Due to the expansion of the technology industry in California’s Silicon Valley, office occupancy has increased in the last year, which is good news for real estate agencies and office space providers.

According to Colliers International, forecasts show that office space and research facilities could increase by five million square feet this year, which would be in addition to the three and a half million square feet increase in office and research space net occupancy in 2011.

The technology companies who are leading this expansion in Silicon Valley include mobile application businesses, cloud computing providers and social networking companies. It is hoped that the technology surge is only just beginning, and that 2012 should bring another strong year for commercial leasing.

According to Colliers International, office space vacancies were down from 16 % at the end of last year compared to 20.2 % in 2010. In addition research and development space vacancies were down 13.7 % at the end of last year, down from 16.2 % in 2010.

There many ways that we can save energy in the workplace, saving both the environment and the office budget. Businesses can help by purchasing energy efficient equipment, cutting down on waste and unnecessary energy usage.

Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and promotes energy efficient products and practices, offering advice and guidelines to help reduce energy wastage.

• When leaving the office be sure to turn off your computers, monitors, photocopiers and printers.

• Using a laptop computer uses ninety percent less energy than a desktop computer, the same is true for using an ink jet printer rather than a laser printer.

• Don’t use screen savers. Read the rest of this entry »

Working as a team is essential to the overall success of you businesses and developing an effective teamwork structure within your organization takes understanding and experience. Belonging to a team and contributing to the ‘whole’ produces far greater results than everyone going it alone and will improve motivation and communication. Each individual has a particular job within group, but you are all striving for the same goals and the same overall objectives, so being able to see the bigger picture is very important.

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Office.net News is inviting small businesses to showcase their success stories and share tips and experiences on how to graduate from the home office to rented business accommodation smoothly and hassle-free.

Would you describe your transition from being home-based to operating from a rented office facility as straightforward? Is it more beneficial to lease short term office space or is it better to commit to a longer term accommodation contract? Is there any advice you can give to small businesses in the same situation? What worked best for you and your business?

From California to Florida, no matter what your location is, we would love to hear from you. Please send us a short introduction to your business and we will get in touch.

Offices.net provides thousands of small and home-based businesses with a free office space listing service, simplifying the process of finding suitable office accommodation and offering affordable flexible rental solutions.

The mantra location, location, location is as true today as it ever was. Where your offices premises are can make or break your business. You need to research this very carefully, compile pros and cons and get it right first time. It’s no point moving into offices with low overheads in an out of the way area only to find that your clients or business partners can’t find you. In this case a penny saved is not a penny earned.

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It can be difficult to get audience participation during a meeting. How many meetings have you been to where the chairperson asks a question only to be met by deafening silence? – Cue the tumbleweed. There are lots of reasons for this, from fear of saying the wrong thing, to genuine shyness to people just not listening. Getting people to contribute is important, you need fresh ideas, opinions or just to make sure your audience understands what the key issues are.

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There is a lot to think about when choosing office furniture and making mistakes can end up costing you both time and money. A well thought out plan, and very importantly budget, needs to be created.

One of the main things to think about is space, take measurements of the floor space, windows and doors. You don’t want to purchase a desk only to find it won’t fit through the door. Read the rest of this entry »

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets the minimum working standards for employees in most private and public employment, from the minimum pay, overtime laws, vacation, sick pay, age restrictions and safety in the workplace. Here are some examples of federal employee rights.

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It’s almost impossible to get along with absolutely everybody you work with. There will always be someone who rubs you the wrong way, who is loud, argumentative or just plain irritating. What you need to remember is that you’re professional, and you can’t let personal problems with other people in the office get in the way of your work. How you deal with your co-workers reflects on you professionally, if your boss has to continually be sorting out -school yard- problems it won’t look good.

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Love em or hate em, face to face meetings are still a necessary evil even in this digital/cyber/online world. People still need to get together and discuss issues, make decisions or just to get their point across. It’s important not to waste company time with unnecessary, long and boring meetings, which sometimes just seem like an excuse for the key speaker to yak on and listen to the sound of their own voice. Yes, their Mom may have told them they are fabulous, but we don’t all need to hear everything they have to say.

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