Sitting, Slouching and Shrugging At Work

SteelcaseThe ‘Strunch’

If you�re sitting at a laptop right now, it’s possible you’re sitting in a �Strunch.�

If you�re reading this on your phone in the middle of a meeting, you may be doing the �Smart Lean.�

These are some of the postures that office-furniture maker Steelcase Inc. identified based on a study of how 2,000 workers in 11 countries arrange their bodies while they�re using the tools of the modern workplace — from desktop computers and laptops to tablets and smartphones.

Steelcase�s researchers found that professionals who use laptops on a desk or table surface often push the computer further away from them as they get tired. Then, they compensate for the strain by propping their chins up with the non-typing hand.

SteelcaseThe ‘Smart Lean’

Thus, the Strunch, or �stretched-out hunch.�

The �Smart Lean� posture refers to workers who check their smartphones during a meeting, and so lean back and to the side for a little privacy.

Then there�s the �Take-It-In.� This is the opposite of Mom�s �sit up straight� advice: Workers recline in their chairs, far back from their monitors, taking advantage of bigger, high-resolutions screens that allow for reading from a distance.

SteelcaseThe ‘Take It In’

�Tablets and smartphones had moved from being exotic things mostly used in people�s personal lives to hardworking tools at the office� said James Ludwig, the company�s vice president of global design and engineering.

These devices, along with the mobility they allow for have changed how people carry themselves while completing professional tasks, he said.

The company reviewed snapshots of people at work and conducted multi-day observations of offices and detailed interviews to arrive at its conclusions.
One of those conclusions: Office warriors are in pain. �Chairs, up until now, have been designed to help a body hold a pose for a long period of time, but people are working in more dynamic ways today,� Ludwig says. They do focused work for a little while, then answer their mobile phone, then move to collaborative work with the people around them.

Steelcase also found that men and women sit differently. Men are more likely to recline deeply (as in the Take-It-In), while women often prefer the Cocoon, a posture in which workers lean back, pull up their knees or feet under their legs, and draw their tablets or phones close.

Steelcase‘The Trance’

The study informed the development of Steelcase�s new office chair, the Gesture, which was unveiled today. The Gesture combines a wider seat that accommodates both overweight and more slender workers, a deeper recline in the back rest, and arms that move more fluidly to respond to workers� use of multiple devices and postures.

The Gesture has a suggested retail price of $780 to $880.