Category: Designing & Delegating Work
Task design, delegation and handover. What good work looks like before anyone starts it, and how to hand something over without either abandoning it or hovering.
-
Job Demands-Resources Model: Designing and Delegating Well
The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, developed by Bakker and Demerouti, proposes two parallel processes at work in every job: demands (workload, role ambiguity, emotional pressure) drive a health impairment pathway toward burnout, while resources (autonomy, feedback, social support, development) drive a motivational pathway toward engagement. The JD-R model explains why people burn out […]
-
What is a Colleague Journey?
The colleague journey is a framework for mapping the entire arc of an individual’s relationship with an organisation, from initial attraction through recruitment, onboarding, development, retention, exit, and beyond into the alumni stage. Every organisation already has a colleague journey. The question is whether anyone knows what it is… There is a […]
-
Psychological Contracts at Work
The psychological contract refers to the unwritten, implicit set of mutual expectations between an employee and their organisation. Unlike the formal employment contract, the psychological contract encompasses beliefs about promises, obligations, and reciprocal commitments that are rarely articulated but profoundly shape behaviour. Not all contracts are written down Every organisation has two […]
-
Hierarchy: What You Gain and What You Lose
Hierarchy is in itself neither good nor bad. Instead, increasing the strength of a hierarchy brings both gains and costs, as does reducing the strength of a hierarchy. Those charged with leading organisations and teams should aim to intentionally create a level and flavour of hierarchy that balances those costs and benefits, […]
-
Task Acceptance: The Hidden Key to Real Commitment at Work
Task acceptance is the internal moment when someone chooses to commit to a piece of work — not just being assigned it. Real task acceptance increases motivation, quality, and resilience, reducing quiet disengagement and passive resistance. Leaders can influence task acceptance through clear communication, trust, emotional resonance, and autonomy. Task acceptance is […]
-
What is Productive Behaviour – A Provocation
It’s easy to only consider activities that immediately result in an output as productive behaviour. However, to succeed, we need to widen our sense of what productive behaviour is, particularly in complex environments and in remote and hybrid teams. What is Productivity? In our work, we often ask people to explore what […]
-
Flow – Moments of Optimal Experience
Flow is the term used by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to describe moments of heightened focus and immersion in activities that are both challenging and rewarding. It’s those moments of deep focus, where you’re lost from the world and time flies past as you’re absorbed in what you’re doing. Flow Flow is the […]
-
Maximizing Vs. Satisficing – What is good enough?
Is it better to spend the time and effort to maximize the outcome of a situation? Or is it better to spend less time and simply sufficently satisfy your objectives? Maximizing Vs Satisfycing To maximize or satisfice, that is the question. Or at least it is one that people face on a […]
-
E185 – The Four Day Week: Exploring The Evidence With Dr. Charlotte Rae
From the archive This episode is from The World of Work Podcast, made by James Carrier and Jane Stewart at the World of Work Project — a previous venture of ours. All 187 episodes, recorded between 2019 and 2024, are kept here because the conversations still hold up. You can find Jane on LinkedIn, and…
-
E180 – Management Challenges: Responsibility, organisation & Ownership
From the archive This episode is from The World of Work Podcast, made by James Carrier and Jane Stewart at the World of Work Project — a previous venture of ours. All 187 episodes, recorded between 2019 and 2024, are kept here because the conversations still hold up. You can find Jane on LinkedIn, and…
