For decades, the prevailing trend in corporate architecture has been a ‘war on walls’, characterised by the removal of cubicles and private offices in favour of open, ‘unbounded’ workspaces. The primary motivation for this shift is the belief that removing physical barriers will foster greater collaboration, increase face-to-face (F2F) interaction, and boost the ‘collective intelligence’ […]
Read More… from The Transparency Paradox: How Open Plan Offices Shut Down Interaction
Business leaders often articulate a corporate purpose to define strategic direction and inspire employee commitment beyond just financial gains. Examples include Veolia’s pledge for “ecological transformation” and Stanley Black & Decker’s dedication “for those who make the world”. However, the challenge lies in incorporating these holistic aspirations into day-to-day operations. Team leaders are the critical […]
Having discovered the benefits of working from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 pandemic, notably the improvement in work-life balance, many employees are reluctant to return to the office full-time. One reaction from business leaders is to offer hybrid working arrangements that include a mix of work-from-home and work-from-office (WFO) hours. A team of economists from […]
Read More… from Working from Home, Hybrid Arrangements Can Reduce Innovation
The well-documented “virtual meeting fatigue” the tiredness one feels after virtual meetings has been attributed to exhaustion arising from the multiple physical and psychological demands of such meetings. These physical and psychological demands include the requirement to pay constant attention to the screen, to engage in verbal and nonverbal communication, and to be constantly presentable. […]
Read More… from Why Virtual Meetings Make Us Tired and Can Hurt Our Performance
As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to recede, should companies that had let employees work from home during the pandemic call them back to the office? Many managers argue that employees in the office are more productive and that working from home reduces firm performance. Many employees counter that eliminating commutes and giving […]
Read More… from Productivity or Control? What Truly Motivates Return-to-Office Mandates
With many companies facing increased challenges in attracting and keeping employees, employee engagement and commitment has become even more vital to organizational success than ever before. Recent research has emphasized the positive impact of “organizational belonging” (OB) on employee satisfaction and engagement. OB is defined as “experiencing an acknowledgment of one’s talents, interests, and experiences” […]
Read More… from Do I Belong Here? Measuring Employee Organizational Belonging
The global pandemic left companies with no choice except for essential professions, where employees had to work from home. Abrupt and comprehensive, the workplace disruption caused by COVID-19 left managers in charge of a remote workforce for the first time in their careers. The shutdown of schools only added to the disruption for employees with […]
Read More… from More Managers See Benefits of Flexible Working Arrangements
In November 2020, the advocacy group Women in Banking and Finance launched a four-year research program, entitled Accelerating Change Together, to address gender and diversity issues in the financial and professional services sectors. WIBF commissioned the London School of Economics The Inclusion Initiative, led by LSE Prof. Grace Lordan, to conduct research on its behalf. […]
Read More… from Diversity-Friendly Work Approaches in the Post-Pandemic Workplace
Effective communication among members of a team or organization is key to the success of a group. Fast and direct face-to-face communication would appear to be the ideal method of communication. A study based on police emergency calls, however, reveals the complexities of communication—and why choosing the best modes of communication may not be as […]
Few people in their careers have avoided the scourge of time-consuming, unproductive meetings. For Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School and Tijs Besieux of the consultancy Leadership Footprint, unproductive meetings are a symptom of a broader problem: unproductive conversations. In many ways, the success of organizations hinge on the quality of the conversations within them. […]
Read More… from Leading Conversations: Productive and Unproductive Voice
