Where is The Nowhere Office? With Julia Hobsbawm

Summary 

Best-selling author Julia Hobsbawm joins Kursty to discuss her new book The Nowhere Office. In their discussion, they discuss how workplaces need to shift to embrace social health, how they can be a source of wellness, what managers need to do to overcome the 'Great Resignation', and the biggest powershift in the workplace. 

Since Covid, people have strongly insisted on a genuine work-life balance. Organizations that don’t understand this desire are losing out to the great resignation. Those who do understand this fundamental mindset shift are now in the process of becoming forever changed. Tune in for a deep dive into what organizations must do to stay relevant, productive, and desirable. 

Julia Hobsbawm is the author of The Nowhere Office. She is also the author of five other highly acclaimed books and is the founder of Editorial Intelligence. Julia has been awarded an OBE for her services to businesses. 

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Timestamps

[00:21] What is Space Matters about?

[00:47] Who is Julia Hobsbawm (Author of The Nowhere Office). 

[03:51] Do you feel like you’re in a Nowhere Office? 

[05:30] Writing the book while dealing with heavy personal issues. 

[07:36] Two key approaches have shaped The Nowhere Office's ideas. 

[09:44]  6 ways our work landscape is permanently changing (and why the workplace will never return to pre-covid ways). 

[12:16] What if work was a source of well-being (instead of stress and confusion)?

[16:02] The unreasonable expectations placed on HR departments. 

[20:00] The biggest post-covid powershift in the workplace (and how to navigate hybrid working schedules). 

[27:37] Where is The Nowhere Office (how physical workplaces are changing forever)? 

[31:26] The great resignation: what managers MUST change to attract top talent.

[35:10] What’s next for Julia Hobsbawm (book launch, pilates, and what she did with her office)? 

5 Key Takeaways

1. Work is shifting in 6 significant spheres. These are (1) time and place, (2) identity, (3) purpose and productivity, (4) the way we network, (5) management and leadership, and (6) wellness and wellbeing.  
2. The workplace shouldn’t limit itself to providing mental health support for people who seek it. Rather, work should be a source of well-being in itself. Some workplaces can be a source of unreasonable expectations, elitism, and confusion. 
3. HR departments usually have a huge mandate that keeps them busy. Paradoxically, they are awarded too little agency to do it well. 
4. A significant result of the pandemic is a power shift between managers and employees. Knowledge workers have amassed much larger negotiating power than pre-COVID. This is particularly evident when negotiating remote working schedules and work preferences. 
5. The idea of an office filled all the time with a particular number of people is now an outdated, unproductive, and undesirable idea.  Organizations that want to remain relevant and attract top talent must shift their policies to keep up.

Links 

The Nowhere Office by Julia Hobsbawm

Connect with Julia Hobsbawm:  Website</&l

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