Have you ever misinterpreted a colleague’s tone on a Teams chat? Or wondered what Mike meant by his face-without-a-mouth emoji in response to your carefully worded idea?

A new book by University of Auckland Business School Associate Professor Barbara Plester explores how communication, fun, humour and happiness are evolving in the age of hybrid work.

Hybrid Happiness: Fun and Freedom in Flexible Work investigates the social and emotional effects of flexible work. Based on prior research, Plester shows how hybrid models, when people divide their time between home and office, have altered workplace behaviours and made social aspects more crucial.

Over four full-immersion weeks, she spent time in two businesses, observing, collecting data, and interviewing workers at all levels.

Her first study was within a technology company she calls ‘Gecko’, and the second was conducted in a food manufacturing organisation (code-named Firefly). This research underpins much of the book.

“I took a grounded theory approach to my research; I didn’t start with any specific hypothesis of what I would find, rather I let the findings emerge organically as the study progressed,” she says.

“This is how my research on fun and humour developed into a book about happiness, because participants conflated these ideas and constantly linked them.”

Hybrid Happiness captures both the freedom and the frustrations of hybrid work. One chapter, The Emotional Landscape of Hybrid Work, explores how flexibility can also bring tension and anxiety, and how reading and comprehending message chats, emoticons, and GIFs has become a challenge for workers.

“Reading others’ emotions online is complex and raises questions about emotional regulation and emotional labour,” Plester writes.

“As emotions are increasingly expressed through technological channels, new forms of language such as emojis or pictograms are often used to illustrate feelings and as a substitute for in-person emotional cues. Pictorial language builds liveliness into textual conversations and can indicate fun, play and humour — but it can easily be misconstrued and misread.”

Another chapter, Tech-Powered Freedom, investigates trust, surveillance and the blurring of boundaries between home and office.

Working in a hybrid model implies trust in workers, and Plester says all her research participants reinforced this point.

The benefits of feeling trusted at work usually flow on to positive work behaviours and improved job performance, she writes, pointing to an interview during her time at the food manufacturing organisation, Firefly, where one worker emphasised the importance of trust in hybrid working and her increased productivity when working from home:
“I prefer working from home because I'm more productive there. I do feel stress when I'm around people, as much as I love them… but I prefer to be away from a crowd… it's just about trust …trust. If you don't trust your employee, why employ them?”

Another chapter, Psychological Safety in Hybrid Fun, highlights why feeling safe to participate in workplace events — or to opt out — is essential to genuine workplace enjoyment. Examples detail the experience of employees, some of whom struggled with 'forced fun' in their workplaces.

The notion of forced fun, where workers feel compelled to join fun activities even if they don’t enjoy them, may seem harmless, innocuous, and even positive, but Plester says earlier research shows that contrived ‘fun’ can cause distress, cynicism, loss of dignity and a feeling of being patronised by management.

She ultimately argues that safety, fun, play, and connection are vital elements of productive collaboration in hybrid workplaces.

Her research shows ‘hybrid happiness’ can’t be forced, but can thrive in environments that value and foster trust, empathy, and adaptability.

World Kindness Day, observed every year on 13 November, is a global reminder that kindness is a universal language, one that transcends borders, politics, and differences. It calls on individuals and nations to act with compassion, empathy, and humanity. In a world often divided by conflict and injustice, this day carries deep meaning, and nowhere is its message more urgent than in Palestine.

For decades, the Palestinian people have endured occupation, displacement, and suffering. Yet despite unimaginable hardship, their resilience and generosity continue to inspire. Acts of kindness in Palestine are not just gestures of goodwill; they are acts of survival and resistance. From families sharing their last piece of bread with neighbours, to communities rebuilding together after destruction, kindness remains the heartbeat of Palestinian life.

World Kindness Day invites the global community to reflect on what kindness truly means, not merely as individual acts, but as collective moral courage. To stand with Palestine, to speak out against injustice, and to extend solidarity to those who suffer are all forms of profound kindness. It is kindness in action, the kind that restores dignity, hope, and humanity.

This year, as we mark World Kindness Day, let us remember that kindness is not silence in the face of oppression. True kindness demands that we care for all people, especially those whose voices are silenced. Let our compassion for Palestine be more than words; let it be action, empathy, and unwavering support for justice and peace.

“Be kind, for whenever kindness becomes part of something, it beautifies it.” — Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Palestine Forum of New Zealand

Exercise New Zealand says new international research is a game-changer that could reshape global exercise advice, revealing that intense exercise delivers up to nine times the health benefits of moderate activity, and in some cases up to 156 times better than low intensity.

“This new research shows that intense exercise isn't just twice as good, it's at least four times better overall, and up to nine times better for heart health. That's a game-changer”

“If you're short on time, this means just 30 minutes of intense exercise spread across the week can deliver the same health protection as two and a half hours of moderate activity”

“If the new evidence holds, it suggests the ratio should be revised dramatically,”

“Instead of a 2-to-1 benefit, the data points to something closer to 4-to-1, maybe even higher. That could mean as little as 30 minutes of vigorous exercise per week delivers the same benefits as the recommended 2½ hours of moderate activity. That's a huge shift in what we understand about exercise efficiency.”

“Clearly we need to reconsider how we talk about the benefits of intensity in our guidelines,”

“If you're short on time, this means just 30 minutes of intense exercise spread across the week can deliver the same health protection as two and a half hours of moderate activity..  It's proof you can work out smarter, not longer.”

“This means the global guidelines should be reviewed.”

A major meta-analysis, combining data from multiple long-term studies involving over a hundred thousand individuals, found that vigorous exercise reduces the risk of dying from any cause (all-cause mortality) by a factor of at least four compared to low to moderate activity. Even more striking, for heart disease, the effect jumps to up to nine times greater.

ExerciseNZ CEO Richard Beddie states that “this new research shows that intense exercise isn't just twice as good, it's at least four times better overall, and up to nine times better for heart health. That's a game-changer.”

The current WHO guidelines are built on the assumption that vigorous activity provides double the benefit of moderate activity, that is, you can swap 150 minutes of brisk walking or cycling for 75 minutes of running or high-intensity work.  These numbers were based on research that primarily was self-reporting of activity levels, so the new research that uses data from wearables is much more accurate and therefore more likely to be more accurate.

“If the new evidence holds, it suggests the activity ratio should be revised dramatically,” says Beddie. “Instead of a 2-to-1 benefit, the data points to something closer to 4-to-1, maybe even higher. That could mean as little as 30 minutes of vigorous exercise per week delivers the same benefits as the recommended 2½ hours of moderate activity. That's a huge shift in what we understand about exercise efficiency.”

Perhaps most striking, when comparing high intensity to low intensity activities, for all-cause mortality, high intensity was 53 times more effective. For cardiovascular disease (CVD) it was 73 times, and 156 times for cancer.  This would indicate that one minute of intensive activity provides the same protective effects as almost one hour (53 minutes), and even more so for CVD and cancer.  “Clearly we need to reconsider how we talk about the benefits of intensity in our physical activity guidelines,” says Beddie.

For time-poor New Zealanders, the findings are especially powerful.

“If you're short on time, this means just 30 minutes of intense exercise spread across the week can deliver the same health protection as two and a half hours of moderate activity..  It's proof you can work out smarter, not longer.” says Beddie.

ExerciseNZ stresses that any exercise is better than none. Even light activity improves health, mood and longevity. The key takeaway is that moving your body in any way is beneficial. However, if you choose to go harder, you can hit your weekly targets quicker, leaving more time for the other things you love.

Exercise New Zealand Calls it a “Game-Changer”

ExerciseNZ considers these findings to be a game-changing moment for the exercise industry, with Beddie confidently suggesting that “this means the global guidelines should be reviewed.”

The implications from this research are clear and urgent:

Time to review global guidelines: The WHO recommendations are based on outdated ratios, and this new evidence should trigger a rethink worldwide.
Update how we talk about exercise: Trainers, gyms and health providers should highlight the value of intensity, safely and accessibly.
Empower people with choice: Whether it's a brisk walk, a sprint, or a short, sharp HIIT session every move counts, and now we know just how powerful those harder efforts can be.