New Ways of Working #2
Hello. It’s newsletter time and just like last time I’m going to open by sharing the purpose:
To help you to explore new ways of working.
From here I’ll share an excellent article, podcast, tool and video that will help you to explore new ways of working. Short and sweet, simple and practical. Here goes:
Blog 📝
This is an awesome article by Max Sather about the humble check-in round - one of the simplest, quickest, easiest and best ways to begin experimenting with new ways of working. If your meetings don’t routinely open with a check-in round then it’s time to start, tomorrow! Here are 13 Reasons to do a check in round (5 mins).
Podcast 📻
Reason #1 of 13 in the article above is that check-in rounds are an easy hack to psychological safety. It is impossible to overstate the importance of psychological safety when introducing new ways of working and creating great teams. You can learn all about it from the Harvard professor who coined the term in this Leadermorphosis podcast: Amy Edmondson on psychological safety and the future of work (45 mins).
Tool 🔧
A quick check-in doesn't just lighten the mood, it can lighten our load and help us focus on what we're doing as a team. They also make space to remind ourselves that we're all human. And good news! Clever people at snazzy Swedish digital agency Daresay have created an automatic generator that I use all the time. Save this website and never open a meeting without a check-in round again (1 min).
Video 🎥
This TED Talk about great teams by Margaret Heffernan is nothing short of wonderful. I urge you to watch it, to share it with your whole org, and to watch it again with colleagues at a lunch and learn that you’ll schedule in for next week. It explains that our organisations are often run according to the ‘superchicken model’, where value is placed on star employees who outperform others. And yet, this isn't what drives the most high-achieving teams… So, Forget the pecking order at work (15 mins).
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Until next time, you can find me here.