The All Company Day

B&OI's 2006 Bowling Outing

The Company Event. It may be your Halloween Costume Contest or the Holiday luncheon, but most companies are opting to provide their employees with a fun way to come together inside and outside the office. An annual event during the summer offers a great way to lift up spirits from the long winter that just won't seem to quit (at least in Seattle!).

"Boosting and maintaining morale in the workplace is very important for both employee productivity and retention" writes Kelly Services. By offering these little perks, even if you can't give out bonuses or high pay, your are showing your employees that you value and appreciate their hard work and want to reward them for their dedication. Our company is about to head down to our warehouse location for some BBQ and then off to a Mariner's game!

Please check out the article from Kelly Services for some great all company event ideas! Click here!

Motivation

As I sat in the office yesterday and looked out the window to the beautiful Seattle skyline, I have to admit the thought of taking a four hour lunch may have possibly crossed my mind. Instead, I took a nice 30 minute walk around the neighborhood and soaked up as much sun as I could.

*sigh*

Staying motivated at work during the summer, winter, spring and fall can be challenging. With all the amazing stuff this world has to offer, one has to keep priorities in check to continue producing effective results for your employer. How does one do that, you may ask? Why, by following these cool tips and tricks I found online!


 From Peter Murphy of Ezinearticles.com:

* Decide what you must achieve today - clarity is power. It allows you to operate in a peak state of concentration and will help ensure you are at your best.

* Break down complex goals into manageable steps - take any project and list the sequence of steps you need to follow. Make sure the steps are big enough to keep your interest but not so small you feel bored.

* Use negative pressure to keep you on target - find someone in the office you trust and has a positive outlook (ideally someone you want to impress). Have them check in on your progress during the day. The fear you have of failing to give a good report will motivate you to finish the projects you're working on.

Here are some more great articles to keep you motivated at work:

From Stepcase Lifehack - 5 tips to keep you going

From Karen at Ezinearticles.com - 10 tips to keep you motivated!


Good luck with the rest of your week!

Kendal

NeoCon 2011 Pictures

While the lovely B&OI ladies are wrapping up their NeoCon trip in Chicago today, I was fortunate enough to get som inside pictures from Aimee's smart phone (sometimes technology really rocks!). Though I hope to have a more in-depth update of NeoCon next week, please check out some great pieces from the show!

~Kendal



Cool chairs by Coalesse



Designer Emilia with her Gold Winning Coalesse tables





Node by Steelcase now has a cupholder!



National Evolution



Rumble Seat by Turnstone



Traytop for Campfire Table by Turnstone





Turnstone Couch



Fun Turnstone Stool - Love the fabric!



Pre-Owned Furniture - Reasons to Enjoy It

Here's a scenario for you to think over: It's time to buy some office furniture. You and your team are moving into a new space and would like some adult/contemporary/fun/functional/affordable pieces to make the vanilla walls (that you're hoping to get some cool decals for soon!) seem a little less blah. What do you do?

First you check out the big manufacturer websites to see what you like - and notice the prices (ouch). You love what you see but know your budget can't go there. And you really don't want to go the Swedish manufacturer route. What can you do?

Have you thought about pre-owned furniture? I know, I know - new is awesome. But sometimes a piece of lightly used, barely touched, or possibly re-upholstered pieces are a less expensive alternative to get some great furniture for the office. What you should look into is if your local dealerships (like us, for example ;-) have a pre-owned furniture program. Many companies are going this route to offer customers (both new and returning) cheaper alternatives to the brand new pieces. I know we belong to a national program that allows us to bring in specific furniture if a customer is requesting it (besides some of the great pieces we've already acquired that are in house). It's a perfect way to find used pieces that you like at a price you can afford.

Also - think of this as a great "green" solution. These pre-owned pieces could have wound up in a landfill. Instead, companies like ours find new homes for the office furniture to extend their life. That chair would much rather be sat in than crushed and very slowly rotting on the shores of your city...trust me.

By purchasing pre-owned furniture, you're being budget conscience and earth-friendly. In this day and age, that combo can not be beat. So talk to your local office furniture dealers, see if they have a pre-owned program an schedule and appointment. You will not be sorry!

Also, if you're in the King County, WA area, come check out our warehouse sale:

~ Kendal

Your Health and the Office - Don't Neglect Yourself!

There has been a rash of articles written over the past few weeks (and years) on how deadly your office chair is. It's not necessarily that your chair will eat you whole or impale you on its armrest (though depending on the manufacturer, that is not necessarily totally out of the realm of possibility...I think my boyfriend's chair has it out for me, personally), it's the negative affects sitting for hours at a time has on our bodies and health.

"I'm healthy", you mutter to yourself, "I hit the gym and avoid cake Wednesday and participate in that softball league..." - but have you really thought about what 8 hours or more a day does to us?





Click on the image or links below for full graphic
Created by Medical Billing and Coding

 Featured on Mashable.com and created by Medical Billing and Coding, this overview of how our body breaks down is a good visualization of what exactly is occurring while we're typing away at our desks. We're getting fat (even if we exercise), we're hurting our bodies (even if we avoid heavily salted or sugar based products), and the only way to avoid this is by sitting less.

Even Business Week wrote an article on how your chair is killing you (with less visualization, but the point is still there) in their 2010 edition. It all comes down to the human body not being built to sustain 8-9 hours of stagnant, bad posture. So what can we do?

The first (and probably more difficult solution if you're in an office) is to look into a stand up desk (preferably one that is easy to raise and lower with little hassle). Men's Health wrote a recent article on the dangers of sitting for long periods of time and offered the standing desk solution. Being a showroom has it's advantages because you get to see all the products: I recommend Steelcase's Air Touch or Series 7. Bonus if you can convince HR your office needs a walk station!

The second option and one which is a little bit easier to implement is to start finding ways to get up and around the office. Fitness magazine offers some quick tips to getting your move on in the office. From setting up a reminder in your outlook calendar to doing a 10 minute workout in your cube, there are simple ways you can get your heart rate going while hanging around at work.

Whether you convince your boss that investing in a stand up desk will ultimately add years to your life and overall happiness or settle for doing the 5 flights of stairs at lunch, remember that sitting stagnant for hours at a time is detrimental to your health (even if you workout everyday). By changing up your routine a little bit, your body will thank you for your efforts.

~ Kendal