AdvantEdge Workspaces Blog

Feeling drowsy at work?  Not feeling as productive as usual?  Many workers are experiencing these feelings around this time of year with daylights savings, changing seasons, etc.  A poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation in 2011 found that 43% of Americans report that they seldom get a good night’s sleep during the work week.  Losing that one hour during daylights savings time is that last step to making an already existing problem worse.

To celebrate AdvantEdge Business Centers' March Madness events, we are dedicating this blog post to the NCAA Championships!  Thanks to the news-media, there is indeed a certain “madness” to be found during March. Every year around this time we encounter a flurry of articles and news stories discussing how to build a better bracket for your office pool and possible  drops in worker productivity, but there are also many stories about the lesser known aspects and effects of the NCAA Championship Tournament. Here are a few examples how March Madness influences the world off the court.

The social media landscape is constantly evolving with the introduction of highly-populated app markets for your smart phones, tablets, and computers.  Some are silly, while others are extremely useful, but at the end of the day the majority of apps are simply fun ways to spend time during a long commute to work.  So check out a handful of the upcoming apps that have people excited and see which one interests you!

In one of our previous blog posts, we explained some executive suites terminology that could be initially confusing to a professional in search of shared office space.  We ended that post with a promise to delve even deeper into the industry lexicon, so now onto part two!

Technology is constantly evolving with "the latest and greatest" devices invented left and right.  While there are some that seem simply like expensive toys, there are many others that we here in the executive suites industry feel could make day-to-day life in the business world much easier! This past January, the International Consumer Electronics Show debuted new devices from major brands as well as independent technology entrepreneurs.  Here are three upcoming devices that would be especially helpful for any professional:

In the business world, you are where you eat. And whether you have full-time or virtual office space, eventually you will have to step outside your work zone and engage in that ever present business staple: the power lunch. Esquire's Eat Like a Man blog says "Washington is a business-lunch city, and they know how to turn out an excellent meal in whatever time you have available." Keeping this in mind, here are a few places that consistently top the District's best lunch restaurants lists.

LinkedIn has rapidly become a legitimate professional networking and recruiting tool for the business-minded.  Often pegged as the “facebook for business”, this networking site is much more than that name suggests.  According to the Wall Street Journal, “LinkedIn Corp.'s (LNKD) fourth-quarter earnings soared as the professional-networking site's revenue more than doubled”.  This information is not surprising considering (as shown by this Infographic) that LinkedIn’s current membership estimates are numbered at 100 million.

As executives seek to cut costs and maximize returns for their investors during the global economic crisis, the wellbeing of their workers at the office is being forgotten!  In an interconnected world, your office space should be a reflection of the global economy where ideas and solutions flow freely between people and across barriers.  With the advent of mobile communication technology, employees are now more physically mobile than ever. Even though we could theoretically work nowadays alone from our couch (and in our pajamas), people are not machines!  We are a social species who need interaction to live healthy personal lives.  So why not transfer that concept to the design of your office space?

Staring at the clock, tapping your pen and resisting the urge to text message; is this how you spend your business meetings? We've already discussed how to make meetings more productive, but what if you just want to skip them altogether? With 21st century technology the necessity to meet in person is largely a thing of the past. These creative solutions allow business meetings to take place conveniently in your virtual office space:

Social media has rapidly become one the most effective tools for marketing and advertising your business. Creating a successful social media campaign allows businesses of all kinds to reach consumers on both a national and international level in real-time. Whether you’re using social media for a small business or revamping your current corporate marketing strategies, the most important aspect of social media is implementing a plan. According to Neil Patel of Entrepreneur, one of the biggest social media mistakes is not having a clear strategy. Patel writes that businesses should begin by asking themselves 6 main questions: