336. Does the office actually improve collaboration? PLUS! Technostress, Instagram cringe and nightmare bosses., with Danny Wareham

Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning workplace podcast where behavioural science meets workplace culture. This week, guest host Danny Wareham (organisational psychologist and author of Constellation Leadership: Reimagined for a Connected Age) joins Al and Leanne Elliott to break down the science of work, debunk popular workplace myths, and solve real listener dilemmas.

🔥 Stories covered

Technostress and the Digital Mindfulness Scale Leanne shares new research from the University of Nottingham revealing the concept of "technostress" and how the Digital Mindfulness Scale measures intention, attention, and attitude to protect employees from exhaustion and burnout. Source: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/mindful-use-of-digital-technology-could-reduce-workplace-burnout-study-finds

Executive Instagram: How much should leaders share? Al explores the line between being human and being the boss on social media. Using Kelvin Kao’s article on the dangers of oversharing and the concept of "discerned disclosure," we look at how to build real trust with your team without dumping unprocessed stress on them. Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/today/voices/oversharing-boss-workplace-boundary-leadership-trust-social-media-6318726

🧠 Truth or Lie: Does returning to office actually improve collaboration? Danny Wareham dives into the research behind Return-To-Office pushes from companies like Amazon, Disney, and John Lewis. Does forcing people back to the desk genuinely drive teamwork, or is collaboration just an excuse for management control?

Research mentioned:Brucks, M. S., & Levav, J. (2022). Virtual communication curbs creative idea generation. Nature, 605, 108–112.

Bloom, N., Han, R., & Liang, J. (2024). Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance. Nature, 630, 920–925.

Yang, L., Holtz, D., Jaffe, S., et al. (2022). The effects of remote work on collaboration among information workers. Nature Human Behaviour, 6, 43–54.

Schwenk, C. R. (1990). Effects of devil's advocacy and dialectical inquiry on decision making: A meta-analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 47, 161–176.

💬 Workplace Surgery This week we answer three pressing workplace dilemmas: • My former nightmare boss now reports to me • I think I've become the bottleneck in my own team • Does culture really matter if people are doing a good job?

More from Danny Wareham • Website: https://dannywareham.co.uk • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-wareham

📬 Connect with Al & Leanne – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truthlieswork – Al Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott – Leanne Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne – Email: [email protected] – Book a call: https://savvycal.com/meetleanne/chat

Mental health support UK & ROI — Samaritans Call 116 123 or visit https://www.samaritans.org UK — Mind Call 0300 123 3393 or visit https://www.mind.org.uk US — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org Australia — Lifeline Call 13 11 14 or visit https://www.lifeline.org.au Global helplines https://findahelpline.com