The shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic still looms large, and the recent outbreaks in Victoria have forced many businesses to close once more. In these difficult times, many small businesses are struggling under heavy financial burdens that may see them unable to open their doors again.  To help support those businesses hit hardest by the […]

During and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, ’back to work’ anxiety will be high for many employees who have adapted to a life of working remotely. Your staff’s mental health will need to be handled delicately, and you should expect workplace anxiety to present one of your biggest challenges as you navigate a […]

As COVID-19 cases are continuing to rise across the globes, it appears that the end is farther from sight than anticipated. This means that businesses needs to remain vigilant and put the proper precautions in place to help protect both their staff and their customers from the threat posed by the coronavirus.  For a business […]

It’s bad news for business owners across Victoria as Daniel Andrews announces that stage three ‘stay at home’ restrictions will once again be imposed across Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. With 191 new cases marking a record high for Victoria, Daniel Andrews has acted upon the advice of public health experts and made the reluctant […]

With Covid-19 forcing most people to work from home, there are many who are beginning to wonder if we are witnessing the death of the traditional office.  Having seen their businesses continue to function under lockdown restrictions, and with the possibility of cutting rental overheads; getting rid of the office may be a tempting prospect […]

Throughout history, natural disasters like COVID-19 have changed the world not only temporarily, during the disaster and the immediate aftermath, but permanently, in both subtle and substantial ways. The same is expected now; while we anticipate that the economy will bounce back and business will resume, resembling a more familiar environment by the end of […]

The modern office is much more than just someplace to park employees and put them to work. Methods of organisation and management have evolved through the years. Work teams, even cross-discipline work teams have replaced the individual as the focus for creativity and productivity in the workplace. This means providing those teams with an office […]

Pop-up shops are short-term, temporary retail “stores.” A pop-up shop may be here today but gone tomorrow, and that’s the appeal of it. You can set up your pop-up shop in unique places to correspond with public events, advantageous shopping days or your own schedule. Some people use pop-up shops to test new revenue streams […]

Trying to get work done in an open-plan office is difficult on the best of days. Various people may be having phone conversations at any given time, distracting those around them from their work. With the feeling that eyes could be on them at any given time, workers develop a self-conscious attitude about the way […]

Is your productivity affected by your desk layout? Absolutely. The environment you work in each day has a large impact on your work output, your comfort and your resilience. In this post, we’ll look at five ways your desk layout could be hurting your productivity. 1. Ergonomic Problems When your desk is set up in […]

In 2016, an analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that more and more people are working from home. In fact, one in three Australian employees now works from home on a regular basis. This statistic shows a sharp increase. A mere 15 years ago, only 20% of the Australian worked from home regularly. Will […]

Looking for cheap and effective soundproof materials? Fortunately, you have many options to choose from. Whether you’re hoping to soundproof a home office, a classroom, a business office or another location, you have plenty of high-quality soundproofing materials at your disposal. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the acoustic properties of various […]

Do any of these sound familiar to you? “Let’s all meet in the conference room in 5 minutes. We need to go over something.” “Where’s that file?” “It takes me an hour to get through my email in the morning before I even get started.” “Hey, have you seen that YouTube video about the guy […]

Choosing the wrong office partition materials can have long-lasting effects on your office. After all, office partitions are highly visible and affect the noise level, workflow, and even cleanliness of your workspace. The right office partitions, on the other hand, can transform your office and make it a more comfortable, productive place to be. As […]

Office partitions don’t just keep an office from looking cluttered and disorganised; they also provide a sense of privacy for employees and reduce noise. Low-walled partitions allow coworkers to still be able to talk with one another, even while they have their own personal workspace. If your office is new or you’re currently operating on […]

It’s no secret that open plan offices don’t provide much privacy or quiet working space. In fact, many studies have shown that open plan offices are linked to poor productivity. If your office space is designed to be open but you’d like to provide some privacy for your employees, there are several actions you can […]

For a while now we have known that sitting for long periods every day is bad for your health. People who sit for more than 11 hours each day are 40% more likely to die in the next few years than those spend less time in a seated position. Alternatives such as standing desks have grown in […]

We all know the feeling of being snuck up on at work. Where it be that creepy sense that someone is behind you, or even worse, being startled by some kind of office ninja slinking in for a chat. But what you probably don’t know is how this can significantly affect productivity. Both the ancient […]

For over 20 years, companies have been clambering over themselves to appear environmentally friendly to improve a business’s prestige, but perhaps managers should have been focused on greening their office environment instead. However, after ten years of focusing on the issue of workplace design, a multi-national group of psychologists have found that focusing on greening […]

A new global study has found Australia to be one of the world’s most flexible country to work in with nine out of every ten businesses surveyed offering flexible benefits, significantly higher than the global average of 62%. The Polycom Anywhere Working study challenges the notion of going to work as we know it, with […]

Raine & Horne Werribee, in Melbourne’s suburbs, was looking for a way of giving their real estate property managers some privacy and sound isolation during phone calls with clients. They had an an open space that had some existing offices, they needed to augment that space to utilise the open plan area but create more office space […]

Australian office managers need to know that they’re making the most of their workspace. The time of cubicles has come and gone a long time ago, and in the spirit of open and honest cooperation, office managers these days prefer to have multiple employees working in the same room or even the same desk. This […]

Many companies that move into new office premises are under pressure to ensure they are fully utilising all available floor space. Often it’s difficult to fully visualise how a new office layout will look and work until you have actually moved in.  It’s often at this point you realise that the initial floor plan worked […]

It seems that nearly everyone is looking for a sense of balance amid the flurry of the modern world. As a manager, CEO or other company official, you try to find the balance between remaining a profitable force in your industry while your employees seek to find balance between working hard to help meet your [...]

Whether an individual is at home, work, or school, there is no situation where someone is completely willing to deal with a messy and unorganized environment. In most cases, those that do deal with a cluttered space on a regular basis simply do so out of a feeling or sense of necessity. In the workforce, not only is a […]

For beauty salons and other small businesses, it seems like space is at an all-time premium these days—and managing space effectively is critical. You want to maximize your space without investing a lot of time and money. Now you can! Read on to learn about using portable room dividers to create flexible treatment rooms in […]

Every business is serious business, and none more serious than that of a mortgage broker.  Finding finance for a new home is no laughing matter and a mortgage broker can really help young families make the right choice. To ensure the best environment when meeting with clients making a big decision such as this, keeping […]

According to Jon Ryburg, an organisational psychologist and President of the Facility Performance Group who advises companies on office design and ‘meeting ergonomics’, “More and more companies are team-based companies, and in team-based companies most work gets done in meetings.” Basically, he tells his clients to double their meeting space if they have not done […]

Collaborative work spaces continue to be the “in” thing for most companies.  Businesses look for ways to provide collaborative work environments for their employees because the benefits are abound. From sharing of knowledge, instant communication, trust building among group members, and giving staff a broader understanding of their work, collaborative work spaces really focus on the effectiveness of the group […]

Offices need collaborative workspaces. More than a trend, it is a necessity especially for tasks that include project management where instant communication is at a premium, where a number of key people and multiple departments are involved, where targets have stricter deadlines, and where a consistent flow of information and brainstorming sessions comprise the daily […]

Maintenance work is one of the most unavoidable but very important assignments in any industrial facility. Neglecting it in the long run can seriously affect core business functions – from R&D and engineering to production and distribution.  It can even put a toll on even the most mundane of administrative tasks in any office. No […]

Unless you have training in Interior Design, it can be tough to see what your office space has to offer. Many modern Australian offices still have ostensibly under-utilized floor space when the modern world already calls for flexibility and adaptability. It is critical as growth and collaboration in the office often need an extra meeting […]

On-site and mobile healthcare clinics are nowadays finding a crucial niche in intervening the importance of our health. Commercial and public sectors tend to embrace them upon seeing that it eliminates the need for their employees to travel to a medical center, and deal with long lines and bureaucracy. People working at jobs take less […]

A successful Adelaide based real estate agent is faced with an ongoing challenge of managing some louder and more extroverted sales guns. They love the dollars they bring in but they also want to nurture a positive and focused environment for the quieter diligent workers. In fact, there are even times when the deal closers need […]

Within the office environment, many business have outgoing call teams that focus on business development or outbound surveys. These teams are a critical part of many business’ sales functions and data sourcing capabilities. They are also typically noisier than the other parts of the office where individual deliverables are what guides progress. We all need […]

The National Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) identified stress as “the most significant psychological hazard in the workplace, affecting both the mental and physical well-being of people…It is causing Australian businesses over $10 billion dollars per year.” And according to Worksafe through their website (Worksafe.vic.gov.au), “stress is the second most common cause of workplace compensation […]

Constructing an extra room from start to finish may seem a bit more effort than you would like to commit to. You tend to apprehend the chunk of time and the huge cost that comes along with it – finding it a challenge on how to create this “room within a room” without the need […]

On-site and mobile healthcare clinics are nowadays finding a lucrative niche in providing on-site health care services for employees. The commercial and public sectors are increasingly seeing the value in providing on-site healthcare as it improves employee morale and reduces downtime due to medical appointments and illnesses. For people sitting at a desk all day, back problems [...]

Airports of all sizes require passengers to undergo security screening and have their luggage and hand baggage x-rayed. But since the onset of the September 11 terrorist attack in the US, airports worldwide have become more stringent with security that they find it a constant challenge to balance the need for security screening while maintaining […]

Complete patient care was a top priority for Bayside Physiotherapy, a physiotherapy clinic out of Coastal Victoria. As a new small business, they needed a way to create a reception area, waiting room and a therapy area out of a small rented space. When patients came in to seek treatment, they wanted a way to create a […]

Flexibility and adaptability of space within modern Australian offices continue to be a critical issue, as the requirement for doing more with less becomes the norm. Open plan offices often lack the capability to be utilised for multi simultaneous purposes such as meetings, training sessions or employee break areas without disrupting or distracting the rest […]

Open plan offices can sometimes work better on building plans than they actually do in reality. The need for employee private spaces, or defined employee/customer boundaries, are often overlooked during planning stages. Potential design faults are then only realised once the office is fully functioning. This can be especially problematic if the space also serves […]

The many uses of mobile room dividers and portable partitions are hugely varied and often encompass both commercial and residential applications. Having adaptable and flexible space within the home is increasing important, especially if you have a budding musician in the house!  Unwanted noise created by late night rehearsals and practice sessions often need to […]

Many companies that move into new office premises are under pressure to ensure they are fully utilising all available floor space. Often it’s difficult to fully visualise how a new office layout will look and work until you have actually move in.  It’s often at this point you realise that the initial floor plan worked […]

Although the overall headcount in offices remains reasonably static across Australia, many offices still need to better utilise their existing space. Adaptability of space is therefore critical to accommodate multiple requirements such as meetings, functions and training sessions – often at short notice. Portable Partitions Australia (PPA), the market leading supplier of portable room dividers and mobile […]