I know we often feel like this, but how do we maintain a high performance work environment? Read on to find out what we found...

“You can only do so much with salary,” says global architecture and design firm Gensler, in their 2008 Workplace survey. “High-performing companies, the ones with high profits, strong brand positioning, and better employee engagement, are the ones that have the highest-performing workplaces,” the study said.

So, what exactly does a high-performing business workplace look like? Steelcase researchers agree that Generation-Y workers seem to know, as do Baby Boomers, who are slowly picking up their values from the younger set, this kind of business setting allows for four basic elements to come together and happen at any time:

1. Focus – Concentrating on “head down” work.
2. Collaboration – Working with other people to achieve a goal.
3. Learning – Building knowledge through education or experience.
4. Socialization – Interacting interpersonally with others.

What’s being seen is that the importance placed on a company’s size, brand image, and history is shifting to how well the business can support a worker’s preferred working style, how much they can learn, and how well it supports work/life integration. In other words, a business’ physical workplace has to get better at allowing the people in it to learn, create, and innovate.

How does that happen? We’ve found that a range of work settings is key. The ones that are the most effective support all of the four personal work modes above. Some ideas might be as easy as installing outlets around the office with seating to allow employees to plug in their computers and congregate, or by using Media:Scape technology in your conference rooms.

Skeptics may say that a changing business’ office characteristics isn’t the only way to building a high-performance company, but we feel that it’s certainly key to surmounting the challenge, which is why we’ve made a range of products such as cobi, i2i, and c:scape that attempt to do just that.

Backed up by data that you can find on our Come Together website, we’ve seen that the environmental aspects of work reinforces a company’s values – by paying attention to how you’re communicating access, openness, and free communication to your employees, you’ll be well on your way to enhanced performance.

Submit a 2 minute video and enter to win 1 of 3 Walkstations. Entries must be received by November 13.

Take steps for better health… and a better life for kids in need.

Win a Walkstation from the Steelcase Store (retail value of $4699 !)and enjoy the benefits of walking while you work. As a winner, you gain the good of walking while working and you’ll help donate shoes to kids in need.

It starts with a video you create to explain why you or your team should win a free Walkstation (it’s that easy!). If you’re one of our three winners, you’ll participate in a two-week walk-a-thon, where every mile logged earns a donation to Friends of TOMS, the non-profit organization that mobilizes, connects and empowers supporters of TOMS Shoes One for One Movement. .

It’s your chance to make every step count. For you. And for kids who really need a pair of shoes.

Find more info and all the details here. Submit your video today.

So, are you a filer or a piler? Steelcase researchers have found that nearly half of the US workforce falls into one of those two groups, in a semi-annual workplace survey. The rest? Call them neat freaks, pack rats, or (gasp) slobs.

Over the course of the survey, it was found that women fall more toward the upper extreme, with 40% considering themselves neat freaks. There was evidence that lent credibility to why 75% of men weren’t; lack of elbow room might play a role in why workplace organization has become a challenge.

Researchers discovered that while team meeting spaces have increased in size (great for collaboration), individual work spaces have decreased (not so good for “head-down” work). Other take-aways from the study showed that younger workers considered themselves neater – 18 to 34 year olds ranked themselves 40%, with 55 and older at 37%.

What kind of organization type to you think you are? What about your office? Is your space clean and spartan like Facebook, or do you lean more toward organized chaos like Al Gore?

Show us! Upload photos of your work space!

Working from home can be a blessing and a curse. In some, a change of scenery helps them concentrate better, get more work done, and boost their creativity. On the other hand, others that we’ve talked to say that it does the exact opposite.

Whatever side of the coin you’re on, a good time management plan really minimizes the negatives and amplifies the positives of working from home. Here are ten of our favorite tips paraphrased from ZenHabits.com:

1. Set a morning routine – shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, or do it all in reverse, it’s the structure that helps get you going for the day.

2. Put together a daily work schedule – try to check and respond to emails at the same time and try to be “working” during the same time period each day (even if you’re watching
Good Morning America) – this will allow coworkers to get in contact with you, and help you to not miss anything!

3. At the end of the day, clean up! – There’s nothing worse then feeling like you should be doing more work when the work day’s over with. Plus, it’ll help you to feel fresh the next morning, too.

4. Go outside for a bit – Take in a little bit of the “secret life of daytime” that you’ve been missing by toiling in the office! It’ll keep you happy and refreshed.

5. No friends during work time – Having visitors is really sweet, but sometimes you just need to crank some work out, and they end up being a distraction. We think that time you set aside for work is perfect for just that, so no friends (unless they’re delivering a pizza).

6. Dress up a little – Pajamas are great and comfortable, but let’s be honest- have you ever felt like doing anything besides sleeping and watching the Price is Right while wearing them? Me either.

7. Music, or none, matters – Whatever you’re listening to, whether it’s NPR, Britney Spears, or Depeche Mode, influences your mood – make sure that you’re putting yourself in a great frame of mind for whatever the job is that you’re doing.

8. TV will screw you up – A little bit of TV is great, especially if you’re waiting to catch the highlights of the Yankee game, but if you’re not careful, you’ll end up watching the Orioles, Red Sox, Tigers, and Mike Tyson fight, too.

9. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow – Fleetwood Mac jokes aside, having a to-do list for the next day with three things you need to do and three things that aren’t essential but need to be done will help you clear things up before you quit working for the day.

10. Coffee, yes please! – Make sure to use all the conveniences of home to your advantage. It’s relaxing, and you’ll be able to rub it in to your office coworkers that you made yourself some fresh juice or a double mocha latte, too!

Don’t count out the advantages of having a good ergonomic office chair either- our Cobi or Amia would fit perfectly in any home office!

Feel like this? Read on to learn of some productivity enhancing apps.

It’s already 11:00?! Between getting settled for the day, checking email, and having a coffee – it’s almost like the morning’s completely gone, and I haven’t actually accomplished anything! Know how that goes?

Even the best thinkers use some assistance to get on track. Before, it was scheduling and to-do lists with paper and pencil (link to BF), now, there are lots of applications available for your computer that serve the same purpose; making your job easier and more productive. Here’s four that we use at the Steelcase store:

1. Doomi- Described on its website as “dead simple to-do’s,” Doomi does just that. It’s clean, unobtrusive, and allows for you to save completed tasks as well as set reminders for when things pop-up.

2. FocusBooster- It isn’t much more than a timer, but FocusBooster operates according to the Pomodoro technique – 25 minutes of focus, take a break, and start again. After four sessions, take a longer break. You’ll be surprised what taking control of your time, and concentrating on one thing at a time can do.

3. Think – When there’s too much fighting for your attention on the desktop (iTunes, iCal, eMail, web browsing power users know what I’m talking about), Sometimes, its easiest to block out the noise. Think does exactly that. When installed, you select an application to work with exclusively (eMail, calendar, Microsoft Word, etc.), and Think blacks out the rest of your screen. When you close the app, pick another, and finish the job without interruption.

4. Tweetdeck- For those of us that use Twitter, it’s an invaluable asset of real-time information and communication about our friends and company. Problem is, sometimes it’s either too much information, or a black hole of time wasting. Tweetdeck cleans it up by allowing for multiple columns that you dictate – whether you’re checking two different accounts or getting alerts for when a certain keyword is mentioned (like Steelcase and awesome). They even have an iPhone app.

What apps do you use that help out your productivity? Did we miss any?
Let us know in the comments!