A mandate for change

Economic instability, uncertain energy supplies and climate change will leave organisations no choice but to reform their archaic working practices. But far from being a burden, this offers a unique opportunity to overcome corporate inertia and dismantle the barriers to transforming work.

Where will your future talent come from?

The nature of work is changing at a faster pace than at any previous time in history. The future of work is flat, the future of work is competitive, the future of work is on demand, and more importantly, the future of work is YOU.

Shredding the workplace rule book

The unique combination of factors arising from the current economic upheaval means that the rulebook for our workplaces is not merely being overturned, it's being completely shredded. The new normal is here and a range of factors is driving it.

Time for entrepreneurs to step to the fore

During difficult economic times, uncertainty presents a wealth of opportunities to be exploited by entrepreneurs. But without government support and a willing to consider genuine help for start-ups, much of this potential will go to waste.

20th Century managers inhibit 21st Century work

The current economic turmoil will have far-reaching impacts – not the least of which will be irrevocable and fundamental changes to our workforces and the way we work. And that in turn demands a fundamentally different type of management.

Trust-based workplaces

The idea that organisations can boost productivity by measuring time is a hangover from a bygone age. What matters isn't time, but creativity, output, outcomes and productivity. So for those organisations still clinging onto the vestiges of a time-based culture, the message is that it's time for a change.

Taming the digital beast

The "white noise" of e-mail is one of the main reasons organisations are finding it increasingly difficult to get important information through to their staff. So what's gone wrong? And how can organisations and individuals see their way through the electronic fog that is choking our ability to communicate.

Are corporate leaders losing the plot?

The employer-employee relationship is a voluntary union that must be based on respect and trust. Which is why the trend for snooping on employees' every move is not just a fundamentally flawed strategy, but suggests that organisations have completely lost the plot when it comes to managing their people.

Can we be more responsible?

Simon wants to know how his mid-sized organisation can be more environmentally responsibility and wants to learn more about the merits of adopting a carbon neutral position. John Blackwell has some insights as to the real issues and benefits.

So what is a normal job?

The nature of work is changing far quicker than the economic world around us. But this means that a lot of things that organisations and managers used to take for granted are just no longer delivering or sustainable - whether they like it or not.

Business travel – risky business?

The recent bedlam at airports in the aftermath of the terrorist plot in the UK has served to highlight how unpredictable and volatile life can be for today's air traveller. Yet beyond the personal stories of mayhem and disruption, there is a massive and serious issue for businesses to address.

The business of climate change

With the imperative to focus on climate change, maybe now is the time for all businesses and governmental organisations to enhance the effectiveness of their workplaces – for the sake of our planet.

The power of trust vs trust in power

Too much management is still fuelled by insecurities over the need to 'control' and 'observe' employees. But this obsession with line-of-sight management has to change if organisations are to face up to the significant changes we're experiencing in labour force availability.

Winning with virtual teams

As workplace change becomes an irresistible force, forward-looking organisations are launching coordinated efforts towards fitter, more agile and more responsive working environments.

The Business of splendid isolation

While changes in the nature of work present a great opportunity for enhancing business performance, disconnections and gaps in the goals and visions for workplace components often allow opportunities to slip away.

Addressing the communication continuum

For all the improvements in communications technologies over the past 15 years, has the effectiveness of our organisations actually improved? And if so, how?

Lipstick on the pig?

Better office design alone cannot deliver better productivity. Workplace dynamics are a complex set of interdependencies and above all, they are all about people.

Nurturing the organisation

Healthy ecosystems require and thrive on diversity. And a good office, like a good garden, requires tending if it is going to flourish.

So, what's the office for, then?

The office remains is as it is today because that's how we imagined it yesterday. The office is a creation of humanity – it's a simple invention. Consequently, we can change it – it's not set in stone.

Sending the intended message

Effective workplace design can convey, more clearly than we might desire, just what we value. The physical cues of the office send environmental messages. Some are intentional, some not.

Raise your aspirations

Unlike the sweatshops of the 19th Century, contemporary offices rarely endanger our health on a daily basis. Instead, they just bore us to tears. We need to raise our game.

Why is workplace change so slow?

The slow pace of change in workplace design stems from most managers still believing in old myths about working patterns. We may all live in the twenty-first century, but many organisations continue to inhabit a nineteenth-century mind-set about work.
About John Blackwell

John Blackwell is a sought after global thought-leader on effective business operation. His is author of over 30 management books and a visiting fellow at three leading universities, John is regularly called on for expert commentary, TV and Radio interviews.

His thirty-plus year career has spanned a decade as chief executive of international operations at MCI, working alongside the internet pioneer Vint Cerf, and five years heading IBM's business transformation practice. John also co-founded the not-for-profit foundation MWM with Noel Edmonds, aimed at lobbying policies and opinion on unacceptable, antisocial business travel.

Today, John and his colleagues at JBA implement advanced work models by combining the scientific rigour of a business case with substantial psychology and operational experience. JBA works with the universities of Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Durham, Surrey, and Henley Business School to deliver world-leading organisational transformation.

John's management books, including the best selling "The Agile Company: Transforming the Workplace" (ISBN 0749442808), and his public speaking experience has included key note addresses at international conferences such as; Conference Board Leaders Forum, CBI and IOD conferences, Business Week Leadership Forum, and numerous Agile Business summits, et al.

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