How we work/Resisting the return/Flexibility is the future/Say no to the meeting

What next after purpose and outcomes?

Purpose has been getting our attention in recent times. Like?Simon Sinek’s Start with Why movement or?Karen James’ book ‘On Purpose’, there are processes, methods and tools for helping us make purpose a priority.?

Outcomes and results have been getting our attention too. We frequently consider the goals, targets and impacts we’re striving for.?

But there’s something missing here that doesn’t receive enough attention.?

It’s the HOW … how we work, how we do the purposeful work to achieve the outcomes.?

Too often our ways of working default to what we’ve been doing for years and years.?

And these ways are rapidly becoming outdated because they create stress, waste time and slow progress.?

It can be hard to know where to start or what to change when you introduce newer ways of working in a team or business.?

Learning, tools and techniques that help INDIVIDUALS work in new ways can be a brilliant place to begin.?

It helps people try things out, get used to new ways and experience for themselves, without the forced pressure of an ‘everyone has to do this’ culture.?

It takes into account PREFERENCE … we have ways that we prefer or that work better for us.?

Looking at HOW you work can generate great gains in progress, help us with the rapid creation of value and deliver an inspiring lift in engagement.?

Redirect some attention from purpose and outcomes … and rethink HOW you and your team are working.?

It’s a beautiful breath of fresh air in times that are pretty tough.?

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Resisting the return?

‘Come back to the office,’ businesses are saying.?

‘Nope’, employees are saying.?

Or passively aggressively, they’re not saying much at all to the request to return to work in an office.?

While remote and hybrid work have truly worked for many companies in boosting productivity, the return to the office isn’t as easy a shift to make.?

And there’s nothing as fierce as a new pandemic to force it along - as our inital change to remote work in 2020 received.?

Jessica Stillman?writes in?Inc. Magazine ?about recent research on how leaders are getting resistance and push back, ignoring calls to return to the office.?

It’s wise advice to not go all parental on your team. Don’t force, reprimand and waggle fingers at staff who aren’t obeying orders.?

The problem is right there : orders.?

Work has changed.?

People have changed.?

The job market has changed too.?

There are other employers working in newer ways, who will be more flexible or will facilitate more engaging interactions to ease through this next change in work.?

Stop pushing and requiring. It’s an old way of thinking and working.?

Leaders need to adapt. Again.?

?????? What do you think??

Is returning to an office necessary in your role? How can leaders remain flexible in these times??

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Mentoring with me?

As some clients come to the end of their 12 month 1:1 mentoring programs with me (at the end of the financial year), a few slots have opened up.?

Is this for you? Would you like to work with me 1:1?

If you’re:

??a leader leading a team,?

??a committed employee building your career?

or?

??a business owner/consultant looking to build your prescence …?

Keep reading as these are the people I help most frequently and successfully.?

A few ways Mentoring 1:1 can help:

?? Working Together : a mentor who is walking with you, beside you over the next 12 months, looking out for you, guiding and advising you.

?? Clarity : there are always many things to do, many choices to make. Our sessions together drive clarity and give you certainty about exactly what to do next and the steps after that.?

??Rapid Problem Solving : when faced with choices or indecision, we will solve it, swiftly.?

??Knowledge, Hacks and Insights : I share my learnings, smart hacks, short cuts, clever tools and ways of working I use in my practice. They can help you too.?

??Bigger goals achieved : the larger initiatives, projects or achievements you want to make happen … are more likely to happen with a mentor.?

?? Read more ?https://lnkd.in/d_f9BDcj ?and ?https://lnkd.in/d6R6q6eD

?? Or message me directly on LinkedIn

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Say no to the meeting?

That’s right. Say no or decline … but don’t just leave it there.?

I want you to contribute in another way. A way that doesn’t involve you being there all the time in the long, dull meeting where you don’t do or say or contribute anything.?

Asynchronous work is getting traction right now because it’s an immediate way to unlock time in your diary, release yourself from long, unproductive meetings, and take greater control over the progress you’re making.?

In my latest book ‘Sync Async : Making progress easier in the changing world of work’, I share the approaches, tools and thinking that are helping teams and leaders make better progress sooner.?

And accepting all those meeting invites is NOT one of the tools!?

In fact, it’s the reverse.?

It’s not that you won’t contribute or participate in what the meeting is trying to do - you will; just in another way or at another time.?

Try:

??Shared documents.?

??Visual collaboration tools.?

??Video recordings.?

??Audio messages.?

??Email.?

??Uninterrupted blocks of time for work.?

These are all ways that teams are adopting more frequently today to get more of their work done … asynchronously.?

It’s reducing interruptions, removing boredom and redirecting valuable time to the work that truly matters.?

??????What will happen if you say no??

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Flexibility is the immediate future of work?

We’re rethinking not just where we want to work … but when.?

“An emphatic 79 percent of people want flexibility about location (where) .. an even more significant 94 percent want flexibility about their schedule (when).”

What about the collaboration, the socialization in the office …?

“Most people do value the interaction they get, and the networking and the socializing and the learning that they get, in the office; they just don’t want to do it five days a week,”

Flexible everything.?

Read more in this great article in?The Atlantic?by?Yasmeen Serhan ?- “How the Rest of the World Is Returning to the Office”.?

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That's it for this week's digest folks.

Lynne

Lynne Cazaly is a work futurist and expert in new ways of working.?

She is an international keynote speaker and award winning author with her ideas and thoughts published in 10 books. She consults to leaders, teams and businesses guiding them through their adoption of new and creative ways of working as they respond to changes in work.?

She is an exceptional keynote speaker and from her years of radio broadcasting experience it’s clear to see why. She crafts, delivers and presents messages that inspire, entertain and change audiences.?

Lynne Cazaly has lectured with leading universities in undergraduate and post graduate programs on advertising, marketing, influence, speaking, media, change and communications.?

She is a CSP - a Certified Speaking Professional - a certification only a small number of public speakers in the world have achieved.?

Lynne Cazaly appears in the media, on television, radio and in print and social media as an expert on work, the future of work, leadership and workplace trends.

Her in person and online sessions are well-known for being interactive, informative and inspiring, leaving an imprint and impact on people for years to come.?

Read more at www.lynnecazaly.com