Let’s talk like humans at work

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we talk at work recently. At Age UK I’m the guardian of ‘tone and voice’ and am currently rolling out workshops to try and encourage everyone to think about the language they use.

Interestingly, in the same week, I’ve seen two almost conflicting articles about company workspeak. Continue reading “Let’s talk like humans at work”

Why Marissa Mayer is mad to stop staff from working from home

The news that Marissa Mayer has told all employees at Yahoo! that they can no longer work from home is – to put it mildly – a shock in 2013.

We’re living a world that is the most connected that it has ever been, yet the CEO of one of the world’s biggest tech companies still thinks employees need to be chained to their desks to produce the best results.

To be honest, I’m surprised anyone is already allowed to work from home at Yahoo! and that comes from personal experience.
Continue reading “Why Marissa Mayer is mad to stop staff from working from home”

Finding ‘meaning’ at work

Meaning 2012 logoYesterday I went to one of the most inspiring conferences I’ve ever attended – Meaning 2012, put on by the fantastic Nixon McInnes in Brighton.

The conference’s tagline sounds fairly innocuous – “for better 21st-century business” – but, boy, did it deliver, with a wonderful range of speakers, who all had tremendous stories to tell, insights to give and messages to send out.

Power of small actions

From propaganda gardening, via jeans with their own personal history, to mutality together and a hexayurt, the cross-section of inspiring stories was a wonder to behold.

But if one message came through over again and again throughout the day, it was the power of small actions having a large and positive effect.

Karen Pine told the story of a man who was taking part in her Do Something Different programme and a simple, spontaneous 15-minute walk led to the most profound changes in his life (for the better).

Meanwhile, Indy Johar cited the example of Rutland Telecom, who started as a tiny group determined to improve one village’s web connections and now offer the fastest county-wide broadband in the country.

And as for Pam Warhurst’s rallying cry and her Incredible Edible project in Todmorden – well, you wouldn’t say ‘no’ to her, I can tell you.

The stage at Meaning 2012More than subversion

At every turn, there were countless examples of people having a great idea and just going off and doing something about it. Forget bureaucracy or red tape – it’s all about trying to make an impact in relatively small ways.

But one thing was clear – this is not about subversion. The fact that this conference happened in ‘sandal-wearing, lentil-munching Brighton’ shouldn’t be seen as a reason to dismiss the topics debated as being ‘trendy and liberal’.

Meaning is all about about doing small things to try to take (back) control and put people and honesty at the heart of business.

As Alexander Kjerulf cited in his talk yesterday – the two most important things about work are meaningful results and the relationships we have at work and if we don’t value them, why do we bother in the first place?