Fixing Work

Fixing Work
Author: David G. Henkin
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2023-09-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Work is broken. But it can be fixed. Most employees are not engaged in their work. Turnover rates are increasing. Productivity is stagnating. Why? Because when designing work, we rarely consider the deep-seated human need for meaningfulness, autonomy, and feedback. Drawing from decades of research, executive and entrepreneur David Henkin and management consultant Thomas Bertels take us on an investigative journey to solve this problem and make work more productive, satisfying, and meaningful. Through their allegorical tale of a typical office with typical employees, they allow us to see ourselves in the characters while learning strategies to create better jobs and perform at higher levels. By empowering his team with these methods, manager Jerry provides a road map for us to fix what’s broken at our own companies. Fixing Work is a clarion call for managers and executives at all levels. Instead of treating employees like automatons and discouraging creativity, ownership, and engagement, we should rethink how work gets done and structure jobs to be intrinsically motivating. Not only does motivational work design increase employee engagement; it also improves productivity and the customer experience, strengthening the company as a whole—a triple win.

The Fix

The Fix
Author: Michelle P. King
Publisher: Atria Books
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2020-03-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1982110929

In the vein of #Girlboss and Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office, discover how to thrive at work from the head of the Global Innovation Coalition for Change at UN Women with this “passionate, practical roadmap for addressing inequality and finally making our workplaces work for women” (Arianna Huffington). For years, we’ve been telling women that in order to succeed at work, they have to change themselves first—lean in, negotiate like a man, don’t act too nice or you’ll never get the corner office. But after sixteen years working with major Fortune 500 companies as a gender equality expert, Michelle King has realized one simple truth—the tired advice of fixing women doesn’t fix anything. The truth is that workplaces are gendered; they were designed by men for men. Because of this, most organizations unconsciously carry the idea of an “ideal worker,” typically a straight, white man who doesn’t have to juggle work and family commitments. Based on King’s research and exclusive interviews with major companies and thought leaders, The Fix reveals why denying the fact that women are held back just because they are women—what she calls gender denial—is the biggest obstacle holding women back at work and outlines the hidden sexism and invisible barriers women encounter at work every day. Women who speak up are seen as pushy. Women who ask for a raise are seen as difficult. Women who spend hours networking don’t get the same career benefits as men do. Because women don’t look like the ideal worker and can’t behave like the ideal worker, they are passed over for promotions, paid less, and pushed out of the workforce, not because they aren’t good enough, but because they aren’t men. In this fascinating and empowering book, King outlines the invisible barriers that hold women back at all stages of their careers, and provides readers with a clear set of takeaways to thrive despite the sexist workplace, as they fight for change from within. Gender equality is not about women, and it is not about men—it is about making workplaces work for everyone. Together, we can fix work, not women.

Fixing Your Scrum

Fixing Your Scrum
Author: Ryan Ripley
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2020-01-07
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1680507451

A Scrum Master's work is never done. The Development team needs your support, the Product Owner is often lost in the complexities of agile product management, and your managers and stakeholders need to know what will be done, by when, and for how much. Learn how experienced Scrum Masters balance the demands of these three levels of servant leadership while removing organizational impediments and helping Scrum Teams deliver real world value. Discover how to visualize your work, resolve impediments, and empower your teams to self-organize and deliver using the Scrum Values, Agile Principles, and advanced coaching and facilitation techniques. A Scrum Master needs to know when their team is in trouble and understand how to help them get back on the path to delivery. Become a better Scrum master so you can find the problems holding your teams back. Has your Daily Scrum turned in to a meeting? Does your team struggle with creating user stories? Are stakeholders disengaged during Sprint Review? These issues are common. Learn to use empiricism as your guide and help your teams create great products. Scrum is so much more than a checklist of practices to follow, yet that's exactly how many organizations practice it. Bring life back to your Scrum events by using advanced facilitation techniques to leverage the full intelligence of your team. Improve your retrospectives with new formats and exercises. Ask powerful questions that spark introspection and improvement. Get support and buy-in from management. Use Scrum as a competitive advantage for your organization. Create a definition of done that improves quality and fix failing sprints. Take the next step on your journey as a Scrum master. Transform your Scrum practices to help your teams enjoy their work again as they deliver high quality products that bring value to the world. What You Need: A moderate level of experience using the Scrum Framework.

Fake Work

Fake Work
Author: Brent D. Peterson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2009-01-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1416967753

How many countless working hours have you spent on projects, proposals, paperwork, and meetings that felt useless or were ignored or dismissed? Hard work is not the same as real work. Half of the work we do consumes valuable time without strengthening the short- or long-term survival of the organization. In a word, it's fake. Not only does fake work drain a company's resources without improving its bottom line, it steals conviction, care, and positive morale from employees, and adds the burden of high turnover, communication breakdowns, and cultural patterns of poor productivity. But how can you turn fake work into real work? Internationally renowned business consultants Brent D. Peterson and Gaylan W. Nielson explain how to identify needlessly time-consuming and sometimes difficult tasks (which aren't always as easy to spot as they seem) and shift your focus toward rewarding work that will achieve results. With more than twenty years of experience, Peterson and Nielson have successfully helped corporations, government agencies, nonprofits, schools, and community groups increase their productivity and retain talented employees by understanding and using their skills on things that actually matter. They illustrate their advice with stories about real world employees who have been trapped by fake work. Fake Work offers solutions that will change the way you view work, including how to recognize fake work and how to get out of it, how (and what) to communicate with your colleagues to eliminate fake work, how to recognize and counteract the personality traits that encourage fake work, and how to close the gap between your company's strategies and the work that needs to be done to reach the results critical to your and your company's survival.

The Case for Working with Your Hands

The Case for Working with Your Hands
Author: Matthew Crawford
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2010-05-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0141954884

Why do some jobs offer fulfilment while others leave us frustrated? Why do we so often think of our working selves as separate from our 'true' selves? Over the course of the twentieth century, we have separated mental work from manual labour, replacing the workshop with either the office cubicle or the factory line. In this inspiring and persuasive book, Matthew Crawford explores the dangers of this false distinction and presents instead the case for working with your hands. He brings to life the immense psychological and intellectual satisfactions of making and fixing things, explores the moral benefits of a technical education and, at a time when jobs are increasingly being outsourced over the internet, argues that the skilled manual trades may be one of the few sure paths to a good living. Drawing on the work of our greatest thinkers, from Aristotle to Heidegger, from Karl Marx to Iris Murdoch, as well as on his own experiences as an electrician and motorcycle mechanic, Crawford delivers a radical, timely and extremely enjoyable re-evaluation of our attitudes to work.

Repair Revolution

Repair Revolution
Author: John Wackman
Publisher: New World Library
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2020-10-27
Genre: House & Home
ISBN: 1608686604

Every year, millions of people throw away countless items because they don't know how to fix them. Some products are manufactured in a way that makes it hard, if not impossible, for people to repair them themselves. This throwaway lifestyle depletes Earth's resources and adds to overflowing landfills. Now there's a better way. Repair Revolution chronicles the rise of Repair Cafes, Fixit Clinics, and other volunteer-run organizations devoted to helping consumers repair their beloved but broken items for free. Repair Revolution explores the philosophy and wisdom of repairing, as well as the Right to Repair movement. It provides inspiration and instructions for starting, staffing, and sustaining your own repair events. "Fixperts" share their favorite online repair resources, as well as tips and step-by-step instructions for how to make your own repairs. Ultimately, Repair Revolution is about more than fixing material objects: in an age of over-consumption and planned obsolescence, do-it-yourself repair is a way of caring for our lives, our communities, and our planet.

What's Wrong with Work?

What's Wrong with Work?
Author: Blaire Palmer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2011-11-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0470975369

Work isn't working. We all love to hate our jobs. Everyone moans about the same things: we're not listened to; we're not trusted; we spend our time in pointless meetings; we’re weighed down by bureaucracy; we hate our boss; we're overloaded and work saps time and energy from the rest of our lives. It shouldn't be like this. Work ought to be, and can be meaningful and fulfilling. In What's Wrong with Work? Blaire Palmer shows how work can change. Confronting all the big problems head-on, the book shows what you can do about each one, to make work better for you and those around you, now. Packed with case studies and tips, What's Wrong with Work? is essential reading for the modern office.

Conflict Unraveled

Conflict Unraveled
Author: Andra Medea
Publisher: Pivotpoint Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2004
Genre: Conflict management
ISBN: 9780974580807

Peceptive, original and often very funny, Conflict Unraveled offers expert advice for solving problems and being more effective both at work and at home. You'll want everyone you know to read this book.

Culture Fix

Culture Fix
Author: Colin D. Ellis
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2019-09-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0730371492

** Finalist AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS - BEST MANAGEMENT AND HR BOOK 2020 The playbook for building a great culture Culture is the key to success for every organisation, but what do great cultures do and what makes them successful? In Culture Fix, author Colin D Ellis shows you how to change the way you do things and create a winning culture that will keep your organisation relevant today and into the future. No matter your business, industry or country, your culture’s success depends on the emotional intelligence and engagement of people within it. Whether you’re a CEO, a manager, or a team leader, this comprehensive playbook provides everything you need to build self-motivating teams capable of delivering great value and great employee experiences for your organisation. Many organisations lack the knowledge for creating cultures that are uniquely suited for their people. Culture Fix offers real-world solutions to problems of culture change in organisations and teams of all types and sizes. build an aspirational vision for your organisation or team create a set of values that mean something enhance the communication between your people adopt the mindsets and behaviours for a successful culture create the right environment for innovation and creativity. Practical, insightful, honest and funny, Culture Fix: How to create a great place to work will show you how to create a workplace where great people can accomplish great things.

Fixation

Fixation
Author: Sandra Goldmark
Publisher:
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2020-09-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1642830453

Our massive, global system of consumption is broken. Our individual relationship with our stuff is broken. In each of our homes, some stuff is broken. And the strain of rampant consumerism and manufacturing is breaking our planet. We need big, systemic changes, from public policy to global economic systems. Since founding Fixup, a pop-up repair shop that brought her coverage in The New York Times, Salon, New York Public Radio, and more, Sandra Goldmark has become a leader in the movement to demand better "stuff" and to bring companies on board. Her solution is surprisingly simple and involves all of us: have good stuff, not too much, mostly reclaimed, care for it, and pass it on. Fixation charts the path to the next frontier in the health, wellness, and environmental movements--learning how to value stewardship over waste. Passionate, wise, and practical, Fixation offers us a new understanding of stuff by building a value chain where good design, reuse, and repair are the status quo.