Eat Sleep Work Repeat

We're going deeper into the evidence today with two brilliant guests. Anne Raimondi is COO of Asana who were smart enough to have started a major piece of research into how work is evolving just before the world turned upside down. We're also joined by the most in demand brain in the world right now, Professor Nick Bloom. Nick is Professor WFH, an economist from Stanford University who has been researching remote working for over a decade.Along the way we talk about how the biggest innovations in remote working are yet to come - and are coming from mindblowing places. We talk the changing expectations of Gen Z workers, why Nick doesn't believe we should be giving up our office just yet. We hear where the sweetspot of hybrid working is right now and why a little less freedom and a little more co-ordination is the order of the day.I was desperately trying to get Nick on the podcast and to land Anne Raimondi at the same time is a wonderful stroke of luck.Asana's Anatomy of Work Report 2022 is available here. You can access Nick's work here.Make Work Better on Nick's work **SIGN UP FOR FREE**More from NickA brilliant listen.Some key findings from the Asana report:37% of workers say that they don’t have a clear start or finish time to their working day – rising to 53% for Gen Z employeesManagers spend the most time everyday on work coordination (62%)As an organisation grows so does work about work. Employees at medium and large companies spend 59% of their day on it. That’s 5% more time than small businesses Compared to one year ago:42% are spending more time on email 40% are spending more time on video calls 52% are multitasking more during virtual meetings 56% feel they need to respond immediately to notifications Despite nearly half of employees (47%) finding it easier to concentrate at home, 41% feel more isolated when working remotely   Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Status is a fundamental need for humans.Such a fascinating discussion today. I recently read Will Storr's brilliant book The Status Game and was so taken with it I invited him on the podcast.He quotes Professor Brian Boyd when he says that we:‘naturally pursue status with ferocity: we all relentlessly, if unconsciously, try to raise our own standing by impressing peers, and naturally if unconsciously, evaluate others in terms of their standing’.In study after study it is found that our wellbeing depends on the degree that we feel respected by other people. One study found that the attainment off status of its loss was ‘the strongest predictor of long-term positive and negative feelings’ in subjects.I wanted to pick Will's brains to hear more of this - but also to understand how these mechanisms impact us at work. If you're interested in psychology or just a bit of people watching you'll love the reframing that this discussion provides for us. Along the way Will gives us the definitive take on why Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars.Sign up to the newsletter Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is greatly enhanced by reading the newsletter that comes with it. In today’s podcast I talk to two guests who have slightly different perspectives on how to fix the culture of the Met Police.Dr Megan O’Neill is Associate Director at the Scottish Institute for Policing Research. She has extensively studied the police and has worked closely with them - most notably helping to revise a stop and search policy that was found to be failing. She explains the challenges of the job, and how we should think about getting buy in to reform.Simon Holdaway is Professor emeritus of Criminology at the University of Sheffield. He joined the police after he left school and was promoted to sergeant. His study about the police has explored the culture of the profession and how themes of race could be more effectively tackled. While the police (and the Met) might not feel adjacent to your business there are critical lessons about cultural change.Four lessons of what good culture requires:Space - good culture can't exist when there is no slack in the systemVoice - workers need to feel like they are heard (Megan says this is part of 'organisational justice') - this makes workers feel valuedValues - explaining what the organisation stands for,Middle management - behind any culture problem there's the need to purge the organisation of cultural misfits - getting the middle management right is the best way to make this take holdFurther information:Why drug policy is a racial issueIn the past I've done two episodes about the police here'We will march with everybody': Houston police chief tells protesters Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caleb Parker is one of the most intelligent commentators on the future of our workplaces (Twitter, his website) and this conversation with him did not disappoint. Caleb is the founder of a flexible workplace offering, Bold, but also host of a truly brilliant commercial real estate podcast called The Work Bold Podcast. I found Caleb's podcast via Antony Slumbers Twitter feed and it's become part of my weekly routine as it normally drops in time for my Sunday run. (BTW Antony was a former guest who shared with us the perspective of the commercial real estate sector early in the pandemic. I found the dialogue with Antony so rich that I wanted to seek another update from the sector.The second half of the discussion is especially strong. I ask Caleb to give the stump pitch for the office and his answer is stunning. He also shares a stark warning that 'bad culture is a bigger threat to the office than the pandemic'.Caleb also shares with us the perspective of his most inspiring guest on his own podcast - who outlined what is a breathtaking approach to the future office.Here is the episode that he mentions with Michelle Schnieder. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year I did a few episodes looking to see how firms were tackling the return to the office (the return to work - THE PLACE) but they were all small workplaces. Organisations that could make nimble actions, I wanted to see how a big firm handled these things. I contacted Tom Kegode, the lead for Work:Lab at Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds employs 70000 people across hundreds of sites. It is logistically intense to make hybrid work for them.Tom is a brilliant bright leader intent on creating something sustainable and special in the bank. He is thinking of creating co-working in branches. He is leading best practice about different workstyles in an organisation that isn't mandating any rules. In classic egoless style Tom brought along his colleague Josh Reynolds who works in employee experience. You can find them both on Linked In here:Tom Kegode is the leader for Lloyds’ Work:Lab initiative.Josh Reynolds sits within colleague experience.Sign up for the newsletter. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor Lynda Gratton is one of the world's leading experts on business and the future of work. She's on speed dial with the top CEOs and is a regular at Davos and the World Economic Forum. Her HBR cover article about 'doing hybrid right' has been the navigation guide to the last two years for many firms, and she's turned her thinking into a brand new book, Redesigning Work. She shares with me the questions she's asking of leaders in her MBA course and where she thinks work will go next. Along the way she also gives a shout out to her article about management in the remote era.If you like this sign up for the Make Work Better newsletter. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two outstanding conversations trying to make sense of what is happening around work. Firstly I chat to Brian Elliott who leads the Future Forum, a group led by Slack. they released a new report surveying workers in the UK, US and other major countries. Here are the topline findings - but the conversation goes way beyond this.UK knowledge workers are most likely to say they want flexibility in where they work (81%)60% of UK knowledge workers are more open to changing jobs in the next year69% UK knowledge workers say they want to work hybrid - 58% are currently doing soBrian also gives a shout out to Donut - a tool to build serendipity.Then I speak to one of the most respected thought leaders in making sense of the future of work, Julia Hobsbawm is the sought after intelligent voice when it comes to future of work discussions. She chairs the Demos 'Workshift Commission. Her new book, The Nowhere Office is a confident reflection about how we can tackle the future - it’s out for pre-order now. We talk about office politics, establishing what Leesman call our 'workplace why' - and how we can make hybrid work. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 As we start a new year considerations about the jobs we do have never been more prominent. One headline this year has already suggested that up to three-quarters of us might be considering changing jobs. Intriguingly money doesn't appear to be in the top five reasons to make a change.I wanted to understand what was going on here, and what any of should be doing about it. Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis are the UK's most respected careers coaches. Their first book The Squiggly Career is a perennial bestseller, and has become adopted into the lexicon of how we talk about a renegotiated relationship with our careers. Their TED Talk has received millions of views. They have a new book out, You Coach You, which offers practical coaching for anyone curious about changing their career. Some of their suggestions - like job scanning - will help you reorientate what you want from your job - and how you can achieve it.Whether you're thinking about changing work - or just have friends who are considering it - this is a great episode to help us reflect on what we want from our jobs.Buy You Coach You nowSign up for the newsletter Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pre-order DisconnectedAt this time of year I find myself listening to more podcasts I’ve released two episodes this week. One is a truly brilliant discussion about how simple decisions can transform workplace culture. And the second is not really about workplace culture but is a stimulating reflection on the way we’re living .A couple of years ago I loved Jia tolentino’s Trick Mirror which was a sparklingly intelligent reflection on the way that the internet is evolving. And along the same lines is a brand new book, Disconnected by Emma Gannon. Emma is increasingly accomplished in multiple fields, she’s a novelist, a non-fiction writer and also an incredibly successful podcaster with over 10 million listens to her podcasts.She’s written a new book which comes at a time that a lot of us are considering renegotiating relationship with our phone. But how can be not lose what we love about our devices which increasing our connection to those around us - a great discussion.Along the way we also talk about her brand new writers' journal which you can find out more about here.Photo by Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did thinking about workplace culture increase the profitability of firms?I was doing some thinking for some businesses over the last few weeks and the work of one person sprung to mind. Zeynep Ton is a professor of operation management at MIT Sloan School of Management. She found herself looking at the challenges that some businesses had with high employee turnover. They were losing a lot of people. It was causing their service to suffer - it was also costing them a lot of money training and recruiting people. Sounds familiar?From this it lead to another understanding. Some organisations by thinking about and planning the employee experience of work create jobs that were less stressful and more rewarding. It struck her that quite often companies don’t want to make decisions or create limitations for fear of upsetting customers. But in the process they become more muddled for customers and less rewarding for employees.Zeynep goes on to say that the firms who think about these things and set about creating good culture and good jobs (a) are more profitable and have higher revenue (b) build more sustainable businesses so their stock does better.Here are her 4 pillars:operational simplificationstandardisation AND empowermentcross-trainingoperating with slackGood more about the Good Jobs StrategyRead Zeynep's bookSign up for the Make Work Better newsletter Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.