Lynne Cazaly - Keynote Speaker

How? When so many people grew through their career working in an office — or a business or organisation that had a head office — changing that deeply historical mindset towards the office is what’s tough to shift. Memories of the good old days and the great times working in the office pre-pandemic could be a deep reason why some people/leaders/cultures are battling to evolve to newer ways of working.

Remote, flexible, asynchronous, hybrid and non-linear work are all part of the new way of working. Yet nostalgia can be strong.

Memory biases like Rosy Recollection, Episodic Memory, Recall Bias and Selective Memories all contribute to how we perceive the past and the present. And the way we see the office is a big one of those perceptions.

What to do?

🟨 Bring creative thought to combine old ideas into new original ones; be willing to experiment more with different approaches, pilots and techniques about modern work.

🟨 Don’t assume you’ve got it perfect and right after your first attempt at a hybrid model. Increments and iterations are part of new ways of working.

🟨 Look beyond leadership perspectives. Get more ideas and input from across the organisation. Consult further. Be willing to ask for opinions. No one view is right.

Being stuck in old ways of working comes about because of old systems, structures, mindsets and fears — masquerading as leadership, compliance and control. There’s so much more to new ways of working than how many days you return to a nostalgic office.

Move think rest

New ways of working don’t just change businesses. They’re helping change people and the way they think, work and lead.

If you haven’t changed much about how you work since … well, since you learned how to work, it might be a good time to.

New ways go beyond the obvious stuff that’s changed work recently like technology or even increased remote work.

Look deeper and you can begin to redesign the way you think, the way you interact or collaborate and work with others and the way you lead a team.

The idea of ‘movement thought rest’ or MTR/motor framework shines a light on how the go go go push push push of work is an old old old way of working. Yes, ‘pushing through’ is very much an old way of working or thinking about the work we have to do.

Old metaphors, methods and models of work are breaking down in favour of more modern concepts that bring greater sustainability, wellbeing and enjoyment … to the whole of life.

Read more in this article in Fast Company and think about how you could be making the old ways of working a little more modern.

The dreaded middle

You might wince when you see a boarding pass for a flight that has you in the middle seat or realise the discomfort that’s ahead as you walk down the aisle.

Memes, stories and experiences abound on the tricky situation being ‘stuck in the middle’ can have: complex armrest rules, violated leg space, no quiet privacy, and gymnastics for getting in and out over sleeping peoples.

That’s indicative of other middle locations — particularly in today’s workforce.

The challenges of middle managers trying to survive the sandwich pressures of above and below have led to more stress, conflict, burnout, less satisfaction, layoffs, pay cuts, inflexibility …

The middle may have become more of a crowded cliff as lower levels have been pushed up into the space and higher levels slash and burn that which is below.

Research quoted in Fortune by Chloe Berger makes me wonder if the uncomfortable middle people might be rethinking who and what they want to be, where they want to be it … and how soon they can start making that change. The messy middle has become an even more turbulent space to be in recent times.

When one is not enough. Jobs that is

Many people may well be drowning under the weight of the responsibilities of one job role plus … you know… life.

And a good many people take on a second job to fill gaps in needs, meet their basic financial commitments or to build for their future.

But there’s a whole other world of the ‘over-employed’ who are working their work gigs to the max.

These eye opening accounts of how people take on, juggle and handle multiple job roles, reveal the hacks, tips, hints and tools used to put one over the employer … while you take two or three for yourself!

With recent years’ rise in remote work, stories of dual (or more) jobs held by one person were rumoured and reported on — but now there’s more insight into how it’s actually happening.

Before you get all “that’s so wrong” or “good for them” about it, read more to see the situations, skills, roles and reasons this is happening.

It’s another trend in response to the evolving nature of work.

While the underemployed people in our communities struggle to find suitable, flexible and reasonably paid work, there are many who are rising through the multiple job roles ranks.

And while there are tips here on how to do it… there are also some handy insights on how to spot it if it’s happening in your team or business.

Read more in the article by Aki Ito in Business Insider.

The BIG work change hiding in plain sight

As newer ways of working have reached many sectors and businesses, there’s still much to do. Many leaders still aren’t quite sure though, how to change work to adapt to the recent pressures of stress, burnout, flexibility demands and global pressures.

Lynda Gratton always seems to know just what to say! In this great article you’ll see some key points and suggestions about adopting new ways of working and redesigning work.

BUT … what about the HUGE point that could be getting in the way of change?

It’s right there… hidden in plain sight - that we can’t and shouldn’t be adopting or following the CEO’s default preferences for ways of working!

Yep, that’s a big status role in the organisation to influence and challenge … but well-being, productivity, engagement and success depends on it.

So many organisations find a shift to new ways of working challenging and full of roadblocks because of C-level attitudes and dated ways of thinking about work.

They often ‘know what’s best’ from their ‘experience’ - but that experience is rapidly becoming out of date and gained in a different era of work. I see this so frequently when I speak to senior leadership teams about new ways of working. I spend time guiding them through the ideas, evidence, methods and shifts they need to adopt to change and redesign the way their organisation thinks about work. And sometimes that’s a tough gig.

Attitudes and beliefs run deep.

And they want to minimize the risk, know that it WILL work before they adopt new ways.

But new ways are very much a new way of

▫️Thinking

▫️Working and

▫️Leading.

And it’s tough when that thinking gets blocked at the top.

We can help break through the blockades of dated experience that could be hindering how your organisation thinks about redesigning work.

Don't be the dull, ineffective one who leads

A meeting leader can often help find a path of progress through a meeting, is able to handle the agenda (or even no agenda!), the behaviours in the group, the barriers to progress, AND the obstacles to having a productive and successful team session.

That's a lot to juggle; no wonder meetings continue to be dull wastes of time. So it's possible .... that we could be leading dull, droning, ineffective meetings. Well, somebody sure is!

Lifting your leadership here -- where people get together to do work -- can make a huge shift in performance, engagement, morale and communication.

Join me live online, for this professional development session.

Build your facilitation skills session so your meeting leadership becomes more:

🌑professional

🌒collaborative

🌓effective

🌕productive.

Oh, and let's add creative to that too, as I'll include a range of creative ideas to boost any dull meeting or gathering.

More details here on dates, times and pricing.

And if this is something your team or organisation needs, let me know - I can deliver it inhouse, remotely too.

Getting started

If you’ve got plenty of ambivalence/meh and not enough motivation, perhaps this way of thinking and working can help.

Notice the difference between

🔆 motivation : that longer term energy and drive that keeps you going

🔆 activation : the tactics that get you started on something, and headed toward motivation.

I’ll frequently hack my activation for work by:

🔆gathering ideas when they pop into my head

🔆brainstorming some possible content for a keynote as soon as the enquiry comes in

🔆following my curiosity when I’m thinking about a topic and

🔆choosing the nicest task possible from a list of things to do for a project (like playing around with the book cover design over researching a dry topic.)

Momentum is joyous when you’ve got it. Just ask a kid on a swing.

But if you haven’t got it, how do you get started?

Find the thing that will get you going. Once you get going — activated — you may feel some more interest or purpose and energy for the work — motivated.

As we learn more about how we think about work and how we work best, the difference between activation and motivation can become enlightening… and mighty empowering.

The ‘meh’ feeling is nothing to feel bad about. Look for the things, tasks, hacks and tips that activate you … towards finding some motivation.

3 Mentoring spots available

As the end of year approaches I’ve got availability to work with 3 people 1:1 in mentoring over the next 6 months of 2024.

If you run your own business, run your own practice or are keen to build and grow, let’s talk about getting 6 x 1:1 sessions (+ other support, clever ideas and resources including my book writing program) locked in.

Message me about the first 6 months for 2024.

Lynne Cazaly

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better ways of working

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Sunday

Apr022023

How to decline meetings/The work environment matters/Visual mapping in schools/Dreamers dreaming/Audio book recording/

Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 9:40AM

Decline 1 in 3 meetings

Decline, delete or at least press the ‘Maybe’ button on the invitation.

The point is, don’t automatically ‘Accept’ meeting invites — you’re creating too much synchronous work (in real time work with others) and it’s taking up too much time in your schedule.

We might accept meeting invites by default, automatically, habitually.

Real time meetings, chats and other ‘now’ happenings are thieves of time, attention, energy, progress and motivation. Real time should be saved for the really, truly important stuff.

This year I’m sharing techniques on how to deliberately #meetless

Do you think declining or deleting an invitation is being rude?

If so, before you accept or delete, ask a clarifying question like:

why am I invited to this meeting; could you give me a bit more information please?
could I see the agenda for the meeting please and then I’ll decide whether to attend
why is this meeting being called
I’m not available to attend this meeting; how else can I contribute to this work?

Many workplaces simply don’t provide an alternative way of participating, contributing or being involved in work … unless you’re there, at the meeting.

And that’s not inclusive enough. It’s a dated way of working.

But as times are changing and modern work is evolving, more people are realizing the cost of meetings and actively questioning them.

The exclusion and drain of meetings — the time, effort, energy, resources and motivation — ARE worth calling out and pushing back on.

Meeting culture has gone unchallenged for too long.

It’s time to #meetless

Start by:

🟥 removing 1 in 3 meetings

🟥 declining 1 in 3 invites

🟥 questioning 1 in 3 requests.

Meet less and you’ll make more and better progress.

Three Driving Changes Impacting How We Work Today

Thank you to Leaderonomics for sharing this article on the changes to work.

Visual Mapping Techniques in Schools

I worked with the heads of department and wellbeing staff at Strathcona Girls Grammar recently.

No PowerPoint. Woo hoo!

What did we do? Whiteboards and visual mapping tools for better meeting processes, greater creativity and deeper connections with each other … and students.

Here are those committed and dedicated professionals, hard at work, before the students arrive in the next few days for the new school year.

It was such a pleasure to work with them with these visual collaboration tools. I returned later in the week with a session for all staff!

If you're an educator, teacher or work in schools, get in touch to find out more about BWOW Schools - Better Ways of Working.

Dream on dreamers

Our brains aren’t meant to operate at optimal efficiency. All the time.

Here are a few ways to offload your thoughts:

🌕 allow yourself to lose focus. We can’t keep at it all day.

🌕 let the mind wander to daydream and access your creative ideas/

🌕 try cognitive offloading. When you’re overloaded, offload by writing things down, typing them out or … I love to use the Voice Memo on my phone. Then it’s gone from your mind. Aaaah!

Don’t let cognitive overload burden you.

Know a few techniques like these that will help you not just overcome overwhelm … but outsmart it — and be at the ready for the next time it happens. Read more in this article in Fast Company.

✨See more in my book ‘Argh! Too much information, not enough brain: A practical guide to outsmarting overwhelm’. It’s available in paperback, ebook and audio book.

Where work gets done

- A grey cubicle with no line of sight of other people, everyone baking under fluorescent lighting.

- Walking outdoors listening and talking.

- A cafe-style set-up with chairs and tables and a buzz about the space.

- A lounge environment with comfortable seating, smooth edges and a menu to choose from.

- A park bench in the shade with a view of the playground and the kids playing.

The world of work and where work is done keeps evolving.

With devices, software, apps and our smarts, many of us can work from a variety of locations, environments and spaces.

And yes, many people don’t get to access this level of flexibility. But increasingly, people want greater control over the ‘where of work’.

They know the environments in which they work best. They have preferences for how things work for them and where they like to do paid work.

It includes things like:

▫️Location and accessibility

▫️Arrival facilities or neighbouring facilities

▫️The physical space available to set up, move about and spread out (hello to the spreader-outers!)

▫️The features, fittings and design of the space

▫️The equipment, furniture, power and resources available

▫️The overall ambience and vibe of the space …

This list isn’t exhaustive but it can help reveal that the things important to me, may not matter so much to you, and what’s a must for you, may not be on my list at all.

On a recent visit to meet with the good people at Steelcase in Melbourne, I got to see more of the contemporary design elements, new furniture, equipment and tools that make for a modern workspace and workplace.

Businesses are refreshing and updating their spaces — whether staff come in to the office frequently or not — so there are enhanced spaces for:

▫️Conversation

▫️Collaboration

▫️Silence

▫️Privacy

▫️Creativity

▫️Productivity

▫️Focus

▫️Recharging

… and

▫️Choice.

The variety and choice of space in which to work helps match our mood to the task, our personality to the space, and our energy to the outcomes.

The variables are many when we consider HOW people want to work and WHERE they do their best work.

The refreshing of workspaces, workplaces and work environments is booming. And ‘where’ is part of the decision making process for many candidates in choosing to apply or accept a job role.

Someone controlling where you work is about control … not about setting up the best possible working environment for where work gets done.

Testing 1 2 …

I spent two half days in February 2023 recording the audio for my book ‘Sync Async: Making progress easier in the changing world of work’.

It's great to work with the team recording at SquareSound in Port Melbourne — it’s where I’ve recorded two of my other audio books ‘ish’ and ‘Argh!’

They know what they’re doing. It’s a pleasure to work with a professional team and to take your ideas from out of your mind, onto the page and then in to an audiobook.

There’s been a lot of interest in the ebook and paperback for ‘Sync Async’ and many questions about whether there would be an audiobook … so I decided an audiobook would be a ‘yes’!

Use your Audible subscription to download and listen.

⭐️What’s async work all about?

Have a read of this article in Leaderonomics

Or this article in Forbes

Or get the ebook or paperback of ‘Sync Async’ from wherever you get your books. The audio book is coming soooooon!

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Saturday

Jan212023

How to #meetless/Asynchronous Work/Workplace HR Trends/Watch for meeting hogs/Going for good enough

Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 11:18AM

The best work resolution to make …

If you’re going to make a resolution about work this year, let it be this:

Resolve to reduce your work meetings this year.

Meet less. Way less.

Tally up last year’s meetings if you need to work out what ‘less’ would mean. And make sure it’s less by a lot.

Being at the request of so many meeting invites weighs heavily on our time, attention and energy.

And the drain is exaggerated when the things we want and need to do remain undone and incomplete. Exhaustion quickly returns after a day of back-to-back meetings with barely a break. And they are mostly dull, disengaging experiences that don’t facilitate active participation and contribution.

Yes, many meetings could have been an email. Or not held at all. Or for this resolution … not attended at all.

It could have been a chat message or a shared document or a first draft shared for comments.

💥Resolve, vow and promise to decline invites more than you ever have before.

💥Resolve to hold your nerve if you feel guilty about it or are shamed in to attending because a colleague wants you there … pleeeeese.

💥And see this instead, as progressing towards more modern work.

It is modern work that uses less dated and wasteful tools for control and communication, and uses more open tools for collaboration and contribution.

Delete the time and energy drain that is the ‘have you got a moment’ or ‘it will only take a few mins’ or ‘can you just come to this meeting’.

I’ll share more in the coming weeks on how to bring this resolution to practical reality.

Meet = sync Meet less = async

Here’s how to start achieving a #meetless resolution this year:

⬇️ DECREASE the amount of SYNCHRONOUS work you do with others : these are the meetings, quick chats, interviews, conversations where you all have to be there at the same time

and …

⬆️ INCREASE the amount of ASYNCHRONOUS work you do with others : this is work you do at times and in ways that suit you, like contribute to shared documents and files, have uninterrupted work time, use chat and messaging, email and video.

Asynchronous ways of working provide HUGE flexibility, allowing people to contribute and work in ways and times that suit them.

Asynchronous work can become more inclusive, more considerate and allow people more time to think and contribute … rather than the control, theatre and waste of an ‘everybody-now-meeting’.

Save synchronous meetings for the times that really, truly matter and that absolutely need to be done with others, all at the same time.

Yes, you still have meetings but stop meeting as the default action to progress work.

It’s vital to learn and understand more about how to work asynchronously.

It’s the best way to reduce pressure, stress and overwhelm and increase progress, wellbeing and engagement.

Want to learn more…?

Get ‘Sync Async : Making progress easier in the changing world of work’ — for the tools, techniques and ways to help you #meetless and achieve the outcomes and results you’re aiming for.

It’s available as an ebook and paperback wherever you get your books.

Make #meetless something you’ll do this year - as a leader, manager, colleague and friend.

Sync Async : Making progress easier in the changing world of work

Workplace HR Trends

It’s a great time to read about foresight and what we think might evolve or occur in workplaces and spaces.

Review and consider how you’ll approach the year, what priorities and plans could be impacted and how you’ll evolve strategies, styles and your approach to work.

The insights for Human Resources trends include things like:

. Wellbeing

. Skills-based hiring

. Flexibility

. Hybrid working and hybrid learning

. Reporting

. Office redesign

. Blended workforce

. Burnout

SNORT : Meeting hogs are on notice

There’s a perfect environment that meeting hogs love to create, and you need to be alert to it.

Here are 4 signs a meeting hog is in the area :

🐽They call lots of meetings

🐽They invite lots of people

🐽They drone on for too long

🐽They don’t let many people speak, participate or contribute.

The meeting hog’s work life revolves around all talk and no work.

Meeting hogs love taking people away from their work activities and holding and controlling them like an audience at a performance. But the ‘show’ is a bad one. Stay alert! Keep an eye out for the meeting hog.

They’ll be:

🐽getting ready with committees and working groups

🐽suggesting regular status updates

🐽scheduling weekly check-ins

🐽setting up fortnightly rhythms and meeting cycles

and

🐽sending out recurring appointments.

But stay strong.

This year aim to #meetless - for your own well-being, productivity, impact and motivation.

I’ll share techniques to make this strong and positive change in your work life. Tackling and responding to the meeting hog is one of the key strategies you’ll need.

Meetings are becoming old ways of working. Sure, not all meetings, but many … most of them. And meeting hogs love to argue for the importance of their meetings.

Hold an intention to #meetless - First, stay alert to meeting hogs.

The good/bad trait to shift this year

If there’s a mindset you’d like to shift in 2023 … consider understanding and finding a replacement for perfectionism.

This good/bad trait that’s often shared in job interviews when we’re asked about our weaknesses, isn’t worth the effort it drains from us.

There’s no connection between perfectionism and high performance. *gulp*

And perfectionism can actually be behind anxiety, depression, overwork, rework, stress, and other issues we suffer from.

The antidote, solution or alternative is going for good enough. But how do you do that?

‘ish:The problem with our pursuit for perfection and the life-changing practice of good enough’ shares the research, stories, stats, steps and insight on how to think and work in ways that don’t require perfect anything.

There are other, better ways to think and work.

This award-winning book is available in paperback, audio and e-book - wherever you get your books. Have you read it yet ... or listened to it?

It’s been recommended by many people who have experienced the significant shift it presents. If you’re up for it, it’s an easy read and listen.

All the remote things Podcast

It was a pleasure to join a recent podcast episode of ‘All the Remote Things’ with Tony Ponton.

We talked through different concepts, ideas and thinking, plus a little about my background in communications and agile ways of working. I shared some tips on better ways of working!

Watch or listen to the full episode here.

Unleashing Brilliance Podcast

And more podcastness right here with Janine Garner's Unleashing Brilliance. It was so great to have a conversation about imperfection, new ways of thinking and working, creativity and collaboration. Thanks Janine!

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trends

Wednesday

Oct132021

The foolish economy of not taking a break

Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 4:51PM

“We don’t need a morning tea break, let’s keep working.”
“We will have a working lunch.“
“This is really important, so let’s keep going.”

There they are. The statements of overload and worry that ‘we won’t get through this’ so ‘we have to push on’.

As a participant and team member I’ve experienced leaders who won’t take a break.

And as a speaker and facilitator, I’ve had clients not want their team to take a break. I often have to fight for, advocate for or at worst, implore leaders to give people a break.

The science is well documented: We need breaks.

Not just to recover physically, but mentally ... to synthesise information, consolidate information and even ... go to the bathroom!

A lot of good stuff happens in the break from the talking, thinking, listening and pushing of information.

Connections, reflections and important thought processes are being executed. Brain actions that may not be possible during the intensity of the never-ending workshop or meeting need to happen, and a break is when it occurs.

To think we ‘can’t afford’ to take a break is foolish.

What are you worried will happen?
Disengagement? Loss of momentum? Slower progress? It’s already happened because there wasn’t a break.

At the least, break so people can empty their ‘cognitive load’ - the information they’re holding in their brain, and just like a truck we can’t carry more when it’s full. We must empty and ‘unload’ before we expect people to ‘reload’.

Breaks are mandated in fields like aviation, healthcare, transportation, building and construction ... even retail.

The consequences are disastrous when breaks are ignored or deemed less important than pushing on through.

🌕 Break during a meeting or workshop
🌕 Break between meetings and workshops
🌕 Break during intense and heavy work
🌕 And break for longer than you think.

You don’t need a complicated well-being program. Just take more breaks.

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