Drawing on knowledge from process improvement, organisation theory, human resource management, change management, occupational health and safety, and other fields, the book is a practical, easy-to-read guide to problem solving. Illustrated with a series of short case studies, this book provides an integrated approach to problem solving in the workplace. Collaborative Problem Solving walks through the steps in the problem solving process, introducing dozens of tools, techniques, and concepts to use throughout. Chris J. Shannon describes the behaviours to practice which are most conducive to creating a positive problem solving culture based on curiosity, collaboration, and evidence-based thinking. This book explains why successful problem solving is a collaborative process and provides tools and techniques for responding to other people's behaviour when designing and implementing solutions. Offering practical advice on problem solving in an easy-to-understand way, this book is aimed at people working in office environments, service industries, and knowledge organisations, enabling them to feel confident in applying the knowledge from the book in their own workplace.

How do highly-successful people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates get so much done? The answer is time blocking; a time-management method that Cal Newport, productivity expert and bestselling author of Digital Minimalism, has been using for fifteen years. For the first time, this game-changing system has been captured in a daily planner that makes it easy for you to prioritise tasks and focus on the things that really matter. Using the time-block method you'll no longer be distracted by your inbox, social media and other peoples' demands for your time. The Time-Block Planner will help you push aside distractions and focus on the work that will make the difference to you.

The future of work is already here. Customers are adopting disruptive technologies faster than your company can adapt. When your customers are delighted, they can amplify your message in ways that were never before possible. But when your company's performance runs short of what you've promised, customers can seize control of your brand message, spreading their disappointment and frustration faster than you can keep up. To keep pace with today's connected customers, your company must become a connected company. That means deeply engaging with workers, partners, and customers, changing how work is done, how you measure success, and how performance is rewarded. It requires a new way of thinking about your company: less like a machine to be controlled, and more like a complex, dynamic system that can learn and adapt over time. Connected companies have the advantage, because they learn and move faster than their competitors. While others work in isolation, they link into rich networks of possibility and expand their influence. Connected companies around the world are aggressively acquiring customers and disrupting the competition. In The Connected Company, we examine what they're doing, how they're doing it, and why it works. And we show you how your company can use the same principles to adapt - and thrive - in today's ever-changing global marketplace.

Focuses on innovative design for small offices. The significant and rapid trend toward small office design globally is testament to increasing economic imperatives, where often commercial rentals are pushing business into innovative ways to manage and minimise their space and resources. Fast-evolving technological advances are also making it possible for people to work from home, where their home office environment needs to be not only stylish, but also conducive to productivity, and ergonomic to support and encourage good health and well-being. Also, there are those who seek to start their own business and are looking to establish a creative, professional and inspiring home office environment. 'Big Design for Small Workspaces' combines form with function, and presents innovative interior designs for offices with compact floor plans of up to about 3230 square feet (300 square meters). This book showcases a selection of richly photographed, sleek and modern solutions, and presents insightful design concepts and appealing examples of imaginative and resourceful spaces, with informative commentaries describing aspects such as furnishings and materials, workstation layout, including the use of vertical space to its fullest advantage, and multipurpose areas. This book will provide an essential source of inspiration for architects, interior designers, small business owners, the homeoffice renovator, and anyone looking to create a smart small office environment. SELLING POINTS: - Focuses on the innovative design for small offices - Provides a comprehensive look at clever design in small spaces - Suits designers of small-space environments with floor plans up to about 2450 square feet (200 square metres) 400 col.

Play the System helps leaders who are ready to stop struggling with their people turn their workplace into a healthier and more effective work environment. Nora Ganescu, best-selling author, coach, and consultant for 25 years, brings corporate leaders and CEOs her newest book, Play the System, to show them how to: Make their workplace receptive, supportive, and excited for what they can offer Get management to stop standing still and support their initiative Get the time and the resources they need to turn their ideas into reality Understand the real reasons so many staff-driven initiatives fail (and why many ideas never even get spoken about) Be a successful intrapreneur Change the culture of their company for good Within everyone is the power to transform any system: their company, their family, and even their community.

Explore the psychology behind what really motivates and influences your clients, colleagues and customers. Discover what makes people tick, how they perceive and react to different situations and why they behave the way they do. In this fast, focused guide, emotional intelligence expert Robin Hills reveals insights into motivation and how people perceive situations in business. As he unlocks the secrets of human nature you'll learn how to inspire top performance, gain trust, win confidence and build lasting relationships - more effectively and with great results!

Twenty-four-year-old Megan may have her whole life ahead of her, but it already feels like a dead end, thanks to her dreadful job as a gastroenterologist's receptionist and her heart-clogging resentment of the success and happiness of everyone around her. But no one stokes Megan's bitterness quite like her coworker, Jillian, a grotesquely optimistic, thirty-five-year-old single mother whose chirpy positivity obscures her mounting struggles. Megan and Jillian's lives become increasingly precarious as their faulty coping mechanisms--denial, self-help books, alcohol, religion, prescription painkillers, obsessive criticism, alienated boyfriends, and, in Jillian's case, the misguided purchase of a dog--send them spiraling toward their downfalls. Wickedly authentic and brutally funny, Jillian is a subversive portrait of two women trapped in cycles of self-delusion and self-destruction, each more like the other than they would care to admit.

Adapting Building for Changing Uses discusses the comprehensive refurbishment of buildings to enable them to be used for purposes different to those originally intended.
For those involved in the often risky business of conversion of buildings from one type of use to another, Adapting Building for Changing Uses provides secure guidance on which uses may be best suited to a particular location. This guidance is based on a unique decision tool, the "Use Comparator", which was developed through research carried out at UCL in the mid 1990's. The "Use Comparator" compares the physical and locational characteristics of a building with the characteristics best suited to various types of use. A total of 77 targeted types of use are evaluated, in contrast to the 17 uses normally considers by regulatory planners.
Adapting Building for Changing Uses also identifies the key problems experienced by building managers involved in assembling the coalition of Producers, Investors, Marketeers, Regulators and Users, which makes the key decisions in "Adaptive Reuse". The book explores the differing perceptions and attitudes of these key decision agents to matters such as cost, value, risk and robustness, and offers advice on how to avoid the potential for project failure that these differences present.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203223179

50+ Tasty Solutions to the Eternal Workday Dilemma: "What Should I Have for Lunch?" Tackling your midday cravings has never been easier, thanks to Talia Koren's debut cookbook. The founder of the meal plan subscription service and blog Workweek Lunch shares her secret tricks for saving time, money and stress by meal-prepping lunches you can't wait to eat. Skip waiting in line for expensive takeout and make one of Talia's dozens of mouthwatering, easy-to-pack recipes instead. Each recipe is designed to be cooked in bulk, so you can get all of your cooking for the week done in just one afternoon. With your meals ready to grab and go, you'll love sleeping in a little longer before your morning commute. There are tons of tasty dishes to whip up, like a hearty Italian Turkey Meatball Orzo Bowl or some cheesy Kimchi Mushroom Quesadillas. No microwave at work? No problem! Talia's got you covered with options like Turmeric Chickpea Avocado Sandwiches and Chicken Banh Mi-Inspired Wraps. Busy week? Try one of her satisfying low-maintenance meals, like the Chorizo Sweet Potato Black Bean Skillet, or plan ahead with a freezer stash option like Veggie Chili Mac 'N' Cheese, which is specifically designed for you to make then reheat on hectic days. Talia also shares smart storage and reheating tips, as well as innovative ways to remix your meal preps throughout the week, guaranteeing that your lunches stay fresh and never boring. Whether you're trying to save cash, free up some extra time or are just seeking exciting new meals to brighten up your midday routine, level up your workweek with these lunches!

Walmart is the largest employer in the world. It encompasses nearly 1 percent of the entire American workforce-young adults, parents, formerly incarcerated people, retirees. Walmart also presents one possible future of work-Walmartism-in which the arbitrary authority of managers mixes with a hyperrationalized, centrally controlled bureaucracy in ways that curtail workers' ability to control their working conditions and their lives. In Working for Respect, Adam Reich and Peter Bearman examine how workers make sense of their jobs at places like Walmart in order to consider the nature of contemporary low-wage work, as well as the obstacles and opportunities such workplaces present as sites of struggle for social and economic justice. They describe the life experiences that lead workers to Walmart and analyze the dynamics of the shop floor. As a part of the project, Reich and Bearman matched student activists with a nascent association of current and former Walmart associates: the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart). They follow the efforts of this new partnership, considering the formation of collective identity and the relationship between social ties and social change. They show why traditional unions have been unable to organize service-sector workers in places like Walmart and offer provocative suggestions for new strategies and directions. Drawing on a wide array of methods, including participant-observation, oral history, big data, and the analysis of social networks, Working for Respect is a sophisticated reconsideration of the modern workplace that makes important contributions to debates on labor and inequality and the centrality of the experience of work in a fair economy.

A book on DEI in the workplace that speaks not only to executives but to employees at all levels of a company, by award-winning diversity consultant Risha Grant. DEI consultant and corporate speaker, Risha Grant, shares her practice of learning how to welcome and embrace people’s full humanity, without BS, full stop. What’s BS? It’s bullshit for sure, but more specifically it’s the powerful and often invisible belief systems we’ve been steeped in since birth—the judgment and bias we carry with us that impact our own lives and the many others we encounter every day. Risha teaches us about the inner work and the outer work we need to do to dismantle our “biasphere,” and change how we see ourselves and how we interact with others. The more people are willing to acknowledge and address the biases inherent in their belief systems, the more those biases will dissipate and the better our work environments will become. Readers will learn how to: – Recognize when your BS manifests as “isms” and phobias that follow you to work – Cure scarcity mentality, a damaging byproduct of fear – Validate other people’s experiences – Become a real ally – Engage in micro efforts that can effect change on a macro level – Create an environment that fosters a sense of belonging for everybody; that is, “get in where you fit in” – Abolish groupthink and create space for diverse ideas – Design explicit feedback channels – Generate truly inclusive policies that people can trust – Spot and stop bullying (it doesn’t always look the way you think it does) – Understand that equality isn’t equity; the difference leads to everyone getting what they need

Assertiveness at Work tackles the realities of modern business life the uncomfortable situations that can arise with flatter structures, tough workloads, demanding hours, and the need to exert influence across traditional boundaries. In these situations, successful people need assertiveness in order to achieve their goals.Whether you are a line manager, project leader, specialist, or key member of a team, this book gives practical guidance for developing your own natural assertiveness to benefit both yourself and your organisation.About the AuthorsKen and Kate Back have specialised in assertiveness training for more than twenty years. In this practical book, Ken and Kate have brought together their experiences in training thousands of people to be more assertive at work. In addition to books, they have written many articles, advised on and produced videos and appeared on television programmes about assertiveness. They have made a significant contribution to the development and spread of assertiveness training both in the UK and overseas.Ken and Kate can be contacted via their website kenandkateback.com.

Freud said that "love and work" are the central therapeutic goals of psychoanalysis; the twin pillars for a sound mind and for living the "good life." While psychoanalysis has masterfully contributed to understanding the experience of love, it has only made a modest contribution to understanding the psychology of work. This book is the first to explore fully the psychoanalysis of work, analysing career choice, job performance and job satisfaction, with an eye toward helping people make wiser choices that bring out the best in themselves, their colleagues and their organization. The book addresses the crucial questions concerning work: how does one choose the right career; what qualities contribute to excellence in performance; how best to implement and cope with organizational change; and what capacity and skills does one need to enjoy every day work? Drawing on psychoanalytic thinking, vocational counseling, organizational psychology and business studies, The Psychoanalysis of Career Choice, Job Performance, and Satisfaction will be invaluable in clinical psychoanalytic work, as well as for mental health professionals, scholars, career counselors and psychologists looking for a deeper understanding of work-based issues.

Remote working is the new reality, and transactional work - provided by freelancers, contract employees or consultants - has increased exponentially. It is forecast that as much as half the labor force will be working independently and virtually by 2020. Most organizations are still grappling with how to effectively manage their virtual staff and how to effectively support and motivate them - an increasingly urgent task as more Millennials join the workforce, bringing changed attitudes to work satisfaction. This book, the fruit of the author's three decades of experience planning and implementing remote working environments, provides expert guidance for anyone planning a shift to remote working, managing teams of teleworkers, or themselves working in a virtual team. The author's key message is that, in an environment where there is no face to face and informal contact, virtual working requires the creation of a matrix of distributed teams, and that their success depends on the right preparation, changing corporate culture and rewards, and implementing appropriate strategies at the management level to create team cohesion and motivate team members. Working Virtually is for the executive leading changes in an enterprise that is preparing for virtual work or seeking to improve current performance. It offers tools to assess readiness, advice on creating appropriate reward policies, and strategies to adapt performance management processes to be more team-driven and technology leveraged. Working Virtually is written to and for the virtual leader who wants to establish high performing virtual teams. It provides an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of managing a virtual team, offering a wealth of advice on creating the conditions for collaboration, motivating team members, and identifying and defusing problems. Working Virtually is for the professional who works remotely from home, on the road, or in an office with remote colleagues. It is for anyone who wants to succeed in this new work environment by developing skills and networks to create a sustained and satisfying career path. With this new edition providing a 360 Degrees view of the roles and objectives of all stakeholders in the virtual workspace, this book uniquely provides readers with a rounded picture of the policies, processes, work habits, and commitments needed to achieve the shared goal of high performance remote teams.

A new perspective on tackling diversity and difference in the workplace. Rewire: A Radical Approach to Tackling Diversity and Difference takes a fresh look at the issue of equality, diversity and inclusion at work. It critiques the current thinking and practices that are responsible for slow progress in this area, while providing readers with a new, holistic and tactical perspective that leverages what we know about influencing and changing people's mind-sets. The issue of difference sits at the core of many of the world's crises. Large corporations are a microcosm of the globalized world we inhabit, and hold significant power in shaping our societies and ideas. Despite decades of work in diversity and inclusion, little progress has been made because current approaches focus on specific contexts, short-term results and commercial returns, rather than taking into account what we know about human behaviour and addressing the social and economic cultures in which we operate. This book argues that in order to achieve sustainable positive change, we need to focus on how to create a culture of openness, empathy and inclusion - which in turn enables corporate strategy and drives innovation. The authors, who have worked in a number of leading organizations, including Caterpillar, American Express, HSBC, Towers Watson and the NHS, put forward a new approach, based on years of experience of achieving both individual and organizational change. They present: * A causal map, which describes a wide range of social, biological, psychological, evolutionary and organizational factors that influence how we think and operate. * A unique step-by-step approach to rewiring our fundamental psychological processes and creating change at an individual, organizational and cultural level. This book offers corporate executives and social leaders a fresh perspective on diversity and difference, along with the tools to create more inclusive, effective and innovative environments.

Did you know that games can be a terrifically effective way to build team spirit, communication, and trust among people who work together day in and day out? Now you can spark morale in any work group by choosing from 70 stimulating games and activities specifically designed for the manager whos looking to raise sagging morale in a department, liven up boring staff meetings, enable team members to collaborate smoothly and effectively, and much more!

How much 'say' should employees have in the running of business organizations, and what form should the 'voice' take? This is both the oldest and latest question in employment relations. Answers to these questions reflect our fundamental assumptions about the nature of the employment relationship, and inform our views on almost every aspect of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Employment Relations. Voice can also mean different things to different people. For some, employee voice is a synonym for trade union representation which aims to defend and promote the collective interests of workers. For others voice, is means of enhancing employee commitment and organisational performance. Others advocate workers control as an alternative to conventional capitalist organisations which are run for shareholders. There is thus both a moral and political argument for a measure of democracy at work, as well as a business case argument, which views voice as a potential link in the quest for increased organisational performance. The key debate for employment relations is which of the approaches 'works best' in delivering outcomes which balance competitiveness and productivity, on the one hand, and fair treatment of workers and social justice on the other. Policy makers need pragmatic answers to enduring questions: what works best in different contexts, what are the conditions of success, and what are the drawbacks? Some of the most significant developments in employee voice have taken place within the European Union, with various public policy and employer experiments attracting extensive academic research. The book offers a critical assessment of the main contemporary concepts and models of voice in the UK and Europe, and provides an in-depth theoretical and empirical exploration of employee voice in one accessible and cohesive collection.

Affirmative action is still a reality of the American workplace. How is it that such a controversial Federal program has managed to endure for more than five decades? Inside Affirmative Action addresses this question. Beyond the usual ideological debate and discussions about the effects of affirmative action for either good or ill upon issues of race and gender in employment, this book recounts and analyzes interviews with people who worked in the program within the government including political appointees. The interviews and their historical context provide understanding and insight into the policies and politics of affirmative action and its role in advancing civil rights in America. Recent books published on affirmative action address university admissions, but very few of them ever mention Executive Order 11246 or its enforcement by an agency within the Department of Labor - let alone discuss in depth the profound workplace diversity it has created or the employment opportunities it has generated. This book charts that history through the eyes of those who experienced it. Inside Affirmative Action will be of interest to those who study American race relations, policy, history and law.

Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry Auditors, accountants, lawyers, consultants, and other highly educated and trained professionals frequently hold impressive credentials and offer clients specialized expertise in complex areas. At the same time, these professionals understandably focus on the analytical and technical components of their jobs, sometimes to the point of excluding or ignoring important soft skills critical to the success of their careers and practices. In Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry: Principles, Tasks, and Tools for Success, veteran auditor and entrepreneur Andreas Creutzmann delivers an essential discussion of often overlooked professional competencies that can mean the difference between career, engagement, and business success or failure. In the book, you'll find accessible guidance on critical soft skills that can make a difference between fulfilment and success and failure on a professional and personal level. You'll learn to handle the blending of home and the home office, how to effectively manage staff, how to market yourself and your firm, practical strategies for client and colleague communication, and how to find happiness in your day-to-day work. Each chapter stands alone and can be read in any order. They provide professionals with invaluable skills for navigating the modern--and digital--reality of work, showing you how to combine your professional education with the latest research and common sense on everything from client management to firm marketing. Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry uses the field of auditing as a template and guide, but it is highly relevant to all skilled professionals - including lawyers, consultants, medical professionals, and others. The book is a must-read for any knowledge worker trying to add to their toolbox of practical skills. Critical guidance for practicing professionals on how to build often overlooked soft skills Most highly educated and trained professionals aren't lacking in analytical or technical skills. Lawyers know the law, accountants understand double entry bookkeeping, and doctors know anatomy. However, many of us are less familiar with often overlooked--and equally essential--soft skills: client management, communication, staff and employee management, and others. In Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry, accomplished auditor, entrepreneur, and consultant Andreas Creutzmann walks you through how to build critical competencies, from self-marketing to balancing work and life when your office is in your house. The book is made up of numerous, self-contained chapters that can be read in any order, and it demonstrates how to navigate increasingly digital and insistent professional demands on your time, effectively manage client and colleague relationships, and sell new clients on the services your firm offers. An essential roadmap to achieving personal and career success, Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry is an indispensable resource for lawyers, doctors, accountants, auditors, and any other extensively skilled professional. It offers practical tools in functional areas that are frequently neglected in formal professional training.

Research Shows Organizations That Focus on Employee Experience Far Outperform Those That Don't Recently a new type of organization has emerged, one that focuses on employee experiences as a way to drive innovation, increase customer satisfaction, find and hire the best people, make work more engaging, and improve overall performance. The Employee Experience Advantage is the first book of its kind to tackle this emerging topic that is becoming the #1 priority for business leaders around the world. Although everyone talks about employee experience nobody has really been able to explain concretely what it is and how to go about designing for it...until now. How can organizations truly create a place where employees want to show up to work versus need to show up to work? For decades the business world has focused on measuring employee engagement meanwhile global engagement scores remain at an all time low despite all the surveys and institutes that been springing up tackle this problem. Clearly something is not working. Employee engagement has become the short-term adrenaline shot that organizations turn to when they need to increase their engagement scores. Instead, we have to focus on designing employee experiences which is the long term organizational design that leads to engaged employees. This is the only long-term solution. Organizations have been stuck focusing on the cause instead of the effect. The cause is employee experience; the effect is an engaged workforce. Backed by an extensive research project that looked at over 150 studies and articles, featured extensive interviews with over 150 executives, and analyzed over 250 global organizations, this book clearly breaks down the three environments that make up every single employee experience at every organization around the world and how to design for them. These are the cultural, technological, and physical environments. This book explores the attributes that organizations need to focus on in each one of these environments to create COOL spaces, ACE technology, and a CELEBRATED culture. Featuring exclusive case studies, unique frameworks, and never before seen research, The Employee Experience Advantage guides readers on a journey of creating a place where people actually want to show up to work. Readers will learn: * The trends shaping employee experience * How to evaluate their own employee experience using the Employee Experience Score * What the world's leading organizations are doing around employee experience * How to design for technology, culture, and physical spaces * The role people analytics place in employee experience * Frameworks for how to actually create employee experiences * The role of the gig economy * The future of employee experience * Nine types of organizations that focus on employee experience * And much more! There is no question that engaged employees perform better, aspire higher, and achieve more, but you can't create employee engagement without designing employee experiences first. It's time to rethink your strategy and implement a real-world framework that focuses on how to create an organization where people want to show up to work. The Employee Experience Advantage shows you how to do just that.

Tackle systemic racism in the workplace with practical strategies In The Anti-Racist Organization: Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Workplace, HR strategist Shereen Daniels delivers an incisive and honest discussion of how business leaders can change workplace practices to create a more anti-racist and equitable environment. The author draws on her personal and client-facing experience, historical fact, legal proceedings, HR insights, and quantitative analysis to equip readers with the knowledge and tools they need to transform their companies. Daniels also looks at: The role of executive leaders and how to push past discomfort to credibly and authentically lead change Strategies for recognising the problem of systemic racism and implementing impactful solutions Why it's important to empower colleagues to be pioneers of change and how to do that Explanations of why diversity and inclusion initiatives haven't yet solved the problem Ways language can either be a weapon to perpetuate systemic racism or a tool to dismantle An indispensable exploration of how systemic racism is engrained into business structures, policies, and procedures, The Anti-Racist Organization: Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Workplace belongs in the libraries of all business leaders seeking to make their workplace more inclusive and equitable.

Why does a CEO who has already made hundreds of millions of dollars continue to work? Why does a rock star who has made a bundle continue to tour? Why do retirees' miss work as soon as they stop doing it? Why do we all wrestle with our life's work and talk about it incessantly? The thing about work is that we love it, we hate it, we need it, we miss it, we measure ourselves by it, we judge others by it-we are addicted to it. Work often defines us and fulfills us. Yet, today's rapidly changing workplace environment is stressful and confusing to deal with. In The Thing About Work, Richard A. Moran takes a ground-level perspective on what is happening at work and how to thrive in the new professional world. Through funny, prescriptive vignettes and short essays, Moran finds the "white space" in the company manual-those issues that you encounter every day at work but which are not covered in employee training. He uses hilarious and true stories from his own life and others' to answer questions like, "Should you take your dog to work?" and "How late is late?" and "What is that foreign object growing in the refrigerator?" This very contemporary view of work will prove invaluable for the modern employee.