Book Review - "The Joy of Work" - Bruce Daisley

Practising what I preach – as a trainer I am also a lifelong learner and love to read. Lockdown 2020 has given me more time than usual to invest in reading, and this book I felt had particular resonance and relevance to the situation we all find ourselves in at the moment.

Overview

This book explores why only 8% of UK employees are highly involved in, and genuinely enthusiastic about, work and what we can do about it.

The solutions are broadly classified as recharge (find quiet time), sync (working together) and buzz (positivity and reframing).

The Particularly Pertinent Parts

As I mentioned, some ideas in this book jumped off the page as well worth thinking about in the current situation:

·        When we’re working from home, our hours of connectivity usually go up – we need to be careful to keep control and retain some balance – not just to keep productivity high, but also to protect our mental health

·        Open plan offices are a disaster for productivity (so we’re probably getting more done at home without distractions – unless we have small kids at home! Many businesses will be considering whether to extend leases on office space is my guess) and spreading germs (so we’re definitely much safer and healthier at home – even with no Covid-19 we all know how an office cold spreads like wildfire)

·        Headphones can be used in open plan offices to cope with distractions and noise – and can be a good way to signal to colleagues (or family) that we are not to be disturbed [On a side note, noise cancelling headphones can be great for autistic colleagues, as can quiet corners away from open plan spaces]

·        Isolation – at work or at home – increases the risk of premature death by up to 50% even without Covid-19 (which is why the Government is so keen for us to exercise and keep fit, and why you need to be checking in with colleagues on a regular basis)

·        People experience joy from working together (hence the rise in community choirs, Zoom quizzes, clap for carers, TikTok and other social media challenges) – we all need more joy in our lives!

·        Having social meetings in work time is important to promote belonging and psychological safety – this is even more important with remote teams, when you have to plan your ‘water cooler moments’ or the Swedish concept of fika (unhurried break with coffee and cake)

·        Laughter is a powerful bonding tool and indicator (look at the rise of gallows humour and memes on social media, and comedy hats in Zoom meetings!)

·        One of my favourite quotes from the book is “Framing… entirely shapes the way we view things” – we can choose how we react to things; those who seem to be coping best in the current crisis are those who seek the silver linings, and view the situation as a problem to be solved with opportunities to be seized and plans to be made rather than those who passively accept the situation and obsessively watch the news to see how bad things are

·        Psychological safety and belonging are actually far more important than Maslow theorised in his ubiquitous hierarchy of needs – they are just as important as physical needs like food, water and shelter – which is why everyone keeps asking when lockdown will be ending because the majority of people are feeling physical symptoms from our enforced isolation.

Why Would I Recommend This Book?

When a book actually has a section that advises bosses not to be ‘dickheads’, you know it’s speaking some real truths!

This book echoes everything I believe about successful work environments - and about how we should interact with everyone in our lives, really. We need to be kind, look after each other, have a laugh, and do things together that give us joy.

Disclaimer: I write book reviews of books I have read and found useful in some way. 

I do not get paid for endorsing any author/service/product, because I believe that would impact on my ability to be completely objective.

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