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The Business of Furniture | May 23, 2018

BoFThe Business of Furniture | January 6, 2016

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The Business of Furniture

May 23, 2018

HIGHLIGHTS

12 UPFRONT: Exemplis acquires Table and

Ergonomic Accessories provider Symmetry OfficeExemplis Corporation announced its acquisition of Symmetry Office, a Florida-based provider of training, multi-purpose and height-adjustable tables and workspace accessories.

16Clerkenwell Design Week Opened

Tuesday in LondonClerkenwell Design Week — the most important show you probably don’t attend, but should.

28ICFF Brings Trends to the Big Apple

Taking place at the Javits Center in New York City, the four-day event brings together more than 36,000 industry professionals ranging from architects, distributors and manufacturers, to interior designers, retailers, visual merchandisers and more.

< Lectra Unveils Cutting Room 4.0 and New Made-To-Order Solution for Fashion and Furniture Markets- p40

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11 |Hutch Industry Cartoon 12 |Upfront 15 |The Stream

COLUMNSStephen Says 46CoLaboration - Al Everett 48

FINANCIALIndustry Shares/Graphs 44

CALENDAR & MORERegional Industry News 42Upcoming Events 52Marketplace 74

66 PULSE The latest industry happenings

51 PLACES Alibaba Pictures Offices – Pasadena

50 WHITEBOARD Reinventing the Workplace

64 FIRST LOOKS The latest in products

56 |Gensler’s Analytic Approach to Perceptions Around the WorkplaceGensler has been using its survey tool, the Workplace Performance Index, to inform its workplace survey since 2007 and has identified several elements that help the company understand how to move the needle.

28 |ICFF Brings Trends to the Big AppleTaking place at the Javits Center in New York City, the four-day event brings together more than 36,000 industry professionals ranging from architects, distributors and manufacturers, to interior designers, retailers, visual merchandisers and more.

60 |Remote Work Boom Brings Attention to the Home Office: What are You Doing to Sell to It?No particular trends indicate some industries are more hesitant than others to take on remote workers, though there are certain job functions that lend themselves better to remote work.

16 |Clerkenwell Design Week Opened Tuesday in LondonIt is nowhere near the size of iSalone in Milan and doesn’t command the cachet of Orgatec, but Clerkenwell Design Week punches above its weight when it comes to its importance in London’s critically important design community.

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The Business of FurnitureBoFoooo

BoFooooEditor-in-Chief, Bellow Press Rob Kirkbride

Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Publisher, Bellow Press Melissa SkolnickVice President, Content Production, Bellow Press Todd Hardy

Workplace Guru, BoF Stephen ViscusiGuest Columnist, BoF Jeremy Erard

Guest Columnist, BoF Al EverettContributing Writers, BoF:

Amanda Schneider, Emily Clingman, Bruce Buursma, John Q. Horn, Jeremy Myerson,

Stef Schwalb, Gary James, Scott Lesizza, Bryce Stuckenschneider, Michael Dunlap, Carolyn Cirillo

Illustrator, BoF Jamie CosleyCopy Editor, BoF Linda Odette

Publishing Headquarters 23403 E Mission Ave, Suite 107 Liberty Lake, Washington 99019 877-BELLOW9 (877-235-5699) Email: info@bellow.press

Include us on your PR distribution list.Send To: news@bellow.pressPlease include high resolution photos along with your release; at least 300 dpi.https://bellow.press/SubmitNews

Business of Furniture and Workplaces magazine are the go-to sources for keeping you informed about every-thing that is happening in the industry. From trends that affect your bottom line, to new products that will help your customers work better, to stories that will help you run a better, more informed company.ROB KIRKBRIDE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Contents Copyright ©2018 Bellow Press Inc.

Remote Work Boom Brings Attention to the Home Office: What are You Doing to

Sell to It?NO PARTICULAR TRENDS INDICATE SOME INDUSTRIES ARE MORE HESITANT

THAN OTHERS TO TAKE ON REMOTE WORKERS, THOUGH THERE ARE CERTAIN JOB FUNCTIONS THAT LEND THEMSELVES BETTER TO REMOTE WORK.

By Emily Clingman

REMOTE WORKING

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Office furniture is finding a new home — literally. As corporate offices are scaling down their digs for comfort and flexibility, the home office is updating its attitude with sophisticated design. Remote work is on the rise, and those workers are increasing the demand for extra space in homes to turn into bona fide offices.

First, the statsAccording to Global Workplace Analytics, 3.9 million U.S. employees, or roughly 3 per-

cent of the total U.S. workforce, work from home at least half of the time, up from 1.8 mil-lion in 2005 (an extraordinary 115 percent increase). It is predicted 38 percent of full-time staff will be working remotely in the next decade. Add that to the 15 million self-employed people (or about 10 percent of total U.S. employment), as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2015.

That’s a lot of people working solo and mainly from home.Is remote work from the home office changing our perspective on work for the better or

challenging traditional office norms? The answer to that is yes. Both sides of the coin are present, according to a recent survey of remote workers and their employers.

Remote.co, a sister company to FlexJobs, surveyed 137 companies regarding common questions and answers on managing and operating effectively within a remote workplace environment.

“As a remote team ourselves, we knew personally some benefits and challenges, but there wasn’t a resource in one place where other companies could come to one place to get some crowd-sourced information on how remote work actually works,” says Brie Reynolds, Re-mote.co senior career specialist.

Reynolds and her team wanted to create one, go-to resource to find out the current state of remote work — the key questions, benefits, challenges, etc.

“We hear stories now and again, where companies have eliminated their remote workers, or brought them back into the office, which then leads to negative conclusions about re-mote work,” Reynolds says. “In our survey, we asked them everything we could think of on how they make remote work, well, work.”

Based on the survey’s results, the team noticed some clear patterns on communication, use of tools, norms, rules, hiring and onboarding. Challenges include employee isolation and overwork, creating a healthy company culture, communication, time zone coordina-tion, legal and tax issues and worker accountability. Benefits include increased worker productivity and efficiency, happier, healthier and more engaged employees, reduced em-ployee turnover, real estate and overhead savings, access to a more diverse talent pool and environmental and social benefits.

“One of things we found surprising is recruitment and retention to be a significant posi-tive, meaning that employers aren’t limited to geographic areas to find the best and bright-est talent,” Reynolds says. “Companies are also able to retain people who don’t want to go into an office.”

No particular trends indicate some industries are more hesitant than others to take on remote workers, though there are certain job functions that lend themselves better to

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BoFooooremote work. Some hesitance, though, is coming from larger, long-established companies that built their businesses around having an in-house team and managerial tactics which rely on face-to-face interaction and meetings, physical design and long-standing company culture. It seems like a daunting task to overhaul that system, Reynolds says.

“To counter that, one of the first things I like to point out is that a lot of their staff is prob-ably doing some work from home anyway,” she says. “They bring work home to finish at night, they work from home when they have to take the day off for a sick child or get work done while on vacation. Huge amounts of casual remote work already is being done.”

Implementing remote work within a company is something that can be eased into while not giving up the physical office entirely, Reynolds says. Millennials especially are very used to working this way since high school and college, where homework is done using technology tools and the internet. They are very comfortable using technology to work from remote locations.

“We’re already starting to see some indicators of remote working on the rise with the increase in co-working spaces popping up all over the country,” Reynolds says. “We will see more creative spaces for collections of remote workers to come together, but on their own terms.”

Home office potentialNot only are companies facing the popularity of remote working, realtors, interior de-

signers and architects are also taking notice.Tookie Nemchak, a real estate agent with Keller Williams in Seneca, South Carolina,

notes in her industry, home buyers have been increasingly looking for homes with an office or an extra room to convert to a home office.

“And, if a house doesn’t have access to WiFi, it’s dead in the water,” Nemchak says.The home office boom is impacting furniture makers in a positive way as well.Donnie Criswell, owner of Denver-based Design It Yourself furniture store — where cus-

tomers can mix and match furniture pieces to create their own style — is seeing an increase in the need for home office furniture.

“We are more and more servicing people trying to finish out their home office,” Criswell says. “People want to be comfortable working from home.”

Criswell notes as more people launch businesses from their home, they want a particular look and specialty products for their desk, like wooden monitor platforms or concrete pen holders, for example.

“Home offices are incorporating clean and contemporary features,” Criswell says. “People are drawn to it. This style is kind of masculine, appealing to the young male entrepreneur. They’re creating an atmosphere of how they want to appear, how they see themselves in their office.”

One company he’s fond of is Grovemade, a Portland, Oregon.-based company that designs simple. elegant office accessories, such as the sculpted wood desk collection. Intentional and minimal, Grovemade’s products are ideal for sprucing up a home office.

Criswell is certain trends will develop, like the self-expression that goes into choosing a desk and accessories for the home office.

“You spend a lot of time there,” he says. “Obviously functionality and flexibility are im-portant, but there’s also a look that people want to hit — cool and minimalist, an upgrade from the IKEA desk you had in college. Young professionals are stepping up their game a little, developing a sense of style.”

Lots of independent furniture and office accessory designers will fill this niche, but Criswell says there’s an opportunity for the powerhouse manufacturers that have mainly catered to corporate offices on a commercial level.

“Items like a live-edge slab desk top is a unique way to add character to a home office, to express oneself through design and style,” he says. “Those large companies might consider developing home office lines of furniture, special collections that cater to the independent spirit of the remote worker.” BoF

REMOTE.CO’S TIPS FOR SETTING UP A HOME OFFICEThe particular tools needed for any remote worker are going to be determined by the type and scope of work, but here are some general tips for getting a home office off to a good start.

Make yourself comfortableAmong the most important environmental factors to consider with a home office is air flow and

natural light. Nothing reduces productivity like a poor working environment. Keep in mind though, little work will get done if you have plenty of natural light and fresh air, but uncomfortable furniture.

Make good use of your spaceAn increasing number of home office setups occur in small apartments or rooms not originally

designed to accommodate both home and office. With space at a premium, decluttering is a must, and office equipment that can be consolidated is a plus (like all-in-one printers/scanners).

Add some greeneryPlants help purify the air by releasing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide, so the health benefits

are obvious for including greenery around your desk. Plants can also make a work environment ap-pear more calming and a nicer place to be. It’s like bringing the outside into your work space.

Decide on your computer hardware needsYou will need a computer and what type will depend on what tasks you need to perform in your re-

mote job. Secondly, you will need to decide between a desktop or laptop computer. Working remotely could mean you spend hours sitting in front of your computer, so it’s important for your health to invest in ergonomically friendly devices.

Consider audio and visual communication needsWill your work require audio and visual contact with your employer and other members of a remote

team? It’s highly likely when you have a remote job. If your role requires communicating with custom-ers, sharing screens or hosting online meetings you may require more than a basic setup.