Put the kettle on: 96 per cent of British workers say that they would make a cup of tea or tidy up their desk to avoid doing work, according to a survey of 3,000 British workers by the website hirescores.com. The survey also showed that 32 per cent of workers admitted to spending an average of 3hr 15min every day talking to colleagues and pretending to be busy. Furthermore, 44 per cent of respondents would not start a new task or deal with a request that came in less than 20 minutes before home time. Strangely, though, after all that timewasting, 68 per cent of workers said that they would stay late in the office if necessary - which 39 per cent did at least once a week

Wax lyrical: If you find that most management courses pretty turgid, then sign up for A Masterclass in Authenticity and Presence with Ruby Wax. Ms Wax, a comedienne who achieved fame for her sharp-witted television interviews. has retrained as a psychotherapist and now works in the field of leadership and personal development. The masterclass is being held at the Roffey Park Institute in West Sussex on December 12. The organisers promise that delegates will “be enlightened about the possibilities of reinvention, work on personal presence and vision and be entertained into change and development”

Go green: More than half of us wouldn't hesitate to lobby our bosses for a greener workplace, according to a survey by Fujitsu Siemens Computers. The survey of 1,027 people found that we want bosses to provide green IT systems, energy-saving schemes and recycling at work. About 71 percent of those surveyed said that they turned their PCs off when they left the office, 82 per cent recycled paper and 37per cent shared lifts to work

Meet an ethnographer: There is a lot of interest in how we might work in the future - fame and, more importantly, fortune await those who make the right predictions. Rather than guess, Xerox is sending a team of ethnographers - social scientists who study people in their natural habitats - around the world to meet workers. In this modern time-and-motion study, the scientists watch, photograph and record how different people work. The information will be used by businesses to shape future workforce requirements and by companies, including Xerox, who want to develop products for future workers, Fortune (September 29) reported.

Politic: ahead Office politics can bring you down. Now a new book Political Dilemmas at Work promises to show you “how to maintain your integrity and further your career”. The book's authors say “everyone does politics so get used to it” and urges people to “recognise that politics is a skill set that can be learnt”.

Published on October 13 by John Wiley & Son, priced £14.99

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