The tension in today’s global market is getting more and more intense as the years go by. Companies and organizations all around the world are doing their best to tap maximum efficiency amongst their employees. Research teams are being organized to study and conduct experiments in curing burn out.

In spite of all the efforts being made by organizations all around the world to improve today’s work environment even more, there’s a rampant phenomenon that’s slowly diminishing the talents of this generation’s labor force.

Workplace incivility is on the rise and not only will it affect information sharing and teamwork, it could create lasting damages that organizations should worry about. The buildup of rude actions that leave employees feeling disrespected – intentionally ignored, undermined by coworkers, or belittled by leaders – contributes to employee burnout.

According to a research conducted over the past few years amongst thousands of workers around the world, nearly half of participants from the year 1998 said that they experienced unruly treatment at least once a month. The aforementioned figure then rose to 55 percent during the year 2011 and 62 percent come 2016.

In reality, it is impossible to pin down the cause to one factor. Some have said that existing workplace relationships may slowly be fraying as less people come in to the office and more are transitioning to shared offices. Some have pointed it to be influenced by one’s genetic makeup while some said that it could be the growing narcissism of the younger generation. The globalization of the majority of today’s industries has been suspected to create cultural clashes and today’s technology has also contributed a fair amount of communication gaps and misunderstandings.

Whatever maybe the underlying causes for this phenomenon, the damage incivility creates to an enterprise’s budget rises as the employee stress levels increase

The magnitude of damage that workplace incivility can inflict depends on its degree but the wide reach of its negative effects remain the same. It creates impact to workplace performance, employee turnover, customer experience and collaboration.

Almost everyone who experiences toxic treatment performs worse than those who don’t. Research also indicates that forty-seven percent of those who experienced poor behavior amongst their colleagues admitted to decreasing the time they spent at work and thirty-eight said that they intentionally reduced the quality of their work. Sixty-six percent reported the observation that their performance declined and seventy-eight said that their commitment to their employers have decreased.

Several losses have gone undetected the moment employees leave the company. The trend of professionals who quit their corporate jobs due to awful working environment is becoming a common occurrence and they don’t typically admit as to why. As a result, turnover costs add up quickly.

A pressing damage that it creates involves the potential of employees. Engagement, teamwork, knowledge sharing and innovation wane among those who are half-heartedly working

It also creates an impact to customer experience. Consumers are less likely to interact with businesses they perceive to be uncivil – be it that the rude approach is directed to them or other employees.

Experts have come up with several ways to reduce the alarming rate of incivility within organizations, but the most crucial first step that companies should take is improving your environment and culture.

Curating an environment that encourages open communication and constructive criticism can influence a team’s culture. One example of how workplace environment and culture influence a person’s behavior is the well-acclaimed shared offices, coworking spaces.

Taking pride in its community and thriving environment, startups, freelancers and even large corporations enjoy the autonomy it gives them. From when and where they work down to how they interact, professionals have complete control of their work day. Moreover, its supportive community promotes collaboration and meaningful conversations. Incivility is almost non-existent within its walls as each members learn how to understand one another despite their differences.

Civility is paramount to success.  When a team of talented individuals are all motivated to work with one another towards reaching one goal, there is almost nothing that they can’t do.

Be part of a community that encourages you and your team to become closer and talk to us today!

Though fairly well received by the great majority, coworking spaces still have non-believers. To some, they view open plan offices as productivity killers. Despite of the claims that it was designed to improve efficiency, the distractions found in almost every space – noise, chatter, phones ringing, loud chats, coughs and even sniffles – contributes to a halfhearted day at work.

Some have slammed the movement for “sabotaging” employees’ ability to stay focused. According to a certain study, office workers lose 28% of their time because of interruptions. But still, shared offices and coworking spaces continue to grow rapidly. Experts from Deskmag have already predicted that 1.7 million people would have joined coworking by the end of 2018.

The fact still remains, its benefits are clear yet at the same time, they still have their fair share of disadvantages. And for members, the commonly complained noise is a small price to pay for the immeasurable assets they gain from the providers. Moreover, it seemed like a majority of them have found a classic work around the issue – the utilization of headphones or earphones.

Headphones or earphones have now become the walls of coworking spaces. Allowing members to block out background noise, it’s becoming a common occurrence among shared offices around the world throughout a work day as employees tackle tasks or projects that require great concentration and focus.

In the UK, community assistants and managers say that an estimated 50% of subscribers use headphones regularly – typically listening to music as they work on their respective assignments. Not only are they doing this to cancel the distractive noise around them, the act of listening to music itself helps them concentrate.

Admittedly, those who work in open offices are more prone to distractions that those who are found in traditional workspaces. But some have found a way to balance both their need for acoustical focus and creative collaboration through them.

Headphones act as a layer of protection and is considered to be a universal way of saying ‘Don’t Disturb’. Today’s young professionals flock coworking spaces in the aim of becoming part of a community that would could help them conspire with other like-minded individuals while still carrying the need for uninterrupted work. By using earphones, they can easily fixate themselves to the task at hand.

In addition to this, it helps neutralize the overwhelming feeling of being in a busy room with tons of conversations happening all at once.

Despite of the claims that it’s a well-embraced norm in coworking spaces, its presences actually poses a much greater question: as it blocks out conversations, isn’t it defeating the greater cause of the movement – fostering collaboration and community?

Contributor for Harvard Business Review, Anne Kreamer, believe that it actually does.

She suggests that a lot can be missed out when you’re wearing headphones – such as, important details and the so called “collective high” experienced in these spaces that help build strong coworking community.

Kreamer adds that it’s a huge and real loss in terms of career development as you are missing the opportunity to create important relationships.

Regardless of how it somehow contradicts the main reason why the movement has grown into the global market that it is, members and community managers have accepted it into the culture. If you take a general look at work environments, it’s almost impossible to stop someone who doesn’t have their headphones in.

After that all that is said and done, it all boils down to the fact that each and every one of us have our way of working and in spite of all the distractions, coworking spaces gives us that freedom of going through our own pace – something that we cannot easily find in traditional offices.

There’s a prominent trend that can be observed within the offices of companies across several industries. The same aforementioned inclination has been seen in office space providers – from your traditional private offices to the neophytes of the coworking movement.

Gone are the days when costing and high-end specifications were the main focus of both developers and designers in built environments – today, each and every one’s frame of mind is leaning into the imposition of humanistic environments.

It doesn’t really sound as surprising, frankly – with each one of us spending 90 percent of our time indoors, it’s only fitting that we spend ample time in studying the wellness of our developments. Several research and studies have shown that ‘healthier’ offices boost human productivity. From improved views, well-designed artificial lighting, increase use of daylight down to good air quality – each of the said factor contributes to the betterment of tenants.

And thought we only spend the remaining 10 percent of our time outdoors, it still carries a significant influence to what we think feel about our daily lives. The structures surrounding a built environment is as equally important as its indoor counterpart.

In lieu of discussing the kinds of materials to be used in constructing and the finishes that makes buildings aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, experts suggest that both employers and workspace providers take enough time to understand the aspects of urban spaces that has a direct effect in the physical and mental well-being of its occupants.

In order to achieve progressive and productive offices, one should consciously curate them for people. Arising from the fundamental ideology that future urban living starts by creating environment-friendly, active and engaged spaces, our real estate industry has the capacity to address today’s modern challenges such as sustainability and the fortification of a sense of community and identity.

Organizations, experts and leaders of today’s industry has come to the realization that the one-size fits all approach we have grown accustom of, no longer works.

Susan Szenasy, editor of the architectural design journal, Metropoli Magazine, said in a panel last year that they have observed a grassroots movement leaning towards the comprisal of human skill and talent in creating strategies for the workplace. There is no black and white distinction on which one between fully open layouts and traditional private offices works well. Nor is there a definite ratio in combining both of them – making it more detrimental for us to go with a human centric approach.

Global design company IDEO came up with a framework known as “Design Thinking” and has been praised to be a good starting point for built environments and in creating people first headquarters. Though there are other structures present, its simplicity accentuated the concept among others. It gives both businesses and designers a look at designs from the point of view of its end user.

IDEO’s concept requires you to go through a thinking process that undergoes three stages – each one containing a set of questions that serves as guidelines in designing a human-centered office.

Its first stage, inspiration, suggests observing the current landscape of the workplace. It is important to play close attention to what the end users would embrace – what works for them and what doesn’t. Draw inspiration from other organizations or even try checking out the current trends.

Visit serviced offices such as the widely popular coworking spaces and physically observe the work and cultural aspects of the phenomena that employee surveys simply can’t measure.

Ideation – the second stage – asks you to keep an open mind in generating as many ideas as possible. What layouts or designs can help aid employee productivity and happiness based on what we have observed earlier. Look at each of their distinctive pros and cons for your employees or members. Will open layouts be beneficial? Should you designate a recreational area? Keeping your occupants in mind will help you rule out ideas until you are left with one that you can implement and test.

Lastly, Implementation is its third stage. Test layouts on smaller scales ort teams and create prototype models to get feedback from your employees. By the time that you reach full implementation stage, you will now have a better idea of what they want and what works well for your business.

One example of this would be signing up a specific team to a coworking space and giving them ample time to try out its open layout and wide array of work areas. Observe this for a week and continually get feedback from them until you find the appropriate built environments for your employees.

Coworking spaces nowadays put much needed emphasis on the distinctive amenities that they have — what makes them different from the hundreds of other providers. But other than aesthetically pleasing furniture and other recreational features such as pool tables and karaoke rooms, there’s another amenity that could help strengthen the sense of community of your space and could help increase productivity of your members.

Online news source AllWork.Space conducted a survey among several providers, operators, and community managers last year regarding the top favorite workplace features. And among the sea of vision boards, wellness rooms and other personal care services, food was found on top of its list.

Contributor Robert Kropp notes that serving good food is one excellent and very efficient way of bringing individuals together. It plays a significant role in our everyday lives and can contribute to our sense of well-being. Recent studies found out that 75% of workers with access to free food in the office are much happier compared to those who are not. Moreover, 90% of employees that sharing meals with coworkers helps them build stronger relationships with one another.

Enterprise leaders as well as office space providers are now considering impact of having accessible food in the workplace. Not only will it help them nurture connections and develop stronger sense of community, it aids member in improving how they manage their time. When members have access to meals, they save ample amount of time by not having the need to go out of their offices for lunch.

Pioneers of the movement have already incorporated food into their respective spaces in the form of snack bars and inclusive cafes that serve daily supply of caffeine but experts suggest offering full meals instead of just treats.

Well-known food service company, ZeroCater, recommend preparing healthy options for members. According to a survey that they conducted among 100 employees and office managers, 65% of the aforementioned participants have said that having access to healthy meals is very or extremely important factor for them. Today’s professionals have become more health conscious more than ever with 41% of them requesting to know the ingredients of their meals and where they came from.

Shared workspaces such as coworking spaces can benefit in offering food to their members as it helps strengthen their community. Moreover, it aids members’ productivity levels by keeping them energized and involved.

There’s a door of opportunity that can be opened by having accessible full meals and treats in the workplace. Operators of coworking spaces can partner up with local restaurants and food providers in their area, giving business more visibility. Providers can now help more small businesses by striking up deals with them.

Adding this extra flair of uniqueness to your coworking space could be what sets you apart from all of your competition. Moreover, it makes your community and culture all the better.

Today’s demographic of office workers and professionals in general is about to change.

And though the rest of the industry are still coming into terms with the changes brought upon the emerging Generation Y, the newest group, Generation Z is already looming in the distance. Its first batch of college graduates are predicted to enter the labor force by the end of this decade. Simultaneously, its predecessor will hit its peak as a major contributor to today’s working population – creating a new challenge for workplaces and employers around the world.

In order for both groups to get along with one another and in exist in the same environment, administrators – and workplace providers – need to come up with strategies that will serve the emerging needs of Generation Y and at the same time, can anticipate the demands of the coming young Generation Z

Undeniably, both groups share similar characteristics such as smaller family sizes, hefty dependence on online social media and portable technologies to name a few, one would assume that Generation Z would be similar to their seniors but each group have traits that differ them from one another.

Generation Z had broad traits of immediacy, confidence and tolerance. The aforementioned lot values social connection and carries with them a strong desire to rebuild institutions. These young professionals enjoy a seamless balance of both work and personal life. Moreover, they believe that their respective jobs should contribute to the greater good of society. Considered to be the ones responsible behind the trend of open layouts and shared offices, they enjoy the ambiguity and flexibility of unstructured workspaces.

They are true digital natives that have become well-versed in the art of multi-tasking than the older generations. Their entrepreneurial mindset resulted to high expectations on how employers would treat them. In addition to this, health and wellness amenities should be a must for them though it was considered as a luxury by earlier groups.

And as the group start to dominate the workplace, companies – and office space providers – will have to come up with fresh office strategies that will keep the next generation of talent, happy.

JLL’s Senior Vice President of Workplace Strategy Amanda Kross says that modern college campuses are emphasizing the importance of good connectivity and flexible space in their designs.

She adds that two big drivers behind the campus design trends today are the movement towards active learning teaching methods and the industry’s growing demand for individuals who can offer multiple disciplines to their role.

Majority of US campuses now have collaborative multi-purpose facilities complete with wifi and outlets for plugging laptops. Residence halls are also incorporating study rooms that gives students a better experience.

Senior Vice President of JLL, Dean Monnin says that both employers and office space providers should keep in mind that these budding professionals come from environments that allows them to move anytime they like. He suggests taking a good look and observation of these campus changes that can be translated into corporate offices. By doing so, leaders are future proofing their enterprises for generational change.

The Generation Z demands an effusive environment that can cater to their needs and could help maintain their overall well-being – physically, mentally and emotionally. If their employer can’t provide them with dynamic workspaces, they’ll continue their job search.

Kross adds that it’s crucial that corporates continue on observing trends and other studies that could help them build workspaces that builds community and collaboration. She further adds that the great offices of the future are ones that are similar to college campuses in terms of cultivating community.

Still, there’s no need to panic. The oldest members of the aforementioned generation are the ones who are currently entering the industry. For the meantime, companies can continue to learn and experiment with workplace strategies to attract the best recruits.