How do you want to work in 2022? Would you like to kick the year off with a commitment to learning about and practising new ways of working in your team? If so, join my online course. The first five have been full houses, the feedback has been heartwarming, and I can’t wait to go again!
So join me and show your organisation some love in the new year with the New Ways of Working online course, starting on January 26 2022 🤗
Course objective
The course objective is for you to enjoy your job more and to be an even better member of your team. You’ll learn collaboration and leadership skills, how to hold meetings that don’t feel like a chore, and how to make better decisions by quickly seeking and integrating the wisdom of the group. You’ll learn how to give ‘brain-friendly’ feedback, know what’s getting in the way of being a great team, and develop the mindset to help make change happen.
To do this we'll borrow from the best sources. These include agile, self-management, organisational psychology, and the most progressive companies on the planet. There’s more detail below in the ‘Course overview’ section.
Who’s been attending?
It’s been incredible to be able to help so many people to experiment with new ways of working in so many diverse organisations, which have so far included: Accenture, BJSS (tech consultancy), Mencap (UK charity), Haringey Council (London), Mercedes-Benz, UNAIDS, Ofwat (UK government department), The Co-operative Group, The Soil Association, BIMM (University), Klarna (fintech company) Jetstack (cloud tech company), Sport Wales, plus a US teaching organisation, an Italian marketing consultancy, a US equity management company, a UK artificial intelligence and machine learning company, a Belgium digital studio, a UK accountancy company, and a lovely non-profit organisation in Bristol, my home.
What they say
By far one of the most useful, practical, engaging, interesting courses I've been on. Hats off to you, super well thought out, from a practical, mental and emotional perspective.
The experimenting methodology gives me the opportunity to not only "take a course" but actually practising in the "real world".
The benefits to the business have been tangible and resulted in me thinking about work in a very different way.
I loved having another colleague on the course and would totally recommend others try to do the same… I loved the organisation of the course, it all felt incredibly "slick." … I loved Marks humble approach, he listened to us all intently and was patient with us when we needed more time on certain things.
The experiments each week really helped me grow my comfort towards experimenting further. They gave me the perspective of how much needs to be a done, and an eye for what might be 'bite-size'.
I loved Marks generosity, he clearly spends a lot of time preparing and introduced me to very cool tools that we are now using in the organisation.
The depth of experience and further research Mark has done to curate bite sized resource for us to cover weekly, in a No. of mediums, was incredibly satisfying to absorb and kept me engaged over the 5 weeks.
As a facilitator, you do add quite a bit of magic sauce to holding the space, and your curation of materials is unbeatable.
Here’s a sneak peek of the course platform:
If you’re curious about joining the next course then read on for the full details ⬇️
Course overview
The course is led by me, Mark Eddleston. I’m a new ways of working consultant, coach, facilitator and Founder of Reinventing Work. Since 2015 I’ve been practising new ways of working and synthesising the mountain of information that’s out there. The New Ways of Working course is something of a greatest hits. We’ll fast forward to the trusted, tried and tested patterns that are found in some of the world’s most progressive organisations.
On this course, you’ll be practising and learning all the way. You'll get better at listening, teamwork, and self-organising. There will be plenty of required pre-work ahead of each weekly meet online when we’ll reflect on this content together. Throughout the course, you will have the chance to ask questions and form a community on Slack. You'll become familiar with Notion, where course content is shared, and with Focusmate which will help you to get through the content. You'll also experience Mural and Liberating Structures.
Crucially, each week you will design an experiment that will be implemented in your own team.
You'll form partnerships with classmates who will help you, hold you accountable to your experiment and be depending on you to do the same for them. Throughout, you’ll be experiencing some of the best collaboration tools and practises out there.
What we’ll work on
Week 1: Challenges - identify what gets in the way of great work in your team.
Week 2: Teamwork - we’ll uncover the research into what makes a great team.
Week 3: Mindset & Power - this work requires mindset shifts and clarity around power.
Week 4: Feedback - we’ll learn how to give and get more feedback.
Week 5: Decision-making - we explore alternatives to top-down & consensus.
Throughout the course, you will learn progressive meeting structures that you can pop in your pocket, take back to work and use immediately.
What to expect
Expect practical, interactive and participatory. This isn’t easy work and it isn't an easy workload. Each week the format looks like this:
Pre-work: Before each Wednesday you’ll use Focusmate to work through the course materials (articles, podcasts, talks and tools) shared via Notion. 2 hours.
Live session: We’ll discuss and reflect on what stood out from your pre-work, dive deeper into the topic, and figure out how you’ll apply it at work. 2 hours.
Experiment: At the end of each session you’ll have designed an experiment to try out at work that week. This takes place in your workday so timing is your call.
Accountability partnership: Having committed to an experiment you’ll catch up with a course peer to help each other out and hold each other to account. 1 hour.
Retrospection: Each week you’ll be invited to write a quick reflection. 5-10 mins.
So it’s a weekly commitment of at least 6 hours, some - and ideally all - of which will take place during work time.
When
The five-week course begins on Wednesday, 26 January 2022. We meet every Wednesday from 14.25 - 16.35 GMT, wrapping up on 23 February 2022.
Eligibility
This course is for you if you are:
Dissatisfied with traditional ways of working and know that there’s a better way!
A member of a team - the course design is not suitable for those who are not in a team (sorry solo consultants).
Able to attend all five live sessions.
Prepared to experiment with new ways of working each week in your team each week.
Choosing to attend - and haven't been sent by your boss!
Open-minded - willing to embrace new and uncomfortable ideas.
Committed and ready for a challenge! This is an intensive course - your hard work and active participation are baked into the course design.
Absolutely clear that there is no one size fits all approach for this work.
Cost per person
£900 - attending alone.
£600 - attending with one (or more) colleague/s.
Register
To secure your place double-check the eligibility criteria ☝️ then send a note to confirm (mark.eddleston@gmail.com) and that’s in, you’re enrolled!
Please note that cohorts are limited to 12 places.
About Mark
I’m a new ways of working nerd who came across new ways of working in New Zealand in 2015 after spending a pretty frustrating decade in traditional workplaces. It was the first time I found consistent fulfilment in work. This beautiful and challenging experience was with a law firm and community organisation that features on the distinguished Corporate Rebels ‘bucket list’. Once you taste this way of working, it’s impossible to go back. I’ve now been a member of staff in three organisations that embraced progressive leadership, so come with plenty of lived experience.
I’m co-founder of Reinventing Work, a global community and playground for people interested in decentralised, purposeful and self-organised ways of working. So far we’ve gathered in over 25 cities across five continents, including in Bristol (where it began) London, Berlin, Melbourne, Montreal and New York. I’ve delivered online sessions to thousands, spoken about new ways of working at The University of Oxford, and facilitated at Meaning Fringe. I’ve also appeared on the wonderful Leadermorphosis podcast and the University of the West of England’s MSc Occupational Psychology programme discussing the future of work.
My website: https://www.marco.work.