Our team has self-experimented with the productivity tips we've covered in 2020 and we reveal the hits and misses. Warning: there IS a mention of "sex" so if taking about procreation bothers you, may we gently suggest an episode of Conversations.

Producer: Maria Tickle

PERFORMING IN A PANDEMIC EPISODES

How does your boss keep tabs on your work? Before the pandemic, they probably popped their head over the partition or reviewed your KPIs over a coffee. But now, with more of us working from home, many companies are increasingly using time tracking software or surveillance technologies that allow employers to check what you’re up to whenever and wherever you are, even if you don't work at a desk. So how are you being tracked, how is it changing your work and is there anything you can do about it?

GUESTSJathan Sadowski, Research Fellow at the Emerging Technologies Lab at Monash University Assistant Professor Liz Lyons, from UC San Diego School of Global Policy

Tyler Sellhorn, Head of Customer Experience for Hubstaff

Lauren Kate Kelly, Senior Policy Researcher at the United Workers UnionPatrick Turner, Senior Associate at Maurice Blackburn lawyers.

CASE STUDIESBen Worthington, IELTs Podcast

Producer: Edwina StottSupervising Producer: Maria Tickle

Uber's story is a cautionary tale in what NOT to do when creating corporate culture in a startup, according Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber. It's the book Lisa's fellow work book nerd Catherine Robson chose as best bedtime page turner. Written by award-winning New York Times technology reporter Mike Isaac, the book chronicles the rise and the catastrophic fall of the corporate giant based on hundreds of interviews with current and former Uber employees.

Producer Maria Tickle

Finding yourself the right mentor is more critical than ever before to get through these tough and uncertain times at work. But how do you find the right mentoring relationship? And do men and women need different things out of it?

In this episode: * Bobbi Mahlab from Mentor Walks explains and how walking and talking helps develop a safe and trusting environment for sharing for women.

* Miles Protter of pro bono mentoring program Men’s Business tells why having a mentor is so critical for men.

* Writer and broadcaster Benjamin Law and entrepreneurs Naomi Simson (Red Balloon and TV series The Shark Tank), Kietah Martens-Shaw and Julie Demsey tell how mentoring has helped them in their careers.

(This episode was first broadcast on Radio National on 15 July, 2020.)

Producer: Maria Tickle

Are you a giver or a taker at work?

How well do you listen to people at work? No, stop and think - how well do you really listen, not just wait for your turn to talk or be distracted by the chatter in your head: "Wish he would hurry the hell up!" or "Here she goes pushing that agenda again, now I will be late for the gym."

Executive coach Oscar Trimboli and author calls it deep listening and he says it involves not just listening to the content but also the meaning, context and most importantly, the unsaid. And it can change your life and your career.

And if you are struggling a little in finding your mojo after being suddenly thrust into WFH, organisational psychologist, podcaster and founder of Inventium, Amantha Imber, shares her science-based tips on how to better structure your day to get stuff done.

Oscar's book: Deep Listening - Impact Beyond Words.

Deep listening quiz

Producer: Maria Tickle

(This program was first broadcast on Radio National on April 13, 2020.)

To get through this second COVID lockdown, Lisa has gone deep with her night-time reading. In this episode she discusses Henry David Thoreau's Walden: or, Life in the Woods with Steph Clarke facilitator and host of Steph's Business Bookshelf. Lisa explains how this book has helped her re-frame her approach to work and get a grip on her finances in these challenging times.

Last week on The Bonus: Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl

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When your boss mentions "brainstorming" what do you picture - rapid, creative, ideas generation or death by Post-it Note?

Pick up your permanent markers and unroll that butcher’s paper because we’re diving into the art and science of brainstorming - what works, what doesn’t and why some people are doing it all wrong.

GUESTS

Professor Gerard Puccio, organisational psychologist from Buffalo State

Art Markman, Professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas, Austin.

CASE STUDIES

Sarah Crowley, transport and precinct planning specialist

James Atkins, director and strategic planning facilitator

We nerd out on non-fiction books that can make us better at work with Steph Clarke, facilitator and host of the podcast Steph’s Business Bookshelf. Steph's pick is Man’s Search for Meaning: The classic tribute to hope from the Holocaust by Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl.

How deliberate are you about the way you make decisions at work? Bad decisions can result in wasted time, money and jobs. For example, when a company restructure goes badly, or when there is investment in a “sexy app” that ultimately no one uses. Dan Markovitz says that the number 1 reason that bad decisions are made are because people leap to a solution - what he labels the “conclusion trap”. 

Dan explains how we can all make better decisions by slowing down and paying more attention to the problem itself before we leap to the conclusion. He shares his four-step method to avoid the conclusion trap.

And author Carolyn Tate has used daily journaling for the past ten years, she explains how this free association style of writing has supercharged her output as a writer.