Working It

If you’ve ever helped a colleague out just so they’d like you, or overburdened yourself to make your boss’s life easier, you may think of yourself as a good team player. But you might actually be a people-pleaser. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to NYU psychology professor Tessa West, who explains why people-pleasing rarely works in the long term. Later, Isabel talks to Christine Braamskamp, London-bas...

Few things at work are more frustrating than tedious bureaucracy – and few things make employees happier than when their managers get rid of it. Isabel Berwick speaks to Huggy Rao, professor of organisational behaviour at Stanford, and co-author of 'The Friction Project,' to find out how managers can become 'shit-fixers’, clearing unnecessary obstacles from the path of their teams, while making su...

Hybrid working is an entrenched part of most office workers’ lives – but at some companies, that could be changing. Major firms including Bank of America and UPS are taking tougher stances on working from home. Will workers drag their feet in returning to the office? And if so, how can companies convince them to come back? Kevin Ellis, the UK head of PwC, tells guest host Andrew Hill why he encour...

Dealing with the grief of a bereavement at work can be extremely difficult, both for the person suffering a loss, and for those around them. So how can you make life a little easier for grieving colleagues? How can you best support them while respecting their privacy? And how can you ensure bereavement-related absences don’t make life harder for other colleagues? Isabel Berwick speaks to Andy Lang...

Four years after the Covid-19 pandemic, remote work isn’t going away. But some managers are still unconvinced that workers actually do anything when they’re not in the office. Should those managers have a right to monitor their workers’ computers? And if workers are being snooped on, should they fight back? Isabel Berwick speaks to Liam Martin, co-founder of employee monitoring software company Ti...

January is peak hiring season, as workers reconsider their jobs and managers look to bring in fresh talent. But before you advertise a job to the big, wide world, ask yourself: could somebody already on staff move into this role? In this episode, host Isabel Berwick speaks to global HR expert Josh Bersin, who explains why companies such as Microsoft and Unilever emphasise internal development, and...

It's a new working year, and you've got lofty ideas about doing more of... everything! But how can you actually achieve more of the stuff that matters to you? Isabel speaks to Ali Abdaal, a former doctor and one of the world's most-followed productivity experts, to hear about the role joy can play in working better. Later, Marc Zao-Sanders discusses timeboxing – a pragmatic way to focus on importa...

We all want to achieve more – and produce better work – without spending more time at our desk. Isabel Berwick asks senior FT columnist Tim Harford how best to tackle the problem of productivity. Tim shares some of his top tips for avoiding distraction and creating a state of “flow” at work. Plus, could AI come to the rescue? Originally broadcast June 2023. Want more? Free links: UK productivity g...

2023 was the year companies started experimenting with generative AI; 2024 is the year it might start triggering real changes in the workplace. Between technological ructions, a US election and a seesaw shift in employee-employer power, next year will be another year of flux in workplaces across the world. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, the FT’s US news editor, and Andrew...

Retirement used to be a cliff edge; you’d be working one week, and gardening the next. That’s changing. Now, retirement can mean working on the things you enjoy at a slower pace, and staying engaged with new ideas. Isabel Berwick speaks to author, columnist and Harvard Professor Arthur C. Brooks on the science of flourishing in later life, and what older brains can do that younger ones can’t. Late...

It's the work Christmas party season: you're out of the office, and the alcohol is flowing. How can you make sure you don't embarrass yourself (or derail your career)? And how can you bounce back if you do go wrong? Isabel Berwick speaks to FT columnist and veteran party-goer Stephen Bush, author and comedian Viv Groskop and party-shy FT columnist Emma Jacobs to find out. Warning: contains drunken...

Every year since 2005, the Financial Times has given an award to the year’s outstanding business book, as chosen by a panel of eminent judges. But how do they actually choose from such a wide array of excellent books? What made them select the shortlist they picked? And who took home the prestigious prize? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to a number of the shortlisted authors, including Amy Edmondson,...

Bad bosses, tough conditions and colleagues who put us in the shade; we all have work problems sometimes and Working It is here to help you solve yours. Host Isabel Berwick teams up with Jonathan Black, director of the Oxford university careers service and writer of the FT’s Dear Jonathan career advice column, to help three listeners. Submit your workplace dilemmas, questions and worries here: htt...

We’ve all been there: the presentation we’re dreading, the deadline we’ve been avoiding, the boss breathing down our neck. So how best to cope with the resulting stress and pressure? Host Isabel Berwick sources top tips from Chris Hunt, a bomb disposal operator, and Mark Wilson, professor of performance psychology at the University of Exeter. Both also explain how pressure affects you physiologica...

LinkedIn started life as a simple jobs site. Now, it’s something far more complex, with influencers vying for attention, and tech bros spinning improbable yarns about how hard they work. How can ordinary people get better at using the site without becoming bores? How much is it acceptable to share about yourself on LinkedIn? And what can we learn from the site’s power users? Isabel Berwick speaks...

Introducing Life and Art, from FT Weekend. It's a new twice-weekly culture podcast from the Financial Times. On Monday, we talk about life, and how to live a good one, in a one-on-one conversation that explores everything from food and travel to philosophy and creativity. On Friday, we talk about “art” – in a chat show! Three FT journalists come together to discuss a new cultural release across fi...

Millions of working adults struggle with ADHD worldwide. The condition often affects people’s ability to focus and complete tasks, making professional life difficult. Shortages of ADHD medicines have compounded the problem, with some patients forced to go without, or ration, their medication. How can managers better understand employees who are struggling with ADHD? What adjustments can...

The UK has a well-reported productivity problem, with mediocre managers, poor communication and chronic underinvestment all hampering growth. What can Britain glean from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, all of which have more productive economies? And what lessons can be learned from Japan, the only major, developed economy that is less productive than the UK? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to FT senior bu...

Tattoos used to be frowned upon in corporate settings. But as more of us get inked, is that attitude starting to, well, fade? Employers have been easing restrictions on tattoos – but if responses to a recent FT column are any guide, plenty of people still can’t bear them. Isabel speaks to the author of that column, Pilita Clark, about what tattoos can mean for your career. Isabel speaks to tattoo...

Meetings are an inevitable part of office life – but how many of them are actually useful? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to Kaz Nejatian, chief operating officer of ecommerce group Shopify, to find out why the company slashed staff meetings and what the effects of that policy – dubbed “Chaos Monkey” – have been. Isabel also speaks...

Amy Edmondson is a professor of leadership and management at Harvard Business School and one of the world’s most influential management thinkers. She talks to host Isabel Berwick about her new book, Right Kind of Wrong , in which she argues that companies can only hope to succeed when they make it ‘psychologically safe’ for their teams to fail. Plus, Brooke Masters, the FT’s US financial editor, t...

We’re getting better at talking about the roles that gender and race play in career progression. What’s less spoken about is class or social mobility. In this episode, host Isabel Berwick talks to John Friedman, professor and chair of economics at Brown University, who studies the impact of childhood inequality, and hears from Sophie Pender, a London-based corporate lawyer and founder of the 93% C...

Since the start of the pandemic, tens of thousands of people in the UK have retrained as psychotherapists or counsellors. What is it about the field that has attracted so many, and what does this phenomenon tell us about work? Host Isabel Berwick speaks to the FT’s Bethan Staton, who wrote a brilliant piece on this topic, to find out more. Later, she speaks to Michael Skapinker, who worked as an F...

Clear communication can be the difference between getting what you want at work, and missing out. But some of us are better at it than others. Host Isabel Berwick speaks to BBC News analysis editor Ros Atkins, best known for his viral explainer videos, about how we can learn to get to the point. Atkins has made his career conveying information effectively. His recent book, ‘The Art of Explanation,...

Not all that long ago, you might have done the same job – or kind of job – for your entire career, but as life expectancy increases and social mores change, a growing number of people are pivoting to new jobs in middle age. In this episode, recorded at the FT Weekend Festival at London’s Kenwood House, Isabel Berwick speaks to three experts to find out why changing careers can have surprising bene...