Trying out some better ways of working

Today I’m working with an organisation introducing them to some new and better ways of working. 

Work changes all the time. 

But sometimes we’re locked into the way we’ve always done things. 

Hey, how much did we have to change in 2020 when we were forced to work remotely - if we weren’t already! 

What if we kept that pace of change going and tried doing other things differently? 

As Steve Denning in ‘The Age of Agile’ explains, new and agile ways are a vast global movement that have been changing the world of work. 

And these ways are moving beyond software and technology where they became known, finding keen supporters in other fields like health, government, education, marketing and finance. 

Most of all, I think today’s workshop will focus on how it starts with the individual. 

Adopting a flexible, adaptive and agile mindset is where it can begin. Yet it’s also about trying things in different ways, and seeing how mindsets shift... as a result of that experience. 

Who might benefit from you working in new and better ways? 

Lured by the new

Are you a ‘bright shiny object’ kind of person? Do you chase after those fun and bright new things? 

Or are you more persistent and resourceful, making do and working with what you’ve got on hand? 

We can be so tempted to get the new, see it and try it, buy it and use it, that perhaps we may not really need it at all. 

We can have the old sitting here, still useful... but you know, it’s OLD. We may be bored with it, have heard it or used it before and feel like its time has passed. 

The new and the old. 

It’s why words come in and out of favour; how colours and styles have their time; and how hairstyles can give us a laugh decades later!

We can turn over a new leaf and teach old dogs new tricks. 

Consider what’s new and what’s old for you and what it means. 

We can always take a new perspective of something ... even if it’s, you know, old. 

Some of the old can be worth looking at anew. 

Developing a creative mindset

As problems and challenges persist for our customers, clients (and ourselves), a more creative mindset might help us and them out. 

How do you solve a challenge?

Do you go with what you’ve done before? Or seek out the possibility of a new solution and idea? 

Existing or well known solutions are safer; someone’s already done them, we can copy or replicate, change a few things and we’re good to go. 

Or are we?

The more we all keep replicating what’s already out there, thinking it’s working, the more limited our thinking becomes. 

Having the confidence to adopt a more creative mindset is risky yes, but with the risk can come incredible gains and rewards. 

The links to commercial success are clear. 

A more creative mindset helps us design and deliver better services, solutions and success for our clients and customers. 

Adapting to hybrid

A Harvard Business Review article ‘How to manage a hybrid team’ reports on what we’re seeing and experiencing: “your team members are likely contending with vastly different situations.”

Beyond just their locations of work, many are adapting to changing situations at home or the office and the more permanent distribution of team members across locations. 

This is the hybrid workforce. HBR suggests we ask: 

➡️ “What is the experience my employees are having at work, and how can I empower them to do the best they can?”

▶️ “What protocols can you put in place to ensure that the employees in the office are in sync with those working from home?”

Given people in your team might be located in different places but still need to be brought together - in meetings and workshops - how will you build empowerment and keep things in sync? 

Tips include : 
- beware of an ‘us vs them’ situation 
- be clear, inclusive and flexible
- know it’s not easy and will take some adjustment for all parties. 

For those who are new to this, be open to learning and experimenting, knowing that perfection isn’t possible, but progress certainly is. 

12 things to do when leading HYBRID groups

When some people are here and others are offsite or in another location, don’t just wing it, or bumble through it. 

Plan for it, and be ready to adapt. 


These are the things I prepare, consider and address when I’m training or facilitating, to bring a team or group together who are spread over several locations. 

It’s not everything but it’s many things. They take into consideration that we are all humans, just trying to do the best we can - often under some tricky or less then perfect conditions. 


The 12 things:

Plan - what is it
Tools - which ones
Structure - what am I following
Tech - what are we using

Activities - which ones 
Questions - what will I ask
Techniques - what will I do if...
Input - how will I collect it

Visualize - how will I show it 
Warmth - how will I convey it
Adapt - am I willing to
After - then what...


This is my checklist for a meeting or workshop and I don’t ‘take off’ without having considered or prepared them.