A World of Music and Workplace

In my time out from workplace consulting I prepare and present a weekly show on my local community radio station. It got me thinking about the similarities between music and the workplace.

Firstly, I like different music depending on my activity, my mood and the time of day. Music of a higher beats per minute undoubtedly suits me better when I’m on my spin bike or flagging, but I prefer slower-paced instrumentals when I am focussing or writing. Different work-settings are better suited to different activities and mood.

Psychologist fest at Workplace Trends

It was a privilege to chair the morning of yesterday’s Workplace Trends (WT) conference. This WT conference was different to previous ones as the focus was on new research that will ultimately influence workplace design, management and use. The researchers submitted abstracts which were scored, blindly, by myself and Mark Eltringham of Workplace Insight. Some nine papers out of thirty or so were selected for presentation. 

The researchers were joined by an initial keynote address from Rob Briner. Rob is a psychologist that advises organisations on how to use evidence to influence decision making. 

Make a list and have a productive New Year

It is the time of the year when we sit down, bloated from Christmas excesses, reflect on the past and plan the year ahead. Undoubtedly this will involve a list (of resolutions) which will gradually be forgotten over the next few months. But “to do” lists (or “action plans” if you are reliant on others) are a good and simple aid to productivity. Crossing off a completed item offers a warm feeling of satisfaction, positive reinforcement and does the world of good for our psychological wellbeing.

But don’t just write a list, prioritise the items – which is easier said than done. How many of us go into the office in the morning with our mental “to do” list but the day pans out more like this:

Corroborating Collaboration

I am carrying out some new and original research into the Psychology of Collaboration Spaces. The main approach is an on-line survey which explores our personality types and our preferences for spaces and other media to facilitate different types of interaction and collaboration. The research builds on a literature review I carried out for Herman Miller last year. The survey and subject of collaboration have generated so much interest on LinkedIn that I thought I would reiterate my earlier initial findings.

Firstly, I was surprised at the lack of studies on the psychology of collaboration spaces. The existing research on collaboration mostly focuses on how the make-up of teams affects their motivation and performance. What is made clear from these studies is that teams are ultimately more effective (i.e. more creative, innovative and productive) if they are comprised of a mixture of personality types. I have previously blogged on Personality & Communication discussing how different personality types prefer to communicate and interact through different media. So providing a range of tools and spaces to allow heterogeneous teams to interact is fundamental to the collaborative process.

You’re a what? A workplace consultant? WTF is that?

Last Tuesday was the summer social of the Workplace Consulting Organisation (WCO). As the night progressed, fuelled by free ale, we succumbed to alcoholic existentialism: "what is workplace consulting ... what do we actually do ... how do we differ from management consultants ... are we needed" basically "why am I here?” and much later “who am I?”. My thoughts here are born out of a hazy conversation with WCO members Conrad Wildsmith, Farrol Goldblatt and Sonny Hasan – who can either claim credit or distance themselves from my ramblings as they see fit.

 

I have blogged previously on how I became a workplace consultant, but the £64M+VAT question remains "what actually is workplace consulting?". When I co-founded the WCO several years ago we spent much time discussing how to define workplace consulting:

"Workplace Consulting is the professional activity that supports and enables the optimal design and implementation of working environments, ensuring that they are as efficient, effective, expressive and flexible as they need to be”

I'm a workplace consultant ... Get me out of here!

I have been meaning to blog for some time on what we can learn in the workplace arena from reality TV. The post by @NickWAllen on “What crazy chef – Gordon Ramsay – has taught me about online marketing” finally persuaded me to put pen to paper (or more accurately put fingers to keypad).

So we might as well start with the ineffable (or is it f’in-able) Gordon Ramsay. His Kitchen Nightmares programme has been relegated from UK restaurants to those struggling in the USA. Regular viewers will spot the tried and tested formula of these shows. Chef Ramsay visits a dysfunctional restaurant run by a dysfunctional family, he dislikes the food and the décor regardless, he gets the owners to admit blame, and then he rewards them with a restaurant makeover, new menu and free publicity.

My Short Stay at Stormont

I spent Tuesday morning at Stormont in Belfast, a formidable parliamentary building with a chequered history. I note that most tweets about Stormont use the hash tag #onthehill and you can see why from my photograph. I was acting as a “witness” and giving “evidence” to the Northern Ireland Assembly Committee for Finance and Personnel as part of their Inquiry into Flexible Working in the Public Sector in Northern Ireland. The briefing sounded so official and the setting so formal that I wasn’t sure what to expect and a tad apprehensive.

 

But I have to say that my hosts greeted me warmly and even the panel made attempts to be friendly and put me at ease. In my introduction I mentioned that I used to be a researcher within the Civil Service to which the Chair replied “we will not hold that against you”. Later, when discussing new workplaces, one of the committee members mentioned “there is the one from Morgan Stanley where one of its employees said that she enjoyed being in the office so much, she did not want to go home” to which another member replied “that says more about her home” and another “you wonder what kind of home she comes from” until they were told “you cannot go there”. It seems Civil Servants are human and humane.

 

Seven Cs of Change

If you dont have the energy to read this blog then listen to it on YouTube.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent ... It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”.

This is one of my favourite quotes on change, from the legendry Charles Darwin of course. The literature is littered with quotes on change such that Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, in circa 500 BC postulated that:

 

“The only thing that is constant is change”.

The aim of this blog is to briefly introduce you to change management. I will start with a little theory and then move onto my own change management process. A process I developed a few years ago when with AMA, derived from Kotter and others. I call it The Seven Cs of Change.

Personality & Communication

I recently read an interesting article in the Toastmasters Magazine on the Power of Introverts by Susan Cain. The article prompted me to share some of my own thoughts on personality theory and communication. These ideas informed my research into The Psychology of Collaboration, carried out on behalf of Herman Miller, which I hope to be published soon. Hopefully you will find my review useful in you day-to-day lives and at work.

 

Eysenck's super-trait personality model

So what is personality? Well“Persona” is Latin for "mask", so it suggests personality is the mask we present to the world. But interestingly there does not appear to be any agreed definition of personality amongst psychologists. My own mash-up of definitions is: “Personality is an individual’s unique set of traits and consistent pattern of thinking and behaviour that persists over time and across situations”. Personality is stable but not absolutely fixed. It is a proclivity for certain traits (or characteristics) that in turn affect our behaviour.