make sure that you download the newest ringtones on your mobile phone.

More mature people just have a simple ringtone just to know when they receive a call or message. For younger people it much more than just a sound, it’s letting others know what kind of music you like, witch band or artist and especially witch hit of the moment. If your phone has the coolest realtones you are the man, every teenager likes cool ringtones nowadays. Just give it a try and you will see how people will react when they hear your ringtone.

There are a lot of websites where you can listen to a preview before ordering the funniest truetones, in this way you make sure that you are not spending a lot of money on something that is not what you actually want. Make sure you update them frequently because other people will do the same as you so you will not be unique anymore.

Customising your ringtones on your mobile phone is cool and hopefully you will be the only one that reaches for his phone the next time you are in a public place.

A Little Smarter

Why comic relief is using 03 Numbers

This year Comic Relief is using an 03 number for its telephone donation line.  The popular biannual fundraising event, which raises money for people in the UK and Africa, has followed in the footsteps of Children in Need and can be contacted on 03457 910 910.  Red Nose Day itself happens on 13th March 2009 and this year it’s using the strap line “do something funny for money!”  But why use 03 numbers over 08 telephone numbers?

Here are 6 reasons why Comic Relief has opted for 03 numbers this year:

1. 03 numbers cost the same to call as standard 01/02 phone numbers even from a mobile phone (40% of all calls are now made from mobiles).

2. The public trust 03 numbers because of their transparent call costs. This makes 03 numbers caller friendly and therefore not subject to negative publicity.

3. There’s a range of 03 numbers that are specifically for public bodies and charities: 0300 numbers.

4. Like all non-geographic numbers, 03 numbers give the event a national presence – meaning Comic Relief can publish one single memorable number throughout the UK – which is not location specific. This is specifically important for its national TV and radio coverage.

5. Comic Relief’s 03 number donation line can have intelligent call systems added to it easily. For example, welcome messages and caller options. E.g. “Welcome to the Comic Relief donation line, press 1 to donate, press to for more information about where your donation goes etc.)

6. 03 numbers can often be inexpensive to run if you seek out the provider with the most competitive offering in the market.

The uptake of 03 numbers in the UK is rapidly increasing. Alongside Comic Relief, there are a number of organisations now using them including Oxfam, the BBC, the Met Police, Nikon and Pioneer.

In fact, The Department of Health is also advocating them and has launched a consultation asking people whether 08 numbers should be banned for NHS services and is suggesting that 03 numbers are the ideal alternative.  With these facts in mind, it seems that 0845 numbers will soon have a challenger for the title of the UK’s most popular non-geographic number range. 2009 could be the year of this dethroning.

Helpful Tips

Buying Cheap Used Smartphones

There are lots of models of cell phones available at any number of market outlets, and the volume is growing. It seems that the supply is less than the demand for ever newer phones with more features to the users. Surprisingly, this push for better products has also created a big market for cellular phones. The expanding cingular used phones business is an emerging gray market in a tight economy.

It’s not unheard of for a cell phone subscriber to purchase a new mobile phone almost every eighteen months. And neither is it uncommon for a consumer to have more than a sole phone. With an array of brands and characteristics to choose from, and the promotions which come with a new subscription, it is not that hard to decide to let go of an older phone model. Such previously owned cell phones still have a bit of use left in them. Selling these used phones is quite easy, especially if the device is in great condition.

Current consumer traits tend toward buying the latest phone model due to functional requirements. In the case of cell phones, this may be because there are needs for newer features or even, of a secondary phone. It is not rare nowadays for a family to have two cell phones, and both of them being used at the same time. It’s also not rare to see a person typing text messages with both hands on two cell phones at the same time. In such instances, the second cell phone does not necessarily have to be a top-of-the-line model. It can be an older unit purchased secondhand.

Bottom line is that if there’s nothing unacceptable with a used cell phone, it can still be sold. And if a previously owned phone in perfect working condition is for sale, someone will be willing to buy it.

Should I bother to use a reverse phone lookup website on a strange phone call I received?

This is a tricky question that nobody can really answer for you, but how badly do you need to know who made the call?

If you have been getting prank calls then you can just report them to the police and then it is in their hands. If you trust them to pursue it then that should be the matter resolved. Of course if you really want to make sure that someone is going to take action then you need to get in touch with their service provider. The police may not have the power to do anything, but their service provider should be able to do much more and it could lead to the individual making the calls being cut off or worse.

If you decide to go down that route and call their phone provider then you need to use a reverse cell phone website as without them then I don’t know of any other way of identifying who they are with (unless you phone their voicemail and they haven’t changed their message then sometimes you can tell from that). So even though there is a small charge then the best option is to just use it and find out the service provider and the name and address of the person.

Then go to the police and report them and give the name and number, of course you should still go to the phone company too.

That combo gives you the best chance of getting the person into trouble (just make sure it wasn’t a wrong number first!). Even that doesn’t guarantee that they will stop, it depends on the person and the reasons behind it - but having their name gives you an advantage and if you let them know you are aware it is them then you are no longer being a faceless victim and most people are cowards and will just stop straight away.

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