Beat the Holiday Pounds at the Office!

On Monday morning, I stepped on the scale in the middle of my workout and cringed. After four days of being thankful for various food dishes and beverages, my body was telling me, rather blatantly, that I may have taken gluttony to a new level.

To beat the turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, various types of pie and wine out of me, I plan on taking additional steps at the office to help shed some calories. Here are four tips to help  jump start the activity:

1. Take fitness breaks. I've written responses to a few articles that talk about how your office chair is killing you. The first step is actually getting up from your desk every 50 minutes to an hour. Set your outlook calendar, your cell phone, your co-worker...anything that makes you move.
Your response could be "but I'm busy and in the middle of a major project". Take one minute,  push your chair away from your desk, lean back and stretch your arms over your head. Pick your feet off the floor and rotate your ankles. Roll your shoulders, softly roll your neck....and get back to work! Repeat every hour!

2. Get your co-workers involved. Know a few colleagues you don't mind talking with in the cafe at lunch time? Why don't you suggest taking the conversation to go! Pack a healthy wrap so you can eat while you walk without the mess and burn those calories. You can set a goal to walk at least 2 times per week.
Your response could be "but it's winter and the weather is gross". Very true. I work in a center that has 5 flights of stairs and rather walkable paths indoors. Is there a mall close by? Mall walkers are not just our grandparents! How about a Lowes or Home Depot? Don't let this derail you...just get creative!

3. Find a few desk routines. There are many websites that offer different exercises you can do at your desk. Like this one. Or this one. And here's a youtube video workout.
You could say "but I'll look funny and awkward". I can't stand there and tell your co-workers to stop chuckling or staring. And you may have to explain to your boss why you're doing lunges in your workspace. However, as you continue to get fitter and this becomes more of a second nature, inevitably the stares will stop and those same coworkers may start coming to you for advice.

4. Stay hydrated. Water. Lots of it. All day. Cut back your coffee/tea intake, try and remove soda from your diet and drink lots of water. I've also read having a smaller water glass will  help get you away from your desk to get more water...instant break!
You shouldn't have a response to this one...we've been told since we were 8 that 8 glasses a day of water is a good thing. They may have take away Pluto as a planet and the Triceratops existence - but water is still a necessary.

There are many additional articles you can find on this - here is Mayo Clinic's article and Prevention's article. Also bing/google searching "exercise at the office" or "workouts at the office" brings up a bunch of info, as well. Additionally, this is one of my favorite topics - so if you want more info on health at the office, check out this article and this article.

Stay Healthy!

Kendal

Giving Thanks

Last night, I watched a program that claimed the Indians may not have been invited so much to the first Thanksgiving as just sort of showing up hearing all the commotion. All 90 of them. And then, realizing there wasn't enough food, brought some more deer meat to even things out. To be fair  though, the only reason the pilgrims had food in the first place and were able to celebrate was because the Indians taught them how to plant and harvest. So I don't think it's necessarily a bad trade off then that 390 years later, we're really celebrating a house party that got crashed.

Click here for the Indians possibly crashing the Pilgrims party.

Click here for the History channel's overview of Thanksgiving.

Whatever your personal reasons for celebrating the holiday (seeing family and friends, watching many hours of football or the traditional Macy's parade, using it as your one guilt free day off your diet), we truly hope you and your family have a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have hundreds of days a year to worry, stress, be angry and frustrated about what's going on in the world and in our lives. But let's use Thanksgiving for a day to be thankful for anything we do have (be it a little or a lot).

Take Care and have a wonderful holiday!

Kendal

One Lean Journey Leads to Another

Partnering with customers beyond furniture
by Dana Devol - Director of IT

Local Steelcase Workplace consultant Jacquie Hartmann and Bank & Office Interiors had a good relationship with a major client, the University of Washington (www.washington.edu ). Still, competition for the UW’s business had been mounting and Jacquie knew in order to continue the relationship they had to strengthen it. Steelcase needed to make the move from vendor to customer to vendor/partner.

It turned out Steelcase’s Lean experience ( www.lean.org) was the key to that transformation.

Jim Keane, president of Steelcase Group ( http://www.steelcase.com/), came to Seattle to meet with V’Ella Warren, the university’s senior vice president of Finance and Facilities. They discussed sustainability, pricing, research and innovation. But what really caught V’Ella’s attention was when Jim brought up how Steelcase has had success applying lean manufacturing principles to their office processes.

Jacquie, Kurt Jonker, Steelcase Director of Project & Process Management, and Mark Swets, Steelcase Office Lean consultant, sat down with V’Ella and Ruth Johnston, vice president of Strategy, to discuss lean concepts, principles, and tools, and to share where Steelcase is in their “lean in the office” journey.

That conversation compelled them to delve deeper, so Steelcase offered to help the UW as a partner help them start out on their own Lean journeys. The Steelcase team agreed to consult on a specific process identified by the university: furniture ordering and purchasing. B&OI Dealer Principal Jeff Rospond was assigned as co-lead of the Lean engagement along with the university’s Director of Purchasing, Dennis Gawlik.

The University of Washington team participates in a lean
training session in Grand Rapids 

To fully expose the UW group to the principles of Lean, V’Ella and Ruth knew it would be valuable to have them visit Steelcase and experience our operations firsthand. So UW paid the travel expenses for eight them fly them fly out for several days of training. “Steelcase made sure the agenda was loaded with hands-on experiences,” says Kurt, including classroom training, gemba (the Japanese word for “the actual place” or as we say, “go and see”) walking and an intensive four-hour lean simulation. The group also met with several Steelcase executives who shared their perspectives on lean and how the process has helped Steelcase become more fit.

During training, “we were also learning more about the issues that impact what they buy from us,” explains Jacquie. “Right now they’re sitting in a lot of our first-generation furniture.” When they came to Grand Rapids and saw our newer products, “they began asking, ‘How can we help you better represent your brand on campus?’”

B&OI and Steelcase’s focus was on helping to accommodate the university’s purchasing. And now? Along with B&OI, Jacquie is working with UW on several research projects, consulting on collaborative workspace arrangements and interfacing with high-level staff on a regular basis. “There are things they’re coming to us with now that they wouldn’t have thought to ask us about before,” she says. “It really demonstrates the way our relationship has changed.”

-Source: Steelcase 360 Magazine – edited for this blog

Staying Healthy at the Office

On Tuesday this week, my running partner showed up to Greenlake at 5am with a bad cold. Personally, I'm a proponent of trying to exercise all the bad stuff out, if possible (I do not recommend if you have bronchitis or walking pneumonia). So jogging a nice steady pace in the brisk weather wasn't terrible. However, it reminded me that we're hitting that time of year when our coworkers are getting sick from their kids and coming to the office anyway. And this leads to other coworkers getting sick from them....and there's not enough airborne or vitamin c in the grocery store to save you once you catch it.

So, I've done a little digging to offer some tips on attempting to stay healthy this cold season. Some are obvious - but it's always good to have a reminder now and then:

1. Keep your hands clean and avoid touching your face. Mother Nature Network says "it's all too easy to touch something in the workplace that someone else with a cold has touched, too". I am a perpetual face toucher. So even though I constantly wash my hands, I'm still at risk.

2. Keep your workspace clean. About.com says "Clean your phone, computer keyboard and anything else that you use frequently. Even if you are the only user, germs can live on these objects and you can reinfect yourself". I keep a container of lysol disinfecting wipes at my station and wipe it down every other day...just in case.

3. Chew Ginger. According to Genius Beauty Magazine, "Chew the roots of a sweet flag and ginger. They are rich in essential oils with antibacterial properties. Break a bit off the root, put it in your mouth and chew until tasteless". Those who are pregnant or have stomach troubles should probably pass though!

4. Keep an air ionizer by your desk. According to Business Insider, "This will purify air from dust particles and bacteria, keeping you healthier overall. We like this one on Amazon for $30."

5. Keep geranium on your desk. According to Business Insider, "The leaves of the plant emit phytoncides that kill airborne  bacteria. When you feel like sneeze coming, tear a leaf off the plant and rub it between your fingers to release more phytoncides. Inhale a pleasant odor for a moment instead of sneezing all over your workspace".

For more great tips, click on the links above for the full articles. Stay Healthy!!!

~ Kendal

I Work Too Much

I work too much.  Of course, it is my fault.  I have a dozen tasks I’m juggling and I find it hard to put them all aside. It’s as if I think the world would screech to a halt to the woe of everyone else. That’s just plain silly. Time away from all that busy-ness (aka “business”) is important. 

Last week, I took a road trip to Walla Walla ( http://www.wallawalla.org/ ) in the Southeast Washington.  We drove slow, taking small back roads and stopping frequently to enjoy a sweeping vista or a curious road-side tableau.  Standing on an outcrop of rock with a chilly brisk wind, deep breaths were draughts of pure re-creation. We stayed at a Bed & Breakfast (http://www.innatblackberrycreek.com/ ) that was charming and the people were so nice. It was a delight to amble along with no deadline, no rush. These are good things. They restore a degree of humanness which our mad-dash world crushes. I’m back at my desk now, refreshed and ready to take on the remains of the year.  But I’m planning my next journey….

 

Danä, Director of IT