Stand up and be more productive at the office, research says
Researchers at Texas A&M University find employees do 46% more work when they're on their feet
- Study was carried out on workers at a call centre who were given desks which "promoted standing"
- They measure productivity by the number of calls per hour in which an employee reached a target client
Standing up is the new sitting down, apparently.
Research coming from Texas A&M University has concluded that employees in an office are 46% more productive when they have desks that have stand-up capability. Stand-up desks have been gaining popularity in recent times, but the results have been a mixed bag.
Until now that is, with the call centre research finding that workers were much more comfortable, and that the standing desks benfited their employers too. Despite those in traditional chairs having more experience, those on their feet came out on top.
The scientists also said that begtinner's luck had nothing to do witht the study, as most of the gains recorded by the study set in after the first month of standing, and 90 days after they had been employed.
The standers “wiggle, wobble, pivot, lean, perch, etc.,” which is crucial, he says, in today’s age of “technology induced inactivity.”
167 employees were studied, according to the Wall Street Journal, and the figures were measured by the number of calls per hour made to target clients.
It is offered as an explanation by the research, that the greater comfort was consistent with the benefits previously thought to be associated with standing, such as improving concentration and other mental abilities.
Mark Benden, who is in charge of the university’s Ergonomics Center, says that simply getting workers to stand probably doesn’t fully account for the team’s findings.
As far as he's concerned, “statically standing is not much better than statically sitting.” The key difference, he believes, is that the standing-oriented desks get people to move more: The standers “wiggle, wobble, pivot, lean, perch, etc.,” which is crucial, he says, in today’s age of “technology induced inactivity.”