Lead ergonomist
Asana are a leading company in the business of productivity. Their software helps 2.5 million users a week to plan, run and track their tasks, all in the interests of streamlining processes and raising team productivity.
But, in early 2023, Asana noticed their own productivity stalling. Their 140 office-based employees in Dublin, Ireland were experiencing a growing number of MSD injuries, which led to increased time off work and decreased productivity, ultimately causing a notable drop in revenue.
140
Dublin
In-office
The Asana was open plan and spacious, featuring lots of natural light with blinds to ensure local control over lighting.
The workstations around the office consisted of a collection of ergonomic furniture:
- Height-adjustable desk
- Herman Miller Aeron chair
- Ultrawide monitor
- Laptop stands
- Footrests (when needed)
Though workstations were well equipped, our ergonomist observed that many employees were unaware of the best setup for their equipment. Desks were found to be at the wrong height and chairs were not set to match each employee’s individual needs.
Because of this, much of the ergonomics work at Asana was centered around educating employees about the correct use of the equipment they already had.
Unoptimised chair setups meant that lower back discomfort was fairly common amongst employees, even with the high-quality ergonomic equipment they were using. Lumbar supports were not adjusted to fit the lower back and many employees were leaning forward in their chairs, leaving their backs unsupported for most of the workday.
Incorrect chair height and seat pan also meant that employees’ were sitting with their knees lower than their hips, meaning their feet could not lie flat on the floor. This caused foot discomfort; though footrests were readily available to prevent this, many employees simply did not know that a footrest would help their issues.
Many of the bigger issues with body discomfort were solved with 1-to-1 ergonomics consultations in which our ergonomist created a tailored equipment setup for each employee in the office. She also gave 1:1 demonstrations for each employee on how to configure their equipment for future reference. This made everyone in the Asana team much more comfortable, which severely reduced the risk of MSDs developing at the office.
Many employees spent entire workdays using their laptops directly atop their tables. While this is a common practice, this puts the laptop screen far below the optimal height. Working this way is a big cause of neck and back discomfort , as the employee naturally looks down, causing tension in their neck, as well as tension in their back from hunching over their laptop.
Employees were encouraged to get either a monitor or a laptop stand to raise the level of the screen they were looking at throughout the day. Our ergonomist educated all employees on the importance of having the top third of their screens at eye-level, reducing the need to hunch or look down while working.
Standing desks were used at every workstation, with many employees using them in conjunction with sitting throughout the day. While this is great ergonomics practice, many employees had their standing desks set too high, leading to upper back and shoulder discomfort as employees were raising their arms up high to do their work.
Our ergonomist educated each employee on the importance of having their desk at a height which allows for 90° elbows while typing and mousing. This is the neutral position for the arms and shoulders, meaning they are free of tension while the employee works.
