?? 700 New Ways of Working Experiments Later...

After crunching some numbers this week, I was pleasantly surprised to learn how many New Ways of Working experiments I’ve facilitated... Well over 700! And that’s just the ones that have a) been captured and b) people have been held accountable for.

Much of my work involves encouraging people to run small, safe-to-fail experiments focussing on the patterns found in progressive organizations and teams. I do this via the New Ways of Working newsletter, Playbook (link at the bottom), my consulting and training, and perhaps most of all my online course, for which I keep fastidious records.

Over the last three years, 150 people have attended 12 sell-out cohorts, with each cohort designing around 50 experiments over a five-week period, and many participants continuing to experiment together long after the course has ended. I recently embarked on the mammoth task of analysing the trends in these 700 or so experiments, and the findings are proving fascinating!

Are you ready to experiment with New Ways of Working in your team? If so, grab one of the last few spots on the course, starting October 18.

I have plenty of data left to analyse, but I’m excited to share some preliminary findings on the emerging trends from my analysis of the first five cohorts. So here it is ?

This is what New Ways of Working enthusiasts like you are experimenting with in their teams:

1. Increasing Feedback Culture: Many experiments involve inviting and offering feedback within teams. This reflects a trend towards fostering open communication and continuous improvement.
2. Meeting Optimization: Several experiments focus on making meetings more purposeful, efficient, and inclusive. This includes using Liberating Structures, implementing clear meeting agendas, and reducing the number of meetings when necessary.
3. Participatory Decision-making: There's a clear emphasis on empowering team members, promoting collaboration, and giving individuals more agency in decision-making processes.
4. Psychological Safety: Creating psychologically safe environments is a recurring theme. Techniques like check-ins, feedback sessions, and psychological safety hacks are being used to promote open dialogue and trust.
5. Experimentation & Adaptation: Teams are experimenting with various methods and structures to improve their processes, decision-making, and communication. This reflects a culture of continuous experimentation and adaptation.
6. Personal Growth & Development: Many experiments are aimed at growth, both for individuals and teams. This includes activities like creating user manuals, seeking feedback, and focusing on strengths and preferences.
7. Clear Communication: There's an emphasis on clear and transparent communication, whether it's about sharing information, setting meeting agendas, or clarifying the purpose of sessions.
8. Leadership Development: Leaders are actively involved in many experiments, either seeking feedback, providing it, or participating in sessions that promote leadership development.
9. Technology Adoption: Experimentation with new tools like Jamboard, Mural, and EasyRetro demonstrates an effort to leverage technology for better collaboration and productivity.
10. Culture Transformation: Many experiments aim to shift the culture within teams or organizations. This includes addressing challenges related to culture, climate, and mindset.

If these themes sound like something you’d like to work on with your team, then reach out to grab one (or all) of the final three spaces on my online course, starting October 18.

This is just a taste of things to come. Charts, graphs, deeper analysis and way more insights will follow once I’ve crunched the rest of the data after a holiday in St Ives, Cornwall ?? I can’t wait to share more with you! Meanwhile, please reach out with any comments or questions about these early findings.

?? You can help me to share New Way of Working insights by sharing this with a colleague, with your team/org, or on socials - I’d really appreciate that. ??

?? www.marco.work | ?? New Ways of Working Playbook