The first thing a new client, guest or prospective employee sees when they enter your office is your reception area.  It's where they get their first, lasting impression of your business.  Make it work for you by creating a space that's inviting and also reflects your company's business style and culture - whether it's contemporary or traditional, relaxed or more formal.

Make it relaxing. Choose chairs that provide comfortable seating.  Make sure lighting feels warm and natural.  Plants and soft music can be calming and enjoyable, as well.  If guests will likely be waiting for a few minutes, offer them coffee, bottled water or a soft drink while they wait.  If a restroom isn't visible from the waiting area post a sign with directional arrows, so guests don't have to ask.

Tell your story. Provide reading materials for visitors that are related to your company and it's business.  Display our corporate newsletters, annual report, brochures and catalogs in magazine racks or on tables, so that your guests can learn a little about what you do while they wait.  You can also run corporate videos or photo collages on a monitor set on "endless loop", but provide headphones or mute the sound , so it doesn't compete wit conversations or background music.

Make the space functional for people who prefer to work while they're waiting. Provide tables they can use for a laptop.  Make sure power outlets are in sight and easy to access, so visitors can charge a phone or plug in a laptop without having to move furniture or look under chairs.  If your company offers WiFi for guests, either post the password in the waiting area or make sure your receptionist offers it to those who may need it.

Looking to update your reception area?  Our furniture specialists can create the welcome you are looking for.  

Now more than ever, employers use the internet to research candidates for hiring or admission.  Do what you can to make the most of your public image.

1.  Search Yourself!
See what others see about you online by running your own search.  Before running your search, log out of your browser and clear you cache and search history, so search engines pick up the same information a new searcher will see.  Search fo your name on major web browser and social networks.  View  your social media profile as "public" to see what people who are not friends or followers would see.

2.  Clean up what you can.
If you find photos, posts and personal information in your social media accounts that you'd prefer not to share with the world, delete them or check your privacy settings to ensure they're not visible to anyone outside your social network.  If you find photos or other content on websites where you don't have any control, contact the website's administrator and ask them to remove the content.

3.  Make the most of your online presence with new content.
New content ranks higher on search engines, plus it gives you the opportunity to update your social media with things you want prospective employers to see.  Update your profile on career sites, build a personal resume site or start a new blog to show off your professional smarts!

4.  Ditch the data brokers!
There are companies who scan the internet for personal information and offer the data they find to the public for free or for a fee.  If there "people search" sites come up when you search for your name, visit their sites and opt out to keep your information private.

We've all done it!  Halfway through vacation, we start to worry about our overflowing inbox, the meetings we're missing and what will be waiting for us when when we get back to the offic.  Here are a few tips to ease the transition from a walk on the beach back to the daily grind.

1.  Make your vacations a REAL vacation.
Your out-of-office reply is there for a reason!  Don't check you email every day or call in to see what is going on.  Take a break... it'll make you stronger in the long run!

2.  Give yourself a transition day or two.
Rather than coming home the night before you go back to work, give yourself time to run errands, pick up groceries, do laundry and gear up a bit.

3.  Make a plan for your return.
Don't overbook yourself your first couple of days back at work.  Carve out time to go through emails, dig through anything that accumulated on your desk and get back in the groove!  Block out this time on your schedule so you don't get booked for meetings!

Classrooms with rigid seats recall an era when teachers held court in front of rows of submissive students. Obedience took precedence over comprehension—as long as a student was sitting up straight, it didn’t necessarily matter if he or she was learning the lesson being taught.

And it wasn’t unheard of for a posture-­makes­-perfect teacher to help bring about an upright sitting position by putting a yardstick down the back of a student’s shirt. 

​This era may still exist in some classrooms and schoolhouses, but most modern educators have come to realize that students learn in many different ways. They recognize that fidgeting and restlessness is a feature, not a bug, in the makeup of most young students.
Some students may do fine sitting passively in a straight­back chair for hours at a time, but plenty of others need a little more variety and movement to stay on task. And as teaching strategies gravitate toward a greater focus on hands­on and interactive student involvement, classrooms benefit from active seating choices that accommodate or even encourage movement.

Many students have come to expect flexible, easily configurable seating arrangements in their classrooms, according to a 2013 study in the Journal of Learning Spaces of seating considerations at Buffalo State, State University of New York.
“Movability and maneuverability of seating is valued by 21st­century students because it facilitates the ability to work in groups or teams, which is becoming more common within the classroom,” say the study’s authors, Eugene Harvey and Melaine Kenyon. “When seating configurations need to be altered within class, students may expect inherently that the classroom environment, especially seating, will be moldable to the task or purpose at hand.”
In evaluating various seating options for classrooms at the university, the study found that students rated fixed, tiered seating and tablet­arm chairs the lowest.
​
“The traditional tablet­arm chairs and fixed, tiered seating seem less than comfortable,” the study says. “The physical sitting space for these seats is limiting for people of above­average heights or girths, and not only is this uncomfortable physically, but also socially as well, resulting in feelings of awkwardness, irritability or embarrassment.”
Schools and universities may supplement or replace traditional desks and chairs with seating that accommodates greater flexibility and comfort. Many of these new furniture pieces are especially beneficial for students with special needs such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism, but they also have value for students in general. Some examples:

• Wobble cushions. Also called stability cushions or wiggle cushions, these items can be used on top of a seat or on the floor. The cushions are inflated, but have enough give in them so that students have to change their positions frequently to stay balanced. By enabling students to fidget and wiggle in their seats, the cushions help them burn off their excess energy without disrupting the class and focus on their schoolwork. Some cushions are wedge­shaped so that a student using one sits at an angle that results in better posture and better focus.
• Wobble chairs. These provide benefits similar to cushions, but are attached to legs or bases, so aren’t as mobile as cushions.
• Exercise balls. Used in fitness facilities to strengthen muscles, the balls (also called therapy, yoga or balance balls) have proven to be effective in classrooms. Students are able to move while sitting on exercise balls, and this results in better concentration and performance.
• Beanbag chairs. These provide a comfortable spot for students to read silently, listen to a lesson using headphones or complete other independent activities. They also are lightweight and can be moved easily in a classroom.
• Seating with wheels and swivels. These chairs enable students to move and twist to stay active while remaining seated. The mobility of the chairs also makes it easier for a classroom to accommodate different styles of learning.
• Standing desks. Students can break up the monotony of sitting throughout the school day by using a standing desk. Giving the students an opportunity to stand for at least some of their class time helps combat the sedentary habits of students, keeps them alert, and may improve their academic performance.

Kennedy is the staff writer for American School & University.
Source URL: http://beta.asumag.com/furniture­furnishings/creating­some­wiggle­room