Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners:" corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. Are You Ready to Serve on a Board?

Corporate boards are under increasing pressure to diversify their ranks – adding more women and minorities, as well as executives with different cultural and functional backgrounds – to better represent the people their organizations employ and serve. At the same time, the bar for “board readiness” has never been higher: directors are scrutinized for their ability to understand more complex businesses, demonstrate technical know-how, deliver effective governance, and generate sustainable long-term performance.

What can leaders aspiring to board roles do to prepare and position themselves for success? How does one develop what we call boardroom capital?

Unfortunately, the capabilities that power C-suite careers are not the same as those needed to sit around the top table, specifically in a non-executive capacity, because you no longer have all the levers of operating power at your fingertips. That is perhaps bad (but not terrible) news for obvious board candidates: they’ll simply have to work to develop the right skills. It’s unquestionably good news for non-obvious candidates – that is, those who didn’t or couldn’t ascend to the ranks of top management, which continue to be male- and majority-race dominated around the world. They will need to work hard, too, but they can start on a more level playing field.

2. U.S. Business Activity Increases in Early 2020

Business activity in the U.S. improved in early 2020, contrasting with weaker economic performance in some of the world’s other major economies.

Data company IHS Markit said Friday that its composite purchasing managers index for the U.S., a measure of activity in businesses, posted a 10-month high of 53.1 in January, up from 52.7 in December. A level above 50 points to growth in business activity, while a reading below that mark points to contraction.

IHS Markit said the pickup was due to growth in the services sector. Manufacturing PMI dipped to 51.7 in January, from 52.4 a month earlier.

The data “highlight a manufacturing sector that is not out of the woods yet, with goods producers seeing only modest gains in output and new orders,” said IHS Markit economist Sian Jones.

3. Ten Ways To Excel In An 'Agile' Workspace

Recently, I counted myself among thousands of Lenovo employees at our offices in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, who transitioned from a traditional workspace to an agile environment. Our team, the global communications team, moved as part of the final teams to the new space.

This new way of working, commonly called “agile,” parallels changes in business climates, as conditions become more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. I’ve found agile is defined differently by each company. For us, it means no assigned workspaces — rows of desks that raise and lower and are equipped with a monitor. Employees operate out of neighborhoods, grouped by job function. There are common spaces for informal meetings, team rooms and private telephone booths for calls.

As we have adapted to the physical dimensions of our building, we have learned some lessons along the way on how to better navigate the dynamic workspace. Here are our top 10.

4. Stressed Out at the Office? Therapy Can Come To You

The therapist will see you now—in your office.

Companies from Dell Technologies Inc. DELL -1.97% to Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL -2.42% are bringing mental-health professionals into the workplace to offer on-site counseling for employees. One-third of large employers—those with 5,000 or more employees—plan to offer on-site behavioral-health counseling this year, up from a quarter of those companies in 2019 and less than one-fifth in 2018, according to a survey from the Business Group on Health.

Companies say the benefit can be a tool for improving employee performance and, ultimately retention. Employees want mental-health care but often struggle to find the help they need that fits their schedule or is included in their insurance coverage, say executives at several companies. In-house counseling can save time and money and boost workers’ resilience and productivity, as well as their overall health and well-being, say health-care experts and human-resources executives.

5. Demand for U.S. Office Space Remains Steady in Q4

The final quarter of the final year of the last decade proved to be positive for the U.S. office market, according to three reports from commercial real estate firms Cushman & Wakefield, JLL and Newmark Knight Frank.

Cushman & Wakefield analysts commented that “job gains boosted demand for office space, keeping absorption levels consistent with that of the past three years, despite uncertainty surrounding tariffs and trade issues.” The report added that financial services, professional services and information employment increases helped lead to “healthy positive absorption,” while “healthy demand for office space in the fourth quarter of 2019 was matched by rising supply.”

When it came to supply, the JLL analysts pointed out that the market, overall, is “entering the final stages of the development cycle,” which means it will pull back “after the 51 million square feet that will deliver in 2020.” NKF sounded a note of caution about the pipeline, however, pointing out that “the amount of space under construction remains robust, and warrants close monitoring in the year ahead.”

Ken Ashley