1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:05,000 Speaker 1: A great work culture doesn't appear overnight, and building an 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 1: awesome culture can be especially difficult for remote first organizations 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: where you're not working in the same office location every day. 4 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: My behavioral science consultancy Inventium is one of those organizations, 5 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: and even though we've all loved being remote since twenty twenty, 6 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: maintaining an excellent culture has still been challenging. So in 7 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:35,239 Speaker 1: true Inventium fashion, we decided to run some experiments to 8 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: help make working at Inventium as satisfying and engaging as possible. 9 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: My teammate Charlotte Rush, who also happens to be an 10 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: organizational psychologist and head of new product development, walks through 11 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: the five culture experiments we ran in twenty twenty two 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: and explains how you can use them in your own 13 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: organization if you feel like your team isn't as connected 14 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: as it could be. My name is doctor Amantha Imma. 15 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: I'm an organizational psychologist and the founder of Behavioral Science 16 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: Consultancy Inventium, and this is How I Work, a show 17 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,399 Speaker 1: about how to help you do your best work. Before 18 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: we get into today's show, I have some news. I'm 19 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: going to be taking a little break from how I 20 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: work for the next few weeks, and I'll be back 21 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 1: with a new show, How I Live towards the end 22 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,759 Speaker 1: of April. How I Live will give you an inside 23 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 1: look at the advice, practices and processes that have significantly 24 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 1: impacted the world's most accomplished people to boost happiness, meaning 25 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: and purpose in their life. In the meantime, I'll still 26 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: be releasing my favorite Tip episodes to give you some 27 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: little bits of practical advice on how to work better 28 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: while the main show is on a little break now. 29 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: Today's show, my Chat with Charlotte, or Chart as I 30 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: call it, about our experiments into culture in a remote 31 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:14,079 Speaker 1: working world, starts with an email that she received from 32 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: someone who was looking for help. 33 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 2: It was very timely. It came in just earlier this week, 34 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 2: and I spoke to him yesterday and he said, I 35 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 2: lead a team of forty engineers and I'm looking to 36 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 2: bring a bit of spark back to the team. After 37 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 2: two years of lockdowns and switching to a work from 38 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 2: home policy whereby individuals in my team are in the 39 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 2: office about one or two days a week, I feel 40 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 2: my team is disengaged and has moved from being a 41 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 2: team that was excited about the work they were doing 42 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 2: to a team that is phoning it in. The culture 43 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,799 Speaker 2: that I lovingly nurtured for over ten years is slowly dying. 44 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 2: I'd love to have a chat about what an engagement 45 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 2: with inventim could look like. Thanks. 46 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: So this is interesting because we've been thinking so much 47 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: about culture because that inventing. And we're remote first, which 48 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: means that we don't have a physical office anywhere. We 49 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: gave that up about two years ago. Now, previously we 50 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: had offices in Melbourne and Sydney, and I remember a 51 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,079 Speaker 1: little while ago we came across this thing called the 52 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: hybrid paradox. Can you explain what that is? Absolutely? 53 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:24,679 Speaker 2: And I don't have the stats, so maybe you're a 54 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 2: good need to jump here with the stats. But there 55 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 2: was this interesting research from HBr, actually not HBr, it 56 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 2: was from Microsoft's Future of Work research and they found 57 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 2: that whilst a significant majority of employees were saying, we 58 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 2: love the flexibility that working from home enforced from COVID 59 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 2: has really brought to us. We love that we can 60 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 2: work from home, we can be really flexible, at the 61 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 2: same time, a significant majority of employees were saying, I 62 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 2: want to spend more time with my team in person. 63 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 2: And this is what they called the hybrid because it's 64 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 2: kind of like you're saying, I want flexibility and I 65 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 2: want to do what I want to do, but I 66 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 2: also want to be part of a team and be 67 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 2: with that team in person, and that's a bit of 68 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 2: a paradox. 69 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: We think so much about culture as organizational psychologists, and 70 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: around mid last year we decided that we'd run a 71 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: few experiments because I think, by and large, the culture 72 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:24,279 Speaker 1: and invent him is a really healthy one, and we 73 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: do a pulse check every month. Our engagement scores are 74 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: always very high and well above industry average. But we 75 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: were looking to I guess improve on how connected people 76 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 1: feel to each other, and I guess optimize that when 77 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: we're not face to face. We only gather face to 78 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 1: face maybe four or five times a year. So I 79 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: thought it'd be good if we talk through what those 80 00:04:55,640 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: different ideas or initiatives were that we implement or tested, 81 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 1: because they were all experiments. It was a big six 82 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 1: month experiment with a bunch of different initiatives and what 83 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: we learned and what we're actually going to keep. So 84 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 1: I'm thinking, why don't we why don't we talk about 85 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: BPG first, which always reminds me of BFG the Role 86 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: Dale book, but this is completely different, So tell us 87 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: about BPG. 88 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 2: So BPG is actually an idea that what I love 89 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,559 Speaker 2: about BPG is the team member who submitted this idea 90 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 2: because we ran an idea generation workshop where we got 91 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 2: everyone to submit ideas to this challenge that we were 92 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 2: trying to solve around boosting connection and camaraderie as a 93 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 2: team and the team member who submitted it actually didn't 94 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 2: participate in it, which I think is funny. So just 95 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 2: goes to show for all those people that are like, oh, 96 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 2: you know, you fall in love with your ideas, he 97 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:50,359 Speaker 2: didn't fall in love with it obviously. 98 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:52,279 Speaker 1: And what does BPG stand for. 99 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 2: It's Dan's for Big Personal Goal. And it's an idea 100 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:00,160 Speaker 2: that we borrowed from one of the winners of the 101 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 2: Best Places to Work competition kids Co. They're a Melbourne 102 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 2: based after school care company and they had this idea 103 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 2: where they wanted to support their people to invest time 104 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 2: in developing a new skill or working on a goal 105 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,359 Speaker 2: that's important to them. So they encouraged their employees to 106 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:19,720 Speaker 2: set a big personal goal and we did the same thing. 107 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,359 Speaker 2: So we said, you've got six months. You can choose 108 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 2: a goal. We want to support you to achieve that goal, 109 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 2: and if you do achieve your goal inventing, we'll give 110 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 2: you a one thousand dollar bonus. 111 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: What was your goal, Shat? 112 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 2: My goal was to master intermediate Spanish. 113 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: And did you know any Spanish before? 114 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 2: I did not, and I knew I knew Italian and 115 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:52,159 Speaker 2: that is helpful in some respects but also confusing in others. 116 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:57,480 Speaker 2: I frequently speak accidentally in Italian to my Spanish teacher. 117 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 2: We have a little laugh about that. Yeah, I really 118 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 2: wanted to learn Spanish. 119 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: Yeah. So my goal was to read one book a week, 120 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: but more importantly, to alternate between fiction and nonfiction because 121 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: I typically naturally read a lot of nonfiction, but I've 122 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:18,679 Speaker 1: got into I don't want to call it a rut, 123 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: because I love reading alreadings great, but I was just 124 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: binge reading fiction and it had been a few months 125 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: since I'd read a nonfiction and so I set that 126 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: for myself as a goal because I wanted to deliberately 127 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: be more balanced in fiction versus nonfiction reading. So that 128 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: was that was my goal, which I must say I 129 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 1: lost motivation for that goal because it just it just 130 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: became habitual and then I stopped tracking it. And if 131 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: you don't track a goal, I think it can be 132 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: a little bit demotivating because you don't even know if 133 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:56,119 Speaker 1: you're going to hit it. And so that's what happened 134 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: to me. But you had a very different experience, I. 135 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 2: Think with the anomaly there, I was, Yes, we did. 136 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 2: And actually when we put BPG in place, one of 137 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 2: my hypotheses or assumptions or concerns about the idea was, 138 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 2: you know, where people are going to have time to 139 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 2: invest in building a new skill. It's hard to pick 140 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 2: up a language when you're an adult. It's hard to 141 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 2: find time. And that's often a real big concern with 142 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 2: a lot of cultural initiatives is you're adding more stuff 143 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:33,079 Speaker 2: onto people's desk. And so we really looked at BPG 144 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 2: and as psychologists tried to think about how do we 145 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 2: make sure we build in these kind of behavior change 146 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 2: principles to keep people motivated. So we got people to 147 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 2: write out their goal set metrics. We had like a 148 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 2: one page we wrote that all down. We got people 149 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 2: to set commitment devices where they kind of said to themselves, 150 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 2: if I didn't achieve this goal, what will I do 151 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 2: and that'll be like a negative thing. And something that 152 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 2: I really benefited from was being able to track every 153 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 2: day because I was using duo Lingo and you get 154 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 2: like this streak where you use it every day and 155 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 2: it kind of gives you that sense of progress every 156 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,280 Speaker 2: single day. So right now I think I'm up to 157 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 2: two hundred and ten days on duo Lingo. 158 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: What was your biggest learning from the whole BPG initiative. 159 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 2: I think it comes back to that time piece I 160 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 2: wrote down originally in my hypothesis and it was like 161 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 2: one of the top ones was employees will have time 162 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 2: to work on their goals. And we had a really 163 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,319 Speaker 2: busy six months and I gathered feedback at the end 164 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 2: and I asked, you know, what were the concerns and 165 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:36,839 Speaker 2: all that and what went well, what didn't go well. 166 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 2: No one mentioned time when it came to BPG. Everyone 167 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 2: found the time because and I like to think it's 168 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 2: because of all these things that I put in place, 169 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 2: like the monthly check ins and you know, chatting to 170 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 2: everyone about their goals. But I think also it comes 171 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:53,439 Speaker 2: back to the people were doing something they cared about. 172 00:09:54,760 --> 00:10:00,359 Speaker 1: So that was BPG. Let's talk about Content Club, So 173 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: so content Club was an idea where and correct me 174 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,319 Speaker 1: if I'm not representing this idea right. But we would 175 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 1: pick a documentary and everyone would watch the documentary and 176 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: we'd come together to talk about it. So I guess 177 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: having a focal point for the conversation with the thinking 178 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: being that that would unleash all sorts of conversations that 179 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: we wouldn't normally have as a team. 180 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:27,440 Speaker 2: And is there a reason why it wasn't book Club? 181 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 2: I think because reading book takes too long. 182 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: Reading book takes too long. Although we did pick the 183 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: vow for the first documentary and that was ten hours 184 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: worth of h and we learned yet a book would 185 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: have been quicker. I think I picked that one and 186 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: people voted it and I didn't actually realize how long. 187 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: I just watched one episode. I don't know long. It 188 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:53,680 Speaker 1: was too long. I didn't even finish it and I 189 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:57,959 Speaker 1: picked it. But I think there was that. One of 190 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,200 Speaker 1: the documentaries that we did was I think it's part 191 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: of a series, I'm told and this was the Girlfriend 192 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: who Didn't Exist? Oh so good, so good, so good, 193 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,599 Speaker 1: And that was only two parts, so I think that 194 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 1: was only two hours worth of time for people. But 195 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: I went to that content club discussion. Did you go 196 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: to that one? I can't remember. 197 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 2: No, I didn't. I actually couldn't go to any of them, 198 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 2: and it was just because of timing. But that's the 199 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 2: important part. It's like everyone goes and watches this separately, 200 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:25,199 Speaker 2: like we don't sit down and watch it at the 201 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 2: same time. You watch it in your own time, but 202 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 2: then you come together and the person that submitted the 203 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 2: documentary to watch prepares questions to guide a good conversation 204 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 2: about the documentary. 205 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's funny. I was skeptical about this idea 206 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: because I don't like being told what to watch on TV, 207 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: like I don't, and I like, I feel like I'm 208 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: not someone that can just sit down and watch anything. 209 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:54,079 Speaker 1: I'm annoyingly picky about these things, and. 210 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 2: So should I just never give you recommendations of what 211 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 2: to watch? 212 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:58,960 Speaker 1: No, But it's my choice though, so I'm happy to 213 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,560 Speaker 1: take recommendations, but I don't want to be told what 214 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: to watch. But anyway, I did. I did watch this 215 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: untold documentary and I went to that particular content club. 216 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,199 Speaker 1: I think I went to most of the content club discussions, 217 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:18,199 Speaker 1: and I was really surprised it We talked about the 218 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: documentary for a little bit, but the themes in the 219 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 1: documentary are things like catfishing is a really big one. 220 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,080 Speaker 1: I guess, you know, different sorts of trauma that you 221 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: can experience in relationships and in dating, and you know, 222 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: how do you really know the person that you are 223 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: dating or in a relationship with. And I feel like, 224 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:45,560 Speaker 1: you know, ten percent of the conversation was about the documentary, 225 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:50,079 Speaker 1: but ninety percent was people sharing stories that were incredibly 226 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:55,199 Speaker 1: personal and some sort of you know, relatively traumatic about 227 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: their own relationship history. A lot of stuff that I'd 228 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 1: never heard team members talk about before, even you know, 229 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: ones that I've worked with for years. And I really 230 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:10,080 Speaker 1: felt like that discussion, you know, deepened a lot of 231 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 1: relationships because it brought up or it led us talking 232 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: about things that just wouldn't naturally be brought up in 233 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: conversation if it was, say, you know, a Friday virtual 234 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: drink session for example. We will be back soon talking 235 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: about our next initiative, the Kindness Budget. If you're looking 236 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: for more tips to improve the way that you work, 237 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:39,680 Speaker 1: I write a short fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool 238 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: things that I've discovered that helped me work better, ranging 239 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: from software and gadgets that I'm loving through the interesting 240 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: research findings. You can sign up for that at Howiwork 241 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 1: dot com That's how I Work dot co. Let's talk 242 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 1: about the kindness budget. Tell us about the kindness budget 243 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:00,719 Speaker 1: at Shah. 244 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,439 Speaker 2: Kindness budget is essentially everyone in the team was allocated 245 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,559 Speaker 2: a budget of three hundred dollars where they could use 246 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 2: it to shower members in the team with kindness. And 247 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 2: that might be because that person in the team that 248 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 2: you want to give a gift to is having a 249 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 2: hard week, maybe they've had a really great week, and 250 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 2: so you would send them a gift. And then once 251 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:33,280 Speaker 2: you receive a gift, you had posted on our team 252 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 2: WhatsApp channel to share the kindness with the rest of 253 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 2: the team. 254 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: What were some of your memories of that the initiative. 255 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 2: I had some surgery during the six months, and I 256 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 2: live in Sydney. I live alone, and I remember my 257 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 2: parents weren't around, but my friends. She drove me to 258 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 2: hospital at day, drove me home, and it's just obviously 259 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 2: nice to have someone around and helping you and just 260 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 2: being there when something like that happens. And I remember 261 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 2: when I got home, I was lying on the couch 262 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 2: kind of resting, and I got a delivery. I actually 263 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 2: got two deliveries that day, two gifts, two kindest gifts. 264 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 2: But the one that I got from Georgia and the 265 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 2: team was some gelato and. 266 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 1: It was so lovely, like because that's. 267 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 2: What you want when you're like feeling a little bit sore, 268 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 2: you know, and George is like the mom of the team, 269 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 2: and so it kind of felt like my mom had 270 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 2: given me a present. But the other thing that I 271 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 2: loved was, oh, this is another Georgia one. Gosh, George 272 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 2: is so kind. She got some games for Zoe. Zoe 273 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 2: went away for two weeks over to the US for 274 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 2: some work with some of our clients, and Zoe's got 275 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 2: a young son, and Georgia arranged for these. I think 276 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 2: there were board games so that when Zoe came back 277 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 2: she could have some nice moments with her son to 278 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 2: play these games and to reconnect after being away from 279 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 2: each other. 280 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: That's nice. What was what was your biggest learning from 281 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: from the the Kindness Budget initiative. 282 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 2: Something you continue to learn when you are a manager, 283 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 2: a leader, or someone that's responsible for culture is the 284 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 2: difference between intentions and kind of like outcomes or what 285 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 2: actually happens with people's behavior. And we talk about that 286 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:31,400 Speaker 2: a lot in the innovation world with customers, you know, 287 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 2: customers intentions and their actual behaviors. And what we kind 288 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 2: of continue to learn at Inventum is the importance of 289 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 2: being really clear about the intentions about policies, practices, and 290 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 2: ideas and cultural initiatives we have. I think we took 291 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 2: for granted that we said to people, it's not just 292 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 2: about giving someone something for the sake of it. It's 293 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 2: not just about having that budget and using the budget. 294 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 2: I think we kind of fell into the trap of 295 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 2: the budget is there, you have to use the whole budget, 296 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 2: whereas the intention was you give a random act of 297 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,439 Speaker 2: kindness or you give a gift when there's a specific reason. 298 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 2: So that's something that we've learned is to be really 299 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 2: clear about that. For the next iteration, I think something 300 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,919 Speaker 2: else that really helped that idea which wasn't planned and 301 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 2: this was created by one of our teammates, ev Where 302 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 2: at Inventing we have a thing called the OPOM, which 303 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,720 Speaker 2: stands for one page Operating Manual, and this is something 304 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,680 Speaker 2: that we get that everyone in the team has completed 305 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 2: and new starters also complete it. That basically is, you know, 306 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 2: in the same way that software and hardware comes with 307 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:42,880 Speaker 2: an instruction manual or an operating manual, people don't yet. 308 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,439 Speaker 2: People are so much more complex than any kind of 309 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:49,879 Speaker 2: machine that we can use, and so the OPOM is 310 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:53,160 Speaker 2: kind of like an operating manual to using that human 311 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 2: like what are you, know, the things that you love 312 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:58,920 Speaker 2: to do, your strengths, how do people bring that out 313 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 2: of you? What your weaknesses are, the areas that you're 314 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 2: looking to improve, How do you like to be communicated with? 315 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: What are your pet peeves? Things like that. So everyone 316 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: does an op ON that's more of a work focused one, 317 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 1: But then Ev created a personal op HOM spreadsheet where 318 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: she asked people different questions. Do you remember some of 319 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: the questions sah that are on that. 320 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 2: It was things like I hate it when and like 321 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 2: you complete the stup or I can't resist yes, or 322 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 2: like my fate like something I'm googling right now, and 323 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 2: what I love to do to relax. Things like that. 324 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,239 Speaker 1: Yeah, so some really great prompts to get to know 325 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: people better. And I actually found that super useful. And 326 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: and you know, coming back to our goal of you know, 327 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: strengthening connections and camaraderie, just knowing those things and actually 328 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:58,840 Speaker 1: remembering them because you're thinking about them in the context 329 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:00,920 Speaker 1: of what kind of a gift will I get this person. 330 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: I really liked that part of the Kindness budget as well. 331 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: You know, it's obviously very nice to give, but it 332 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:10,720 Speaker 1: was a nice way to get to know people where 333 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: it's where it's quite contextual, and so then you remember 334 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: what you're learning, you're supposed to learn something and forget it. 335 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 2: And then you feel like you're giving a really tailored gift. 336 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:24,719 Speaker 2: And I think that also there's the research around kindness 337 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 2: in terms of the person that benefits the most of 338 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 2: the person that gives it. So if you feel like, oh, 339 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:30,760 Speaker 2: this is a good one because I know that this 340 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 2: person has said they love this, then I think you're 341 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 2: going to get more of the benefits out of it. 342 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 1: Absolutely. Now there are two more initiatives that we did. 343 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: One was virtual caves, and I love virtual caves, but 344 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 1: I feel like I'm the main person that loves them. 345 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,479 Speaker 1: But anyway, what a virtual cave is I think you 346 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 1: like them too, though sure you don't. So what a 347 00:19:54,720 --> 00:20:01,200 Speaker 1: virtual cave is is everyone Essentially working in a Google 348 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,879 Speaker 1: Hangouts room together is the easiest way to describe it. 349 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: So we block two hours in the diary, and this 350 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:10,959 Speaker 1: was two hours once a fortnight on Tuesday mornings, and 351 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: there would be a Google Hangout to click on, and 352 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,400 Speaker 1: theoretically we would all click on that at the beginning 353 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 1: of the two hour sprint. Essentially we would share what 354 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 1: are the things that we want to achieve over the 355 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: next two hours, and we'd obviously say hello and how 356 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,639 Speaker 1: is everyone. Then we'd take a midway break where we 357 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: would check in and see how we're all going, and 358 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: then we'd do the same at the end of the 359 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:41,400 Speaker 1: two hours. And that's how virtual cave works. Typically people 360 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: would bring along deep work or work it they've been 361 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:47,640 Speaker 1: procrastinating over. Because one of the things that I love 362 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:52,119 Speaker 1: about virtual caves is it's like you brought up the 363 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: idea of commitment devices before, and this is it's like 364 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: a soft commitment device where you feel like you should 365 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: be working because other people are watching you, so you 366 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: kind of feel accountable to those people even though they're 367 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: not actually watching you, like they're not on your even 368 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 1: though they could, you know, open up the Google Hangouts 369 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: tab they're probably in Microsoft Word or something like that 370 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:17,920 Speaker 1: doing something completely different, but you still feel really accountable 371 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:21,879 Speaker 1: and I really I find that very very motivating. So 372 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: I look forward to virtual caves and I try to 373 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: schedule things around them, even though it's not an official 374 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:32,360 Speaker 1: meeting per se. What was your experience of virtual caves. 375 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 2: Well, this one was interesting because it was an idea 376 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:38,119 Speaker 2: we were already doing. We'd been doing on like for 377 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,399 Speaker 2: about almost two years, but it was an idea that 378 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 2: we continued to that we decided to double down on 379 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 2: for the experiment, and we also had to iterate with 380 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,040 Speaker 2: and I think that's important with all these cultural initiatives. 381 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:52,119 Speaker 2: You know, as much as possible, you want to run 382 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 2: an experiment where you keep things constant, but it's like 383 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 2: also being flexible to iterate on the go. So before 384 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,239 Speaker 2: the six month experiment, I think we were only doing 385 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 2: it once a month. Actually it was me. I would 386 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:04,880 Speaker 2: book it in and I'd just remember. I'd be like, oh, 387 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 2: I've got a book in a virtual cave, and that 388 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 2: was you know, sometimes I'd forget for three months. And 389 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:12,879 Speaker 2: so we decided to do it twice a week and 390 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:15,400 Speaker 2: we had a shallow work cave and a deep work cave, 391 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 2: and then we found it was too much and people 392 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 2: weren't coming because there was too many of them, and 393 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 2: so then we moved it to fortnightly. And we also 394 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 2: said to people, it doesn't have to be deep work. 395 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 2: You can bring whenever you want. And I think that 396 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:30,600 Speaker 2: that iterating on the go was really important. 397 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 1: Let's move on to our final initiatives, which were which 398 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: we called quarterly Challenges, which is a very nondescript name. 399 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: What was the quarterly challenges idea? So this is where. 400 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:50,320 Speaker 2: We had previously done some challenges like Steptember where for 401 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,400 Speaker 2: the month of September we would all try to take 402 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 2: as many steps as possible, we would track it, there 403 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 2: was prizes and all that kind of thing. So we 404 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,679 Speaker 2: decided to do that this was quarterly and we had 405 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:04,520 Speaker 2: two people in the team, so that was an important thing. 406 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 2: Which with each of these ideas, like it wasn't you 407 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,399 Speaker 2: and me running them all, we got people in the 408 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 2: team to opt in to own ideas. So for quarterly Challenges, 409 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 2: it was Zoe and Sasha and they got to design 410 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 2: these challenges that we would do as a team, but 411 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:19,360 Speaker 2: obviously separately. 412 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: And so one of the challenges was Nature November where 413 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: Zoe and Sash I think we were divided into two teams, 414 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: so that's that's also a thing. So I think was 415 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: it ever about individual challenges there? It has always been 416 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: a team based thing, hasn't it. 417 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:42,639 Speaker 2: It was always a team based thing, and so for 418 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,920 Speaker 2: Nature November we were like teammate and timb But then 419 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,479 Speaker 2: there was feedback at the end of Nature November that 420 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 2: sometimes people felt too much pressure because of the team 421 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,400 Speaker 2: and not wanting to let down the team. So then 422 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:58,400 Speaker 2: the final thing we did was an individual based one, 423 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 2: which I can't remember. 424 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: I can't remember that either anyway. 425 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 2: So you and I am motivated by the team stuff. 426 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I definitely am into the team stuff. Again. 427 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: I like external accountability. I find that quite helpful to 428 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 1: Nature November. There was a checklist of thirty things. Some 429 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: were places, objects basically things to get us all into 430 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: nature more in November, and then we had to share 431 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 1: photo evidence that we'd found the object or been to 432 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: the place within our WhatsApp group and that like that 433 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:36,920 Speaker 1: was an interesting one, to be honest, that was probably 434 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: my least favorite of all the quarterly challenges that we've done. 435 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: I loved September. I think I love the exercise related ones. 436 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,640 Speaker 2: I loved September. I think it was during lockdown. Yeah, 437 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:49,879 Speaker 2: so it kind of it was like you had this 438 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,959 Speaker 2: narrowed focus on walking every day because it was lockdown 439 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 2: and that's all we could do. And I remember walking 440 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,960 Speaker 2: around like my house with a glass of wine at 441 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 2: like ten o'clock at night, just being like, keep walking 442 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 2: but nature. November actually was the highlight of Evelina's like 443 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,920 Speaker 2: last six months that she shared this week. She said 444 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 2: that she loved that on weekends, it really pushed her 445 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 2: and her husband and their two kids to get out 446 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 2: and plan things and go to a farm, for example, 447 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 2: go for a hike. And that's what you want, right, 448 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,680 Speaker 2: Like you want your people to be having really fulfilling 449 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 2: weekends so that they come back feeling good on Monday. 450 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,480 Speaker 2: And isn't that great if they attribute that feeling good 451 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 2: to something that the organization has encouraged them to do. 452 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:42,680 Speaker 1: Look where have we ended up with these five initiatives? 453 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 2: So just remembering that this was all to help us 454 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 2: to solve this problem of boosting connection and comriderie in 455 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 2: the team. So at the start of the six months, 456 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:56,400 Speaker 2: I got a baseline of like how connected and how 457 00:25:56,400 --> 00:26:00,400 Speaker 2: connected do you feel to the team, And then at 458 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 2: the end of the six months, I tested that again. 459 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 2: But then I also asked for the specific item for 460 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,840 Speaker 2: the specific ideas, like which like how much did this 461 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 2: idea BPG make you feel connected to your team members 462 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 2: for example? And I got results and you know, just 463 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:20,159 Speaker 2: basically saw which idea was the best across the team, 464 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:26,439 Speaker 2: as well as gathering qualitative feedback. So basically consistently, the 465 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 2: majority of people voted the Kindness Budget as either the 466 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 2: top or the second idea for boosting connection and camaraderie 467 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 2: relative to the other ideas. The second most popular was BPG. 468 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 2: BPG was polarizing because there were two people on the 469 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:43,520 Speaker 2: team that just didn't want to do it. And that's fine, 470 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 2: it's all opt in, right, but that's pretty significant when 471 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:48,639 Speaker 2: we have At the time, I only had ten people 472 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,199 Speaker 2: on the team, so but BPG was kind of second. 473 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,399 Speaker 2: But now we've decided, okay, Kindness Budget. We've listened to 474 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,119 Speaker 2: the people. All the other ideas were quite loved and 475 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:01,920 Speaker 2: we're not killing them, but we're trying to narrow our focus. 476 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:04,840 Speaker 2: And so for the next six months we're experimenting. We're 477 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:09,159 Speaker 2: continuing to experiment with Kindness Budget, and we want to see, like, 478 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,880 Speaker 2: we don't want these things to just become to fade 479 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 2: into the background and to be taken for granted. So 480 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:17,440 Speaker 2: we very much framed it as it's just another six 481 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 2: month trial and at the end of this financial year, 482 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 2: we want to see if Kindness Budget is still doing 483 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 2: that job of boosting connection and camaraderie. 484 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:30,960 Speaker 1: So what aside from obviously getting inspiration from these five 485 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 1: ideas that we've talked about, what advice would you give 486 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:38,640 Speaker 1: to people listening who are like, you know, I feel 487 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:45,040 Speaker 1: like you know, connectedness has maybe deteriorated now that we're 488 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,199 Speaker 1: in a hybrid workplace or a remote first workplace like 489 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: in Vantium, What like what would be one or two 490 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: things that people could do now to make some progress 491 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,960 Speaker 1: on solving for that challenge. 492 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 2: I think a lot of leaders out there gather engagement 493 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 2: survey data, but what I kind of hear from these 494 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:06,480 Speaker 2: leaders is that they find it really hard to interpret 495 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 2: and to know what to do next. Even if you 496 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,080 Speaker 2: get good or bad results, what do you do next? 497 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:13,639 Speaker 2: And so what we would always encourage you to do 498 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 2: is go out and speak to your people and have 499 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,000 Speaker 2: these conversations and try to understand what is the biggest 500 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,679 Speaker 2: problem or the biggest challenge, and then solve that together 501 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 2: as a team, just like an innovation process. And so 502 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,360 Speaker 2: my advice would be, if you are a leader, go 503 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 2: speak to your people, try and find the common themes 504 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:36,920 Speaker 2: around what is potentially preventing people from feeling connected and 505 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 2: feeling that positive culture that you're trying to create, and 506 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 2: try to narrow down on really specifically what is the 507 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 2: biggest problem. We kind of narrow down to this idea 508 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 2: of we don't have an office, so we're lacking that 509 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 2: feeling of connection and camaraderie. And then work with your 510 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 2: team to co create solutions and to run these experiments 511 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:03,840 Speaker 2: with them, as opposed to feeling like you as a 512 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:07,360 Speaker 2: leader have to give them something or do something to them, 513 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 2: co create it with them. 514 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,680 Speaker 1: I also think that while you can focus on what's lacking, 515 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,080 Speaker 1: you can also go what are our strengths and how 516 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 1: can we optimize them? Because I feel like, you know, 517 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: you could easily listen to this and go, oh, was 518 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 1: everyone just feeling like a lone wolf a inventium? And 519 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:26,680 Speaker 1: I don't think that's the case at all, I think 520 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: that you know that there is quite a high sense 521 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:34,600 Speaker 1: of connectedness considering we haven't been co located in the 522 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:38,920 Speaker 1: same office for gosh, like three years now or something 523 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,960 Speaker 1: like that, and so you know, on the flip side, 524 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: you could go, well, what are our strengths and how 525 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 1: can we optimize them and what are some ideas to 526 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: do that? So hopefully, you know, I hope that, like 527 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: for people listening, it's been helpful, it sparked some ideas. 528 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: I feel like we get so many questions about this 529 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: Shah in terms of creating a really great culture when 530 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: people not in the same building every single day anymore. 531 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: And for people that want to connect with your Shat, 532 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,520 Speaker 1: because you do so much great writing on the interwebs 533 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:15,240 Speaker 1: and you're just awesome, what's the best way to connect 534 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 1: with you? 535 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 2: Probably via LinkedIn, So Charlotte rush At invent him on LinkedIn, 536 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,360 Speaker 2: and you know you can find me on Instagram if. 537 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: You want different kind of inspiration there. Fantastic. Well, thanks 538 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: for having a chat, Shat. Thank you hope today you 539 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: got you thinking differently about remote culture and maybe feeling 540 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 1: inspired to run some experiments at your organization if you're 541 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 1: remote first, like Inventium, or maybe if you're just working 542 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: in a hybrid environment where you're simply not in the 543 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: same office all the time. Thank you for sharing part 544 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:54,680 Speaker 1: of your day with me by listening to How I Work. 545 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:57,640 Speaker 1: If you're keen for more tips on how to work better, 546 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 1: connect with me via LinkedIn ortam. I'm very easy to find. 547 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 1: Just search for Amantha Imba. How I Work was recorded 548 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: on the traditional land of the Warrangery people, part of 549 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: the cool And Nation. I am so grateful for being 550 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,719 Speaker 1: able to work and live on this beautiful land, and 551 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 1: I want to pay my respects to elder's past, present 552 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,880 Speaker 1: and emerging. How I Work is produced by Inventium with 553 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:28,240 Speaker 1: production support from Dead Set Studios. The producer for this 554 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:31,080 Speaker 1: episode was Liam Riordan, and thank you to Martin Nimba 555 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 1: who did the audio mix and makes everything sound better 556 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: than it would have otherwise.