PA Life presents an A-Z of current office trends and favourite workplace items to ensure you stay one step ahead of the crowd.
Adaptability One theme of a modern workspace is adaptable working, or flexi-time as it is also known. Despite an ongoing debate among employers over the importance of arriving at an office each and every day, many businesses have embraced flexi-time as a way to encourage productivity and help their employees balance their work and lives.
Beverages The workplace is a lot more productive since a good cup of coffee became available. Machines are now affordable and offer a lot of different drink options. No more queuing at Starbucks – you just have to keep a protective eye on your favourite mug.
Cloud Working remotely is now common, as evidenced by the trend towards flexi-time. The cloud concept is more fully explained on page 32, but it is one way to approach working flexibly and will potentially be the future of file storage, dominating how business is run.
Design Modern office environments have begun to adapt to their employees’ wellbeing. While office blocks cannot all be rebuilt, there is an inclination towards structures that provide the kind of lighting, use of space and acoustics that are sympathetic to the needs of the people who work there.
Ergonomics Staff and visitors at an office expect to be comfortable. This is reasonable considering the amount of time spent there. Chairs, desks and even computers are increasingly adjustable.
Filing Arranging files may seem like a chore but it’s more interesting when using some of the new products available. Storage can involve bright colours, unusual materials and recyclable and personalised items to help you keep everything organised.
Green Corporations have acknowledged that plants play a role in keeping an office stress-free. As well as providing aesthetic value, they have been shown to reduce toxins in the air and keep up a vital balance of oxygen and humidity.
Health and fitness Companies are now more aware than ever that their staff not only need to be happy but healthy to be fully productive. Office suppliers have come up with various solutions for this, including the ‘treadmill desk’ and the ‘ball chair’, to ensure you say goodbye to the dreaded office-chair bum forever.
Internet It’s not new, but it has become a vital part of how every single one of us manages our day-to-day tasks. With the use of dongles and wifi, you can now expect a connection wherever you choose to work from.
Jotter While there are endless ways to plan your day digitally, ask most PAs and they will say that they still have a pad of paper by their side for making immediate notes and writing down tasks as they come to mind.
Keyboard They come in all shapes and sizes, but the trend is for slimmer, smaller and slinkier. Thin doesn’t mean fragile, however; ultra-resilient bendy keyboards are making their way onto desks.
Lunchbox Bringing a packed lunch to work is no longer the preserve of nerds or those whose mother still makes dinner for them. Planning your lunch ahead of time saves money and keeps you away from the biscuit tin, while the choice of receptacles available means there is now a very adult array of smart plastic or chrome for your sandwich or sushi.
Mouse Similar to keyboards, mice now come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. Wireless, self-warming and even silent varieties are now available, so no one will even hear you clicking.
Networking This is, and always will be, a crucial part of business. Talking to those in your sector, people with similar roles to your own, or those in a job you think you would like to do in the future, will help your business and yourself.
Outsourcing As the ability of people to work remotely expands, so too does the potential for tasks to be moved entirely out of office. Although businesses, unfortunately, embrace it as a way to save money on full-time staff, many PAs are able to become virtual assistants, transforming their working lives.
Pens Another staple of the workplace, and available in a plethora of types. Currently one of the most cutting-edge devices is the Livescribe smartpen, which wirelessly digitises your notes and saves them online. If your office budget won’t stretch to that kind of technology, you can find any number of markers, along with gel, rollerball and fountain pens, with which to make and highlight your notes.
Qualifications In a competitive environment, it pays to invest in your career. Training companies are aware of this and will help you improve your acumen in specific abilities such as touch-typing and creating presentations, or more intangible qualities such as leadership skills.
Recycling It is becoming increasingly vital for businesses to acknowledge this aspect of CSR, and it is also remarkably easy to instigate it. Suppliers have a multitude of products and suggestions to help you ensure your company minimises waste and stays ‘green’, from light bulbs to recyclable filing accessories.
Social media Once the bane of productivity, social media has now been acknowledged as more than a marketer’s tool. A PA knows that the best way to quickly find out some inside information is to make use of the vast knowledge pool of fellow PAs on LinkedIn, forums, Twitter and Facebook.
Tablet With the increase of working on the go, it has become necessary to choose a mobile device that will manage as many functions as are required, including a calendar, access to the internet, social media and email. The options in this market only continue to grow.
USB A standard way to safely back-up or copy digital files and store them externally is a USB drive, which can have a huge capacity for its relative size. There is also a lot of fun to be had with other USB gadgets such as mug-warmer hotplates, lamps and devices that provide alerts when the most important emails arrive in your inbox.
Virtual Thanks to flexible working conditions and the cloud, working virtually has also become an office standard, whether to save travel costs on face-to-face meetings or to allow a virtual PA to cater to the needs of several clients from wherever is convenient. It is now simple for multiple members of staff to access files, telecommute or hold meetings online.
Work-life balance Alongside a comfortable in-office environment, mental health is essential in the form of a work-life balance. Leaving the office on time is, admittedly, never an easy achievement, but we should encourage the idea of keeping everyone well-rested and engaged.
X-generation It is now common to see a cross-generational workforce, with baby boomers hiring their successors: ‘Generation X’, ‘Generation Y’ and so-called ‘millennials’. Until now it was unusual to find such a diverse staff, but for companies it bodes well to have the shared experience of all involved.
Yellow Post-it Still an occupant of desks across the globe, the humble Post-it will survive any digital revolution and remain faithfully by the phone, waiting for the next urgent message to be scribbled down.
Zeal To flourish, every workplace needs enthusiastic staff who are passionate about their careers. Fortunately, this trait never seems to be lacking in PA Life readers!
