We’re all familiar with office chair racing. Most of us have raced down hallways in school or at work, but that’s as far as we’ve taken it. Leave it to the Germans to things to the next level. 

This past April was the third annual Office Chair Racing Championship, held in the town of Bad Koenig. Sixty-four racers participated in everything from your typical run-down office chair to tricked-out masterpieces featuring inline skate wheels. Racers start off going down a ramp to give them a boost, and can hit speeds of up to 22 mph.  Along the 200 meter route they have to navigate multiple ramps and jumps. Here’s a short video of the event: 

Since we are cooped up in our offices for eight hours at a time, sitting in the same old chairs, this seemed like a brilliant idea. We got some of our chairs together and started comparing them for what features we’d like in our racers. Top on our list were that they had to have a 5-point base for stability, an adjustable pneumatic seat for suspension and shock absorbing, and hard wheels for additional speed. Here are our top picks:

From the Wall Street Journal:
Workers are spending long hours in their chairs. Yet most employers take a one-size-fits-all approach to supplying chairs, then make things worse by failing to train people how to adjust them to fit. Sue Shellenbarger has details on Lunch Break.

Purchasing a conference room table might seem like an inconsequential thing – just something you have to do when setting up an office to accommodate people sitting in meetings and brainstorm sessions. The conference room chairs may seem equally inconsequential. They just need to be an adequate height for the table and have a little padding to keep the meeting attendees comfortable, right? This kind of thinking can get business owners and office managers into trouble, though. Conference tables and chairs play an extremely integral role in an organization, from greeting new clients to hosting executive conferences to welcoming new employees to the team.

If you still aren’t convinced why conference room tables and chairs are so important, here are a few more reasons to consider.

This is part three of our post Office Furniture for a Changing Workplace.  In this part, we'll discuss chairs to help you choose the best options for your office.

Office Chairs

Hundreds of different office chairs are available and may have some or all of the following features:

• Contoured seat cushion
• Dual wheel carpet or hard floor casters
• Ergonomic design
• Full or adjustable lumbar support
• Gas lift seat height adjustment
• Headrest
• Height adjustable and/or width adjustable arms
• Knee tilt mechanism
• Locking tilt control with adjustable tilt tension
• Memory foam seat
• Mesh upholstery
• Padded foot rest

Choosing an Office Chair

When choosing a chair for an office, be sure to take the time to make an informed decision. The individual(s) who will be using the chair(s) should be involved in the decision process and should be offered some choice. In order to find the right office chair, you first need to determine how much time you plan on sitting in the chair. Since office chairs come with a variety of mechanisms that control the tilt angle, tension tightness, these features make a difference as to whether or not you are sitting in comfort.

Once you've got the basics down, there are a wide variety of seating options.  Executive High Back Chairs offer elegant seating for traditional office environments. Mid-Back Chairs are excellent solutions for conference rooms and office desks. Ergonomic chairs are available in both high-back and mid-back versions. Reception area and guest chairs offer seating solutions for your office visitors, while stools are the perfect solution for drafting and other businesses. Folding chairs and stacking chairs ensure that you will always have adequate seating while taking up as little storage area in your office as possible.