My Favourite Experiments (part 2)
This is part two in a series sharing some of the simplest, best, and most replicable experiments, all drawn from over 750 tried and tested by participants on my online course.
Why experiment? Well, while books, blogs and podcasts offer knowledge and inspiration, the real journey toward New Ways of Working unfolds through hands-on experimentation. Below, you'll find the second batch of experiments, and each one has been put to the test in teams just like yours. So give them a try, do more of what works, and less of what doesn’t.
Remember, New Ways of Working only emerge through practice and experimentation within your teams. There's no shortcut, no manual, no predefined roadmap, and certainly no one-size-fits-all solution to simply copy and paste (sorry!). Your journey towards more progressive ways of working hinges on your willingness to experiment and adapt.
Interested in more insights before you start experimenting? Check out the podcasts, video and/or articles available over here for extra guidance and ideas.
Ready to Experiment?
Get set to upgrade your team's dynamics with these practical experiments. They're easy to implement, cost-free, time-efficient, and safe to try – perfect for any team looking to innovate. Why not share them with your colleagues and encourage everyone to try (or adapt) one or two?
Feedback and Communication
"Share my appreciation for Barbara in person using the brain-friendly feedback model and also ask if I can be more helpful to her in any way."
"Provide coaching feedback to someone, to explain that when they send me WhatsApp messages on my personal phone it gives me a rush of anxiety. Short and sweet feedback."
"I'm gonna give appreciative feedback to a colleague that doesn't understand how great and important they are for our company culture and climate."
"Provide appreciative feedback to a designer who's put a lot of work into a project. The client is very pleased, so I want to make sure that makes it to the designer."
Meeting Efficiency and Effectiveness
"I already time block my diary but when focus is really needed I will log out of Teams so I can't be interrupted for that time."
"Reduce the number of meetings we have and shorten the ones we do have so people have thinking time and time to do what comes out of the meetings. Ask our boss to take part in the experiment."
"This week I will have a meeting audit to take back time that isn't being used in a valuable way."
"Facilitate meeting on Monday using a Purpose, check-in, 1-2-4-all/ circle method, get feedback on the structure."
Mindset and Culture
"Share more mistakes/bad days/frustrations in work and life and encourage others to do the same."
"I will change the language I use when talking to colleagues and staff to encourage them to 'seek advice' rather than 'get permission' to try out an idea."
"Name the ‘climate’ at the end of a meeting (especially if it feels disengaged) and encourage the team to do it too."
"Ask the team what they think our group mindset is towards sales targets, then discuss whether it is helpful or harmful."
Decision Making and Problem-Solving
"Run a decision-making ‘retro' to gather perspectives on the risks of our slow decision-making."
"Ask my team how they think they can improve by 15% the fact that we don't log enough data on the case management database."
"Remove our CEO/Founder from 1 or 2 projects entirely."
"I will have a conversation with Bob about how they plan their work as I think there is scope to get better."
Team Engagement and Inclusion
"Run a 'help circle' in my team meeting where they all agree to help another team member this week and agree who."
"Discuss with the team how they want information to be shared and start to develop a new system together for fast information sharing."
"Host a circle meeting as a way to encourage lesser represented voices being heard in collective decisions."
"I'm going to suggest my team does their own '15% solutions' experiment next week as it helped me think about what is in my control."
Personal and Team Development
"I am going to create and share an honest 'user manual' and encourage my team to do the same (not just 'at my best' but 'at my most average')."
"Set up a poll on Friday in our HR software to get team feedback on recent pitches/presentations to get quick-fire thoughts on what went well and what didn't."
"I will ask for feedback from teams I am facilitating sessions with - what would you change/improve about this session?"
"I will try to use Teams not internal emails to promote discussion and a place to flag issues before a meeting. This should allow the meeting to be focused on solutions and actions, not the place to just raise issues."
Give some a go and let me know how they work out for you or fire away with any questions - I’d love to hear from you!
Support for me
🙏 Help spread New Way of Working by sharing this with a colleague, your team/org, or over on LinkedIn - I’d really appreciate that.
Support for you
Is your team or organisation looking to shift from traditional top-down methods to more progressive ways of working? If so, I'm here to help with support and guidance. Simply hit reply or schedule a call with me. I offer training in areas like:
Effective meetings
Participatory decision-making
Growing a culture of feedback
New Ways of Working (NWOW) 101
Plus a free NWOW Playbook demo / Lunch & Learn.
If any of these match a current need, I’d love to help 😊
🌐 www.marco.work | LinkedIn | 📕 New Ways of Working Playbook