With Associate Professor Dr Libby Sander and Matt Webber
The Floorplan is a thorough and sometimes funny exploration of our attempts to navigate the modern workplace and the future of work. Steven Spielberg says he wakes up so excited that he canโt eat breakfast. But for most of us, work is far less fulfilling. The way weโฏdesign jobsโฏandโฏwhere we expect people to performโฏ can be dull at best and dehumanizing at worst.
Season 5
Episode 1: The digital nomad life, longevity boom, and Gen X rut
Guest: Online business management consultant Ella Cotterell
Matt and Libby discuss the longevity industry boom and its implications, and ponder whether Gen X-ers have fair reason to feel a little forgotten. Also, the stats don't lie when it comes to the ever-growing throng opting for a nomadic working life
Episode 2: Are snacks the future of happy work?
Guest: Professor Nick Bloom
Libby and Matt share tales from the road and ponder whether the secret to a happy workplace may be found through its (collective) stomach. Also, Libby enjoys an in depth chat with Stanford University economics and management guru Professor Nick Bloom who has all the numbers on working remotely (and isn't afraid to use them).
Episode 3: The price of loneliness, unbossing, and swordfighting
Guest: Tony Bacigalupo
Matt and Libby consider the economic cost of unhappiness at work. And if younger employees arenโt particularly interested in taking up management roles, who will be the leaders of the future? Libby chats to โ Tony Bacigalupo who led the charge to open Manhattanโs first dedicated co-working space.
โThe fundamental thing most groups get wrong is they don't train people how to fail.โ
Season 4
Episode 1: Career catfishing, office ghosting and meditation
Guest: Meditation coach Daisy Mack
Libby and Matt take a look at a very Gen Z phenomenon that should make employers and recruiters alike think twice about overstating the merits of workplaces. Daisy Mack joins the podcast to talk about meditation, sound healing and breathwork.
Episode 2: Procreation leave in Tokyo
Guest: Leschen Smaller
Libby and Matt discuss the Governor of Tokyo's workplace initiative that he thinks will prop up Japan's sluggish population growth. Libby is surprised to learn Darwin has something similar on the go (sort of). And a fascinating practical insight into organisational behavioural change when Libby meets Leschen Smaller.
Episode 3: The dark art of 'taskmasking', large CEO salaries, and AI creep
Guest: Michal Matlon
Libby and Matt consider research suggesting AI is beginning to understand us better than we understand ourselves. Also, what do young employees REALLY think about ever-fattening CEO paycheques? And a discussion about โtaskmaskingโ โ basically the art of making yourself appear productive at work.
Episode 4: The Floorplan hosts tech entrepreneur Charles Hoskinson
Technology entrepreneur Charles Hoskinson joins the podcast to talk about ๏ปฟearly influences on his thinking, decentralised governance, trust, challenges in cryptocurrency, and the problem he'd most like to solve.
A fascinating conversation with a deeply thoughtful and insightful leader.
Episode 5: The politics of flexi-work, polyworking, and recharge days
Guest: Professor Raj Choudhury
Professor Raj Choudhury from Harvard Business School joins The Floorplan to discuss his new book .Libby and Matt discuss the federal opposition's rapidly ditched attempt to force public servants back to the office. Also on the agenda: 'polyworking'.
Episode 6: Building perfect workplaces
Guest: Isaac French
Can you build a perfect place? โ Isaac Frenchโ thinks so. He's been dreaming up business ventures ever since he can remember. At 24, with a whole lot of help, he turned $20k of savings and a dream into a modern village of lakeside cabins. Listen to his insights around design and business.
Episode 7: Skydiving in space and other tests of human potential
Guest: Dr Andy Walshe
Freshly returned from her annual trip to Japan with students, Libby spends a fascinating hour with a globally-recognised leader and expert in the field of elite human performance.
Season 3
Episode 1: Big ideas, little execution
Guest: Bond University Adjunct Lecturer in Entrepreneurship Ben Hayden Smith
Dr Libby and Matt ponder why modern organisations are almost always big on the idea of innovation but often really small on implementing the change required for it.
Episode 2: Finding talent, keeping talent
Guest: Holly Brailsford
Dr Libby and Matt discuss what talent-hunters and jobseekers may have learned from the pandemic.
Episode 3: The cost of hangovers, workplace incentives, and personality hires
Libby and Matt deliver a quick whip around the organisational behaviour stories and issues making headlines.
Episode 4: Thinking laterally about managing conflict
Guest: Dr Vicki Webster
A leadership expert returns to the podcast to encourage us to think differently about workplace conflict. Also, do stand-up desks help or hinder workplace health? A new UK study might shift the furniture...
Episode 5: When thriving at work is the opposite of what's really happening
Dr Libby and Matt discuss why Australians are hoarding their annual leave. They also consider some interesting research pointing to a less collegiate work experience for younger employees. And the podcast hears from a listener who had a revelation about thriving at work.
Episode 6: New work from home research and 2025 trends
Guest: Dr Jenna Mikus
The latest research on work from home practices, and a report that suggests the time may be now for those who want to trade down their work ambitions to focus on a better life. Workplace wellbeing expert Dr Jenna Mikus discusses work environments.
โI believe the future of work and the workplace needs to evolve to meet our future not our past.โ
Season 2
Episode 1: What's in store for work in 2024, and the right to disconnect
Dr Libby and Matt look at the merits of legalising a right to switch off from work and ponder the issues most likely to emerge in the next twelve months.
Episode 2: The value of thriving at work
Guest: Professor Gretchen Spreitzer
Dr Libby and Matt speak to Professor Gretchen Spreitzer about the value of thriving at work, and explore why we might not be thriving in our lives.
Episode 3: What will make the four-day week a reality?
Guest: Dr Dale Whelehan
Dr Libby and Matt ponder why we seem to be stuck on the idea of a five-day working week. Their special guest is Dr. Dale Whelehan, CEO of 4 Day Week Global.
Episode 4: What does the ideal workplace look like?
Guest: Ben Hamley
This episode unlocks organisational mysteries. We also chat with work futurist Ben Hamley from real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle.
Episode 5: Pseudo-productivity, and the problem with busyness
Freshly returned from a Bond University Business School Japan Study Tour, Dr Libby reports on dream Tokyo workspaces occupied by clothing giant Uniqlo and real estate group JLL. This episode also explores 'pseudo-productivity' and busyness.
Episode 6: Zombie leadership, and the problems with leadership development
Guest: Professor Alex Haslam
Immortalized in tropes of terrible leader behaviours in TV shows like The Office, unfortunately, zombie leadership is alive and well in organisations.
Episode 7: Can you plot your way to the perfect job?
Guest: Lola Berry
Dr Libby and Matt reflect on their unusual career trajectories as they consider the method in searching for an ideal working life. They are joined by author Lola Berry who talks resilience, happiness, and challenging yourself.
Episode 8: Neurodivergence in the workplace
Guest: Chloรฉ de Ruffray
Dr Libby and Matt discuss neurodivergence in the workplace. They gain insight from psychologist and speaker Ella Cotterell who was diagnosed with autism at 26. Ella is also a Somatic Trauma Educator and Feminine Embodiment practitioner.
Season 1
Episode 1: Can we really work from anywhere?
Guest: Alice Drew
Dr Libby and Matt ponder the covid pandemic as 'the great workplace disruptor'. Libby also talks to Alice Drew about her role as Head of Place Futures at Lendlease.
Episode 2: Cult cultures
Guest: Priyal Sodha
Dr Libby and Matt take a look at the hit-and-miss of cult workplaces. Think workplace mediation spaces, Michelin-star cafes, puppy daycare, and slippery slides. Libby talks to management consultant Priyal Sodha who lifts the lid on the culture of overwork.
Episode 3: The dark side of organisations
Guest: Vicki Webster
Dr Libby and Matt look into the uglier side of organisational behaviour. Joining them is organisational psychologist Dr Vicki Webster
Episode 4: Teams in the new world of work
Guest: Professor Markus Baer
Dr Libby and Matt look at the research on "teamwork making the dream work". They are joined by organisational behaviourist Professor Markus Baer from Washington University.
Episode 5: How much clutter is too much?
Dr Libby and Matt talk us through the financial, mental, and physical cost of a messy office. They also explore what the research says about less mess.
Episode 6: Redefining networking
Guest: Julia Palmer
In this episode, Dr Libby and Matt talk about the research on networking. Dr Libby chats with relational expert Julia Palmer about simple skills to improve our relationships.
Episode 7: The problem with meetings, and how to make them better
Meetings are highly unpopular, often demotivating, usually inefficient, and definitely costly. Here's the science on how we can make them better.
Episode 8: How work is changing, and the drivers of happiness
Guest: Chloรฉ de Ruffray
In the final episode of Season 1, Dr Libby and Matt discuss 2023's recurrent organisational behavioural themes. They also have a stab at predicting the issues that will dominate in 2024.
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