Starting Your New Ways of Working Journey 🧭
Starting with New Ways of Working can feel a bit like standing at the foot of a mountain and looking up—there are many paths, we know the journey may be challenging, but reaching the summit promises rewarding views (and a packet of Doritos). Your first step should be to understand where you currently stand so you can plan out the next section of your journey with clarity. Here's where I recommend you begin:
Assess Your Current State 🔍: Before you embark on your journey, it's crucial to know your starting point. WorkPulse is a diagnostic tool designed for progressive organisations that will measure ways of working, culture, and engagement against the patterns found in progressive organisations. It will give you insights into the areas where your team or organisation is already excelling and highlight those that need more attention. Starting here can help guide your efforts moving forward.
Educate Yourself and Your Team 📚: Consider starting with "Brave New Work" by Aaron Dignan, which provides a comprehensive exploration of progressive organisations. Additionally, the free New Ways of Working Playbook can guide you through the common patterns observed in forward-thinking companies, enabling you to trial some of the most effective practices. Familiarising yourself with the underlying theories and practices can inspire and inform your approach.
Foster a Growth Mindset 🌱: Adopt the perspective that skills and competencies in New Ways of Working can be nurtured and enhanced through deliberate experimentation. This belief lays the foundation for a culture of learning and continuous improvement – essential aspects of your journey.
Experiment with New Practices 🧪: Start small. Experiment with changes that don't require a significant overhaul but can introduce your team to new ways of collaborating, decision-making, and approaching work. Methods like Lean Coffee for meetings, and the advice process for decision-making, can introduce more participatory and dynamic practices in a manageable way.
Build Psychological Safety ✨: As identified by Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson, creating an environment where every team member feels safe to take risks, voice their opinions, and ask questions without fear of retribution is vital. Meeting check-ins and Circle Discussions are awesome ways to distribute talk time, which is one of the building blocks of psychological safety.
Seek Feedback and Iterate ♻️: Implement a robust feedback mechanism for all new changes and experiments. This approach will help you learn what works best for your team and organisation, allowing you to iterate and improve continually. ‘Brain-friendly feedback’ is my favourite approach.
🚀 Starting with these steps can put you on the path to embracing New Ways of Working. Each organisation’s journey will be unique, but beginning with assessment, learning, and small experiments can set a solid foundation for change.
🤖 Find out more about any or all of the themes and practices mentioned above (and way more besides) using the New Ways of Working Navigator - my new, free chatbot designed to be your personal guide for exploring the patterns found in progressive organisations.
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