In a recent study at Texas A&M University the researchers found that workers at a call centre who were given “stand-capable” desks—ones that were either adjustable to standing height or set to standing position—were 46% more productive than workers with traditional seated desks.
This was the case even though the workers at these stand-capable desks had less experience on the job.
Beginner’s luck probably wasn’t a factor, the scientists say, since the bulk of the productivity gains didn’t set in until the workers’ second month at the standing desks, and all had been employed for at least 90 days.
The study covered 167 employees, divided into two groups: those with traditional seating and those whose desks promoted standing.
The researchers measured productivity by the number of calls per hour in which a worker reached a target client and went through a health-related script, including arranging a follow-up call.
The researchers attributed much of the productivity gains to the greater physical comfort reported by the workers at the higher desks.
Nearly three-quarters of those workers said that they felt less discomfort after using the desks for the six-month study.
The greater comfort was consistent with prior research showing that standing desks offer benefits to their users—by helping them burn more calories, for example, or improving their concentration and other mental powers.
One of the scientists, Mark Benden, who heads the university’s Ergonomics Centre, says that merely getting workers to stand probably doesn’t fully account for the team’s findings. As he puts it, “statically standing is not much better than statically sitting.”
The key difference, he argues, 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.”
Dr. Benden says that he can foresee the day when a smartphone or some other high-tech device, attuned to our activities as well as our vital signs, will pick a good time to nudge us to get up and move around a little on the job.
