There are some ways to form a How-question.
Was macht die Arbeit? (Great sentence btw... like a pick-up-line !) It's very natural to ask someone "how work is" with this sentence and I really think, that this one is not a sentence, which you find in ordinary textbooks. Was actually means "What" and this sentence is a bit colloquial .
Was macht die Arbeit?
How is work?
-> This a kind of word to word translation and like in English, there are some other ways to ask, how work is I guess.
Läuft die Arbeit?
How is work going?
Geht's (geht es) gut auf der Arbeit?
Is everything alright at work?
Well, but the translation of "how" is "Wie", actually.
How do you like your Coffee?
Wie magst du deinen Kaffee? informal
oder
Wie mögen Sie Ihren Kaffee? formal