The Christmas holidays are usually a time when people get away from their executive office suites, coworking facility, virtual office space—or wherever else they work—and take a bit of a breather or spend some quality time with the kids.

But that’s not true for everyone. A recent Regus survey reveals that 54 percent of business people will be working during the Christmas break this year and 38 percent will be traveling into the office.

Small business owners rate even higher. Small business owners are 58 percent are more likely to work over the break than the employees at larger firms at 48 percent.

OK, so if you can’t break away from the office space for the Christmas holiday, then at least try to be productive. Regus is offering some tips along those lines:

Catch up: Regus suggests using the quiet period—that is, the time when most people aren’t in the office—to catch up on loose ends, like backing up your data, reorganizing your files, and getting around to all the straggling paperwork that’s piled high on your desk.

Plan ahead: Regus suggests making sure your work calendar is in order and taking some time to think about the projects that lay ahead in 2012, how best to approach them and what needs to be done.

Focus: Regus suggests making sure you have your play list in check, as the right soundtrack can keep you focused through out the days without losing touch with the wonderful festive period.

Cut the commute: You had to see this one coming… Regus suggest you can stay productive by working closer to home in an executive office suite.

What are your best tips for staying productive through the holiday season?

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I recently discovered a solution from Xform Computing that could help. It’s an app called AlwaysOnPC that offers mobile compatibility with the top online productivity Web sites. That means you can tap into business information from sites you need—like Microsoft Office 365, Quickbooks Online, Google Apps and Zoho—on the go using your iOS or Android-powered tablets.

Why is this important? More often, cloud-based services have built their offerings on Flash, Java script or applets, Silverlight, and even HTML5 features—and those technologies don’t always display correctly on iPad or Android devices. The AlwaysOnPC Mobile App aims to bridge this gap.

For example, using Chrome inside AlwaysOnPC users can perform tasks in Zoho, Office 365, or Google Docs that are often difficult or impossible on mobile apps and browsers: Create, upload or import documents and presentations from online storage or other Web repositories; use full editing features, including the ability to create, re-touch, insert and re-size images, graphics, tables and charts into documents or PowerPoint slides; and even copy and paste this rich content between apps, just like on a computer.

AlwaysOnPC also enables mobile collaboration: The Zoho Meeting web conferencing/screen-sharing solution relies on Flash and Java-applets and does not work on native mobile browsers. However with AlwaysOnPC, users can initiate and host Zoho Meetings from iPad, iPhone, or Android with participants on any device or computer. They can share their AlwaysOnPC screen to conduct presentations, demonstrations, webinars and more, and even delegate presenter controls to participants.

Similar mobile compatibility challenges face Office 365, Quickbooks Online, and even Google Apps such as Sites or Docs editing (especially PowerPoint presentations) which rely on desktop browser technology. In addition to unlocking the full productivity promise of these cloud-based services on mobile devices, AlwaysOnPC also includes the OpenOffice suite, Gimp image editor, InkScape illustration program and Dropbox access.

Have you used AlwaysOnPC? How does it work for you?

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Workspaces turns the alternative office space concept on its head by taking the office chatter online. Specifically, Workspaces offers entrepreneurs private online collaboration areas to help them develop and grow their businesses.

Whether you work in executive office suites, virtual offices, coworking office space or even a Starbucks, IdeaCrossing helps you keep all of your ideas, feedback and collaboration on entrepreneurial projects in one setting—from anywhere at any time.

You might think of IdeaCrossing as an online incubator or a virtual meeting place. The Web 2.0 platform sets the stage for entrepreneurs exchange ideas, get advice, request feedback, share documents and obtain referrals from advisors and stakeholders—without being bound by geography or business hours.

“Early stage entrepreneurs need better ways to collaborate with their current advisors and expand their networks,” says Tiffan Clark, vice president of IdeaCrossing. “Workspaces create new opportunities and enable advisors to collaborate with entrepreneurs in a trusted group environment in a way that is both time sensitive and efficient.”

IdeaCrossing automatically generates a summary PDF document of the business based on the IdeaCrossing Business Profile. As you gather feedback and evolve the business, you edit your Business Profile. IdeaCrossing automatically incorporates these edits into the PDF document accessible in your Workspace. Your Workspace members can then view the updates or download the summary and share it offline.

Beyond Workspaces, IdeaCrossing also matches entrepreneurs with prospective investors and business mentors using a proprietary matching engine. Universities, economic development organizations, chambers, foundations, and professional service providers can also register and create profiles to highlight their services or offerings within a searchable Service Provider Directory. The IdeaCrossing Resource Center also includes news stories, user-submitted articles, and an event calendar searchable by zip code.

JumpStart Inc., the Cleveland, Ohio-based nonprofit accelerating the successes of entrepreneurs, their high growth companies, and the support ecosystems they need, launched IdeaCrossing in 2007. A tool originally designed for the individual entrepreneur, IdeaCrossing is now being introduced into regions seeking to increase entrepreneurial activity.

“All entrepreneurs find it difficult and time consuming to find the people, organizations and companies that can help them develop and grow their businesses,” says Mike Mozenter, President of JumpStart’s community advisors group. “IdeaCrossing provides entrepreneurs with a cost-effective way to connect to expertise and resources, and does not limit the entrepreneur to resources located in the region.”

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Deskmag offers content galore on all things coworking, with headlines like “A wishlist for coworking,” “Why the Starbucks crackdown is good for coworking,” and “Five tips to brush up on your intercultural competence.”

***Follow deskmag on Twitter.***

Deskmag describes itself as “the magazine about the new type of work and their places, how they look, how they function, how they could be improved and how we work in them.” The editors focus on coworking spaces that are home to the new breed of independent workers and small companies.

As Deskmag’s publisher sees it, the nature of the spaces we work in determines how we work, the quality of our creation, and our satisfaction along the way. I agree with Deskmag’s statement that notes, until recently, the form and function of workspaces has been dictated by corporate tradition—and that a growing proportion of workers are now freelancers, contractors or small companies that have the opportunity to redefine the concept of the workspace for themselves.

I’ve been covering the coworking office space trend for several years now. Of course, our focus at aBetterOffice.com is bringing you the news and information on the latest coworking facilities, as well as executive office suites, virtual offices, shared offices and the like. But when I want to know about events, read country profiles, or get tools and tips for coworking, I turn to deskmag because that’s where the action is at.

Are you following aBetterOffice.com on Twitter? We offer you even more news and information from various sources through our Twitter stream.

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Even as the economic climate remains tumultuous, employers of all shapes and sizes recognize that retaining top talent is a key to the success of a business.

Let’s face it. If your top salesman leaves your company for the competition, you are going to feel the pinch. Even if your best assistant finds a better job opportunity somewhere else, its going to slow you down.

So no matter what type of office space you work in, Regus is urging you to review the findings of its latest survey to better understand the top factors for employees’ overall job satisfaction and in turn, corporations’ retention of talent.

Of course, Regus believes working from executive office suites is part and parcel of employee satisfaction. But it’s not the only part or parcel. It turns out a few nice words can go a long way even if folks don’t work in the same office together.

“From June through to August, workers typically take advantage of the slower pace to evaluate their work situation,” says Wes Lenci, regional vice president at Regus. “The results of this survey should serve as a wake-up call to managers who may be overlooking simple, practical and cost-free measures they can take to make sure they keep up staff morale.”

Showing respect towards all members of staff is the most important ingredient to creating a happy business culture. Seventy percent of Canadian workers cited respect for colleagues as the key ingredient.

Vocally acknowledging the work of others (51 percent) and encouraging skills and knowledge sharing (50 percent) were voted second and third most important factors. Actively celebrating colleagues’ successes was also nominated by 41 percent of respondents. Are you starting to get the picture?

“As work pressures and hours expand further into people’s personal lives, Canadian workers are more aware of the importance that the character of the people they work and spend so many hours of their day with has on job satisfaction,” Lenci says.

“Aside from salary increases and material bonuses, simple steps like showing respect, making a point of praising staff and encouraging skills and knowledge sharing contribute to creating a more human and wholesome environment that staff are not easily tempted to abandon.”

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In part one of this series, we looked at the first three factors. Now, we’ll explore the issue of how open office space helps combat employee misconduct, according to a new survey on the Influence of Workplace Design & Practices on the Ethical Environment jointly conducted by Ethisphere Institute and Jones Lang LaSalle.

Consider the statistics: Sixty-four percent of companies that opt for open office space have not had any visible ethics violations within the past two years. Why? Most survey respondents figured that the “see and be seen” factor of open office plans encourage employees to follow policies and procedures.

“The experience in our own firm has been that open workspaces promote an ethical and collaborative culture where transparency is of the utmost importance, and we believe we have reduced the costs to our organization from ethical lapses and litigation as a result,” says Mark Ohringer, executive vice president and Global General Counsel at Jones Lang LaSalle.

Overall, 81 percent of those surveyed said they believe that open office plans, which allow staff to be more visible to one another, generally promote improved behaviors when compared to space plans with individual office space. That translates to less frequent use of offensive language, more politeness, sensitivity and consideration, a more open exchange of information, and enhanced transparency.

“Senior management can greatly improve staff morale and eliminate the detrimental ‘us versus them’ attitude if they also sit in the open environment, which becomes a constant and visible reminder that everyone’s collective responsibility is to the shareholders and the greater good of the entire organization,” Ohringer says.

Work-from-home, or virtual office strategies, also have ethical benefits. Sixty-eight percent of companies surveyed allow their employees to work from home on a regular basis. When asked whether employees who work from home regularly had committed an ethics violation during the past two years, a whopping 89 percent of respondents said ‘no’.

“Work from home strategies can remove the temptation of misconduct given the employee is generally more removed from common misconduct opportunities,” says Patricia Roberts, executive vice president of Strategic Consulting at Jones Lang LaSalle. “Employees also tend to appreciate the freedom a flexible workplace provides and seem less apt to risk losing the option to work from home, even on occasion.”

The survey revealed an interesting conclusion: the larger the organization, the more likely it is to allow employees to work from home on a regular basis. Ninety-two percent of companies with more than 50,000 employees have remote work options versus 59 percent of companies with fewer than 1,000 employees.

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PeopleCube and Regus are teaming up to offer two live webinars entitled, “Modern Workplace Now: Achieving Cost Reductions with Flexible Workspace Strategies.” In these free webinars, PeopleCube president and CEO  Anderson and Regus vice president of business development Simon Hunt, will share flexible workplace strategies that are offsetting rising real estate costs without sacrificing employee productivity.

This is challenge that many business owners large and small are struggling with. Studies have shown that real estate is typically an organization’s second-largest expense after personnel. In a down economy, everyone from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies have decided to take a closer look at real estate costs. That closer look is leading many companies to undertake a shift toward more flexible office space. Sometimes that looks like telecommuting. Other times it looks like day offices for remote employees. Still other times, it looks like flex-shifts. There are many different flavors of alternative workplace strategies from which to choose.

The free webinars will outline how your company can drive the greater ROI without adding additional capital expense to the equation. Here are some of the topics:

• Office space overflow management: Comparing fixed vs. variable office space availability to determine alternatives when internal space is unavailable.
• Utilization of fixed vs. variable real estate: Analyzing real-estate use to uncover inefficiencies and the resulting cost benefits of shifting to a variable workspace model.
• Smart meeting spend: Leveraging outsourced videoconferencing to eliminate excessive travel and the need to purchase expensive video equipment.
• Accommodating the mobile worker: How to make the mobile worker more productive while cutting real estate through the use of variable workspace locations to create on-demand satellite office space.
• Workplace business intelligence: Using interactive visualizations to analyze real-estate costs and corresponding space utilization trends—organization-wide down to business unit, department, and individual employee level.

If this sounds like something that would benefit your organization, plan to attend the webinars on Sept. 1 from 11 p.m. to 12 p.m. ET and Sept. 8 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET. You can register online.

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A just-released Regus report reveals that almost nine out of 10 companies in Australia are offering their staff flexible work arrangements. That’s an astonishing number, especially compared to others regions of the world.

“That flexible work has become the norm is good news all round: from employer to employee, from families to wider society and even the environment, everyone can benefit,” says William Willems, regional vice president for Regus’ Australia, New Zealand & South East Asia operations. “For the first time, a global report based on 17,000 respondents provides conclusive statistical evidence, on the availability of flexible working and the value derived from associated benefits.”

In the Regus Flexible Working Report, the executive office suites provider discovered that 48 percent of companies in Australia believe that flexible working costs less than fixed working. What’s more, four fifths of Australian businesses that offer flexible working report that their staff have much better work-life balance. And that improves both employee satisfaction and motivation in whatever office space they are working from. Other benefits include improved staff productivity and reduced overheads—all from allowing a flexible working arrangement.

Of the Australian businesses offering flexible working the Flexible Working Report reveals:

• Almost half believe that it improves staff productivity;
• 20% say that it helps them scale rapidly to cope with rapid growth;
• 25% feel that their policy helps them access a wider talent pool; and
• 41% of only offer this privilege to senior office staff.

“With the Australian government promoting flexible working practices as a solution to face the demographic challenges face by the country, it is disappointing to still see some companies letting trust issues hold them back from flexi-working for all employees,” Willems says. “By basing the right to flexibility on seniority, some firms are missing out on huge opportunities and may even alienate new talent that they may have gone to a great effort to attract. However, since a good proportion of them see its advantages, even if they are not doing it at the moment, we can expect further growth in flexible working across the decade.”

With executive office suites and virtual office technologies, companies around the world are finding it easier and more cost-effective to implement alternative workplace strategies. As Willem predicted, companies will begin to more aggressively roll out these strategies as they see the benefits of early experiments.

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Entitled “Phone Systems Purchase: The Considerations and the Options,” the information-packed webinar will offer you an opportunity to get inside the head of an experienced operator in his company’s search for a new phone system.

The webinar will also offer well insights from experienced industry consultant who has helped many executive office suites facilities select their phone systems. You’ll also discover what is available in the marketplace and what considerations executive office suites must consider prior to selecting a system for their needs.

Presenters include Wendy Spreenberg, president of SITE REsolutions, a Chicago-based commercial real estate firm designed to meet the needs of entrepreneurs and small to mid-sized businesses, and Nick Logothetis, managing director of Symphony Workplaces, a 50,000 square foot executive office space center in Morristown, NJ that was established in 1988.

Spreenberg has more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience and well over a decade in the commercial real estate and the office business center industries. She has helped hundreds of businesses establish their footprint in Chicago and nationwide.

Spreenberg is the co-founder of The Executive Suite Institute, a training and certification program established in 2006 for owners and operators within the serviced offices industry. She is also an active member of the National Association of Women Business Owners and a licensed broker for the State of Illinois.

Logothetis has worked with Symphony to develop a number of business models and continues to evolve and explore workplace design, pricing, and marketing issues. Outside of the industry, he serves as a director and officer on numerous corporate and civic boards in New Jersey and Florida. He is also a registered professional engineer.

The webinar is scheduled for July 20 at noon EST. Office Business Center Association members can attend free of charge. Non-members pay $150. Click here to sign up.

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In other words, alternative workplace strategies may help promote work-life balance, but it’s not the only ingredient.

Regus CEO Mark Dixon has some thoughts on that topic. As he sees it, time of day no longer dictates work hours—and that might actually be beneficial to work-life balance. He points to the flextime trend, which is nothing new. But he also suggests that it may actually be helpful to have people using office at different times of the day because, ultimately, less office space is required.

Let’s listen in to some of Dixon’s thoughts on the quandary of how business hours no longer dictate work hours:

• Nowadays, those most at risk to their health from working excessive hours may well be the harassed executives or middle managers who have to answer to bosses in different time zones. If you work in Asia for a European company or in Europe for an American company, for instance, you will be under local pressure to follow the normal working day—not least, perhaps, for your spouse’s benefit. 

Then, just as you get home or begin to unwind for an evening with the family, you hear the dreaded ping from your phone or PDA and you know that your masters to the rest need you to respond to some urgent development unfolding in the middle of their working day.
• There is no swift answer to this kind of dilemma except to negotiate so that you protect your sanity as well as your job prospects. In the end, if you take on a certain kind of work, you have to accept that you may be called upon at almost any time of the day or night, except when you turn off all your communication in order to sleep.

In these circumstances, working time becomes so flexible as to be almost impossible to measure.
• If we accept, for some of the reasons I have discussed, that working time must nowadays be flexible, then must we simply ensure that it is added up properly, so that people are appropriately rewarded for the hours they put in? Far from it, in my view. And this is where I see one of the most radical developments in the whole world of work.

For Dixon’s part, he says he’s prefer to have an overachieving employee who completes all their tasks—even if it only takes 10 hours a week to get the job done—than someone who works around the clock but doesn’t make it happen. The bottom line, as Dixon sees it, the future is one where employees are expected to be connected while they are awake—even if it’s not during working hours—and they will be judged and rewarded by what they accomplish.

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