Here you can find all of Happy’s blog posts, covering our Excel hints and tips, ideas for creating happy workplaces, and ways to be more productive at work — and more.
Last week I was in Barcelona speaking to the international conference of the Dogs Trust, and exploring overwork. I asked a simple question of everybody there: Think of a great idea you’ve had in the last year? Where did you get that idea?
For years we’ve talked about empowering people to find their own route to an agreed goal. But is that enough? Does setting the goal itself limit the possibilities? Given the three levels below, what can we do to move to self-management?
Have you noticed how in some organisations people seem stressed and over-loaded and complain of too much work, but nothing much seems to get done? Yesterday I had a meeting at Google, which always appears to be the opposite. Everybody is relaxed, helpful and friendly and yet they are incredibly productive.
Take time out. Cut off from work entirely. And see the difference in yourself when you get back.
Looking back at the lessons which can be learned from a decade-old TV show, there is still plenty for most bosses to learn.
On the one hand we learned last week that Goldman Sachs view of work/life balance was to tell their interns to leave the office at midnight and take Saturdays off, limiting the working week to a mere 102 hours. A very different approach is being taken by Gothenberg City Council, in Sweden. In a new experiment, they have asked half their care staff to work 6 hour days instead of 8 hours to see if they get as much done. There are examples out there that suggest less time can be more productive:
The Managing Director for Abel & Cole details how she shifted her recruitment system from scouting for experience into scouting for attitude and the effects it had on her company.
The biggest impact most companies have on society is through the products they sell, the people they employ and the suppliers they buy from. And, of course, the effect on the environment of producing their products. If you are really committed to having a positive effect on society, that is where to start.
When it comes to mistakes being made, there is more than one way to look at the situation.
One thing I find interesting about the concept of open salaries is that, at first, people normally assume the concept is impossible, but when they consider it, they find it makes sense.