The Joy of Work – 30 Ways to Fall in Love With Your Job Again by Bruce Daisley – book review

What made me read this?

This was handed out to various people by Richard Spofforth, a fellow Partner at Kreston Reeves, at the end of the first UK Lockdown in the middle of 2020. Since then the lockdowns have continued, so by the time I got to read it I did it from the point of view of our offices beginning to open up again. Could there be anything in here for the new way of hybrid/blended working as we start to return to offices?

Best quote

“….I started to realise that the culture of a place is not simply down to the bosses, It’s the responsibility of everyone. All of us can play a part in making a workplace welcoming and rewarding.”

What’s the Big Idea?

A recent Gallup survey suggested that just 8% of employees are engaged and therefore enthusiastic. But we spend so much time at work that we should be happy if it’s to bring meaning to life? There is no shortage of ways of making work more fulfilling. So with 30 to choose from in three sections of Recharge, Sync and Buzz, how many of these would now be relevant now that we have the opportunity post Lockdown of re-designing our work?

Key learning 1

Recharge idea – the “Monk Mode Morning” involves making it clear to everyone that there are times of the working week where you will not be accessible and want no meetings before say midday. You’re not logged into work systems and the phone is on silent. That then allows you time to focus on what you consider to be genuine work. Record what you have achieved to see if it works.

Key learning 2

Sync idea – create a social meeting. Because we have been unable to talk social in an office, the move online has meant that we have needed to keep in touch with team members virtually. This has added a extra strand to work relationships and we have found things out about work colleagues that we would never have realised otherwise. Why let that practice drop now?

Key learning 3

Buzz idea – introduce a Hack Week. The Lockdowns have brought many pressures to bear and it’s been hard to focus on anything other than doing the day job, which in many cases has become more difficult while working remotely. As normality returns, there’s an opportunity to use the office space, which in future will be more collaborative, to set aside periods of time to ponder, exchange ideas and experiment. The Hack Week is short bursts of thinking out loud, providing distraction and creativity in what can be repetitive jobs.

To explore these and the other 27 ideas at a deeper level, you can get your own copy of this book on Amazon or Waterstones.