Cris is an advisor and culture consultant for hybrid workplaces.  He’s done everything from establish an Australian-based biotech firm, to work as an ABC journalist and somehow acquired seven postgraduate qualifications along the way, in everything from e-commerce and business to the arts. 

Cris specialises in talent development for leaders of hybrid teams, supported by his own experience of leading and working with teams all over the world. He said rather than ‘writing the book as he went’, his learning in the early days was more desperate than that – he did whatever would work. 

On the podcast we talk about why leaders of hybrid teams need to rely less on charisma. We learn about Cris’s first attempt to give his remote team colleague a Christmas bonus and the creative way he went about it. We hear how Cris sees leaders needing to manage areas like discipline, their camera/ screen and their sound. 

Above all, Cris explains the five emerging traps for hybrid workplaces. These were spot on and are as follows: 

    Creeping unfairness – people are around 60% more likely to take sick leave when they perceive their workplace to be unfair. 
    Flexibility as a right
    Meetings becoming worse
    Siloed teams
    Hybrid hesitancy

Chatting with Cris was an insightful journey into the unique set of skills needed by hybrid leaders. He has generously shared the five traps as a detailed resource – see below. 

I highly recommend having a listen or reading Cris’s resources to learn from his solid knowledge base in this critical area of hybrid team leadership.

– Nina

------------------
Referenced: 

Discover the Delphi Method for fair hybrid meetings: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-keep-fair-your-hybrid-team-cris-popp-/

Download ‘Five Emerging Traps for Hybrid Workplaces‘ as a freebie from Cris’s website: https://hybridleadershipmethod.com/freebies

Self determination theory by Richard Ryan: https://www.bookdepository.com/Self-Determination-Theory-Richard-M.-Ryan/

Cris’s coconut and tomato curry: https://www.heynutritionlady.com/mung-bean-and-coconut-curry/

------------------
Workplace Makers is hosted and produced by Nina Fountain and team. Nina is the Founder and Workplace Strategist at The Workspace Connection. 

We share thought-provoking insights, fresh perspectives and practical strategies for leaders of the modern workplace. Sign up here: https://theworkspaceconnection.com/insights-for-leaders/

------------------
Social media: 

Nina Fountain on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafountain/
Cris Popp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crispopp/

Cris Popp on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cris_popp

Cris Popp on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crispypopp

Cris Popp on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crispopp/

Cris Popp on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYJRRkMjCGvtG1cKkxcc0ow

Five emerging traps for hybrid workplaces With Cris Popp

Most leaders of hybrid workplaces don’t realise the inefficiencies created by hybrid, which are the reason project timelines stretch out, teams become siloed and frustration levels climb. Neil Calvert takes a fantastically useful approach to helping organisations change their systems and processes, including the way hybrid teams communicate and manage their information. 

I thoroughly enjoyed having Neil on the podcast. He’s a passionate advocate for more efficient ways of working, who didn’t stop at seeing this huge need in organisations and businesses but co-created a tool that would help modern workplaces to deliver these efficiencies. 

LINQ has been applied to technology adoption, but it’s also having fantastic application in helping teams improve the quality of their meetings, in reducing ‘busy work’ and improving communication. 

I talked with Neil what type of organisation wouldn’t benefit from this approach, how quickly the change happens and the size of impact using LINQ can make to time and money.  Each of these areas is nothing short of impressive.

– Nina

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Referenced: 

Infonomics by Doug Laney – How to take an asset management approach to information; measurement, management and monetisation of information: https://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Infonomics-Laney-Douglas-B/9781138090385

Data Juice by Doug Laney – 101 stories about how organisations are squeezing value from their data: https://www.amazon.com/Data-Juice-Organizations-Squeezing-Available/dp/1737169908

Systems thinking in practice at Open University: https://www.open.ac.uk/stem/engineering-and-innovation/teaching/systems-thinking-practice/systems-thinking-practice-resources

------------------
Workplace Makers is hosted and produced by Nina Fountain and team. Nina is the Founder and Workplace Strategist at The Workspace Connection. 

We share thought-provoking insights, fresh perspectives and practical strategies for leaders of the modern workplace. Sign up here: https://theworkspaceconnection.com/insights-for-leaders/

------------------
Social media: 

Nina Fountain on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafountain/
Neil Calvert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilcalvert

Neil Calvert's website: https://www.linq.it/

Achieve Instant Change In Hybrid Teams With Neil Calvert

Real estate can be a powerful source of competitive advantage. When leaders want to make it so.

McKinsey recently said that the first step is to determine the corporate metrics and objectives that you want to achieve. The next is to identify the moments that matter for employees, suppliers, and customers to achieve those metrics and objectives.

Drawing on over a decade of experience with supporting leaders to maximise the benefits of flexible workplaces, there are three generic moments that matter. Every organisation could start by considering these. 

In this podcast, I share two keys in how we think about communication when working hybrid, the three moments that matter – meetings, important conversations and opportunities for connection, and one simple tool that supports us to communicate more effectively in each of these moments. 

Because communication shouldn’t be hard. 

– Nina

------------------
Referenced: 


------------------
Workplace Makers is hosted and produced by Nina Fountain and team. Nina is the Founder and Workplace Strategist at The Workspace Connection. 

We share thought-provoking insights, fresh perspectives and practical strategies for leaders of the modern workplace. Sign up here: https://theworkspaceconnection.com/insights-for-leaders/

------------------
Social media: 

Nina Fountain on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafountain/

Three Top Moments That Matter For Collaborating When Hybrid With Nina Fountain

Vanessa Tanicien is an expert in cross-functional collaboration and strategy. She has facilitated 1000+ workshops, events,  team-building activities, and strategy sessions for executives and teams. 

When I first heard Vanessa speak, I was impressed with her ability to distill some of the core challenges of hybrid communication into bite-size concepts we can work with. 

Vanessa had a bunch of practical insights for leaders, including these two key concepts: 

    Deblurring – how to remove confusion so that you and your team can stay aligned
    Email crafting for negativity bias – how to manage emails for the best outcome, once you’re aware of how they come across

Leaders are potentially too drained and stressed to pay attention to these challenges and shape a positive response to hybrid work. Focusing on the right measures – lead measures vs. lag measures, can often yield better results for teams, and thereby reduce stress.

This episode is bound to interest you if you’re looking to get a handle on the internal experience of communication in a hybrid world, and how that could be limiting the effectiveness of your leadership style at this time. 

------------------
Referenced: 

The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205

Hanlon’s razor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts –  Annie Duke: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35957157-thinking-in-bets

The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities – Patrick Lencioni: https://www.amazon.com/Motive-Leaders-Abdicate-Important-Responsibilities-ebook/dp/B0851K989D

------------------
Workplace Makers is hosted and produced by Nina Fountain and team. Nina is the Founder and Workplace Strategist at The Workspace Connection. 

We share thought-provoking insights, fresh perspectives and practical strategies for leaders of the modern workplace. Sign up here: https://theworkspaceconnection.com/insights-for-leaders/

------------------
Social media: 

Nina Fountain on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafountain/
Vanessa Tanicien on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessatanicien

Vanessa Tanicien's work at Onu: https://onuworks.com/

Succeeding At Leadership Communication In The Hybrid Workplace With Vanessa Tanicien

It’s not often I talk with a guest who was the agent for a world-class athlete. That makes Parker Lee very interested in high performance – he discovered that it’s the brain, not the way you train, that makes a difference. 

Parker is now the Global Managing Partner at Territory, a strategy, innovation, transformation and story consultancy. 

Teams that work in hybrid ways can have a lot more difficulty connecting when working remotely, but this conversation brought powerful tools for leaders. 

We talked a lot about the power of storytelling to effect change, and to help teams engage. 

Parker kindly shared three types of story we can tap into in hybrid workplace leadership – the ecosystem, process and comparison story types. For example, the ecosystem story is about ‘Where am I and what is happening here?’ The process story is about how: ‘How do I solve a problem, or navigate a situation?’ And the comparison story is an important one for convincing people – for example by comparing pain and gain. 

We also chatted about the Work Forward movement, which is a global collective of hundreds of people who have been exploring how work can be done better. Work Forward has published a set of tools and articles that team leaders will find useful for helping their teams re-set their collaboration and the way they work. 

This podcast will interest any leader looking for ideas on how to work better in the hybrid world of work.

------------------
Referenced: 

Carol Dweck – The Power of Believing That You Can Improve: https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve

To access the Hybrid Collaboration tools and other tools, articles and the foundation of the Work Forward movement go to https://www.workforward.co/ and click ‘Resources’


------------------
Workplace Makers is hosted and produced by Nina Fountain and team. Nina is the Founder and Workplace Strategist at The Workspace Connection. 

We share thought-provoking insights, fresh perspectives and practical strategies for leaders of the modern workplace. Sign up here: https://theworkspaceconnection.com/insights-for-leaders/

------------------
Social media: 

Nina Fountain on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafountain/
Parker Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkerlee1/

Parker Lee on Twitter: https://twitter.com/paleka

Parker Lee's book - The Art of Opportunity: How to Build Growth and Ventures Through Strategic Innovation and Visual Thinking: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Opportunity-Ventures-Strategic-Innovation-ebook/dp/B01F4DYW8S

Territory Global: https://territory.co/

Territory on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/territory.co/

Territory on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trtry.co

Territory on Twitter: https://twitter.com/territory_co

Casting A Vision Effectively Through Story With Parker Lee

Elise Keith and Dave Mastrionardi are running a massive global experiment to define the new rules for work. 

They’re asking questions about how teams can work best now that we’re managing distance, and co-location. 

With Elise’s experience in running meetings that work, and Dave’s background in consulting using games, this conversation was bound to be incredibly interesting for leaders in hybrid workplaces. 

So many great ideas came out of this conversation, I am thrilled to share it with you. 

Here are a few of their very practical insights: 

    Make it a game – games work because we give ourselves over to play – games offer a clear set of boundaries and lightened consequences

    You have to be intentional – look specifically at the work, the context, and the best way to achieve it and be intentional about how to run the meeting

    Gather with a purpose regardless of location – purpose matters more than location

    Attend to the basics – Why are people there? What are you trying to achieve? How long have you been expected to spend? What is their role?

    Set up a buddy system – It’s very hard to pay attention to everything equally and manage the discussion fairly. Buddies for remote team members can solve this.

    Give people jobs – People should have jobs to do. If you want people to be engaged, they should have active participant jobs, even if that is writing notes or being the ‘vibes watcher’ – monitoring whether something needs to be called out

    Set context – It might be a little counterintuitive, but you’ve got to go slow to go fast. Set context so you can stay aligned as the meeting progresses.

    Break into groups to address different parts – This actually saves you time because the smaller groups get to participate, for example to work out their differences

    Prioritise your issues – Solve three issues in smaller groups, come back and address the next three

    Don’t call a meeting if it’s just for information – When you’re bringing people together you need to decide, am I going to be able to give them something to do?

    Refine your meeting skills – Leading effective creative meetings, and meetings in general, is a leadership skill. 

Take a listen to the podcast to understand the context behind these tips and hear more details on how you can action them. 

-Nina

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Referenced: 

The Motive – Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities – Patrick Lencioni: https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Motive---Why-So-Many-Leaders-Abdicate-Their-Most-Important-Responsibilities-PM-Lencioni/9781119600459

Leesman Index: https://www.leesmanindex.com/our-research-insights/

------------------
Workplace Makers is hosted and produced by Nina Fountain and team. Nina is the Founder and Workplace Strategist at The Workspace Connection. 

We share thought-provoking insights, fresh perspectives and practical strategies for leaders of the modern workplace. Sign up here: https://theworkspaceconnection.com/insights-for-leaders/

------------------
Social media: 

Nina Fountain on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafountain/
Elise Keith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisekeith/

Elise Keith on Lucid Meetings: https://www.lucidmeetings.com/

Dave Mastronardi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmastronardi/

Dave Mastronardi on Gamestorming: https://www.gamestorming.group/

Unleashing Creativity In Hybrid Teams With Elise Keith And Dave Mastronardi

We had a rare insight on this podcast episode into what it takes to lead well, and to enjoy it.

Imagine having a framework that gives you such a complete understanding of human nature that you can get back to enjoying the job of leadership?

This is what Andrew has spent a number of years outlining to leaders, after he himself noticed the same consistent problems in organisations, regardless of their industry.

Leaders don’t like their performance frameworks, regardless of what they are. Silos tend to form. Change seems to be resisted.

Andrew wondered what was driving these consistent themes, if it wasn’t industry and it wasn’t factors to do with the companies he worked for.

With a mining and manufacturing background, and as an HR leader himself, Andrew was thrilled to discover a framework with huge relevance, which opened up options and enabled leaders to lead effectively. 

He shares the story of how in one organisation he redesigned the performance framework around human instincts and people loved it.

I encouraged you to take a little time to listen to Andrew explain a few of the nine human instincts, so you’ll see how powerful these can be in your leadership practice.

------------------
Referenced: 

Nigel Nicholson’s Nine Human Instincts reported in Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/1998/07/how-hardwired-is-human-behavior

Hardwired Humans website, where the book Great Bosses is available: https://hardwiredhumans.com/

------------------
Workplace Makers is hosted and produced by Nina Fountain and team. Nina is the Founder and Workplace Strategist at The Workspace Connection. 

We share thought-provoking insights, fresh perspectives and practical strategies for leaders of the modern workplace. Sign up here: https://theworkspaceconnection.com/insights-for-leaders/

------------------
Social media: 

Nina Fountain on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafountain/
Andrew O'Keeffe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewo1/

Hardwired Humans website: https://hardwiredhumans.com/

Leading Humans Well By Understanding Their Instincts With Andrew O'Keeffe

What is neurodiversity and how does it relate to the workplace? Michelle Kershaw is an independent and neurodiverse consultant currently working with Kiwibank as their Culture Lead. Michelle helps workplaces be more attractive to neurodiverse people, including through a collaboration with Remarkable Minds and CCS Cards that will result in a neurodiversity playbook. 

Michelle discovered her own neurodiversity when she failed a psychometric test for a job and researched dyslexia. That's when she realised that, despite being able to read and write well, dyslexia explained a lot of her life experiences. She has a combination of dyslexia and ADHD, and her experience of them is different every day

Dyslexia affects Michelle in timed and pressure tests, in her sensitivity to sound and light and in her experience of the office. She has also found neurodiversity to have some surprising benefits in her career.

Michelle explains neurodiversity using the analogy of a tree with different branches - one concept with a variety of expressions.

This conversation will interest you if you or someone you work with is dyslexic or neurodiverse and you're looking to better understand their experience in the workplace.

— Nina

—
•Resources: 
—
•Diversity Works: https://diversityworksnz.org.nz/
•Remarkable Minds: https://remarkableminds.org/
•CCS Cards: https://ccs.cards/
•Richard Branson on his dyslexia: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/richard-branson-talks-dyslexia-and-what-kids-like-him-really-need/7AJUKGXFBIROC3Z73NOWFCUUIY/ 
•World Economic Forum skills for the future
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/top-10-work-skills-of-tomorrow-how-long-it-takes-to-learn-them/
•Book: This is Dyxlexia by Kate Griggs - https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/this-is-dyslexia-9781529191844
•Book: The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald D Davis - https://www.dyslexia.com/book/the-gift-of-dyslexia/
—
Workplace Makers is hosted and produced by Nina Fountain and team. Nina is the Founder and Workplace Strategist at The Workspace Connection. To contact us, email info@theworkspaceconnection.com 
—
Find more episodes here: https://theworkspaceconnection.com/podcast
—
Social media: 
—
•Nina Fountain: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafountain/
•Michelle Kershaw: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-kershaw-a6345313/
—
Apply for an Information Call here - https://theworkspaceconnection/information-call

Being neurodiverse in the workplace with Michelle Kershaw, Culture Lead at Kiwibank

What's it like to be the CEO of a US$1.4 billion company? In this episode, we get a sneak peek. 

Shishir Mehrotra is the Co-CEO of Coda and a former Vice President at YouTube. He also sits on the board of Spotify. 

When we think about what companies like these create, we are focused on their products and services. However Shishir is focused on something else as well -  another product, equally vital - the workplace experience created for his employees. 

Shishir has an interesting focus on the concept of 'rituals' in building a strong corporate culture. During the early days of the pandemic, he conducted a virtual dinner with leaders from notable tech firms like Slack, Pinterest, and Snowflake. The discussion aimed to understand and share the various rituals these leaders practised in their teams. What unfolded were three key revelations. We dig into these and understand why Shishir finds rituals so important. 

It's clear that to him, building a strong workplace experience isn't just about providing perks or creating a pleasant environment. It's about fostering a sense of community and shared experience, which is where the idea of rituals comes into play. 

I took the chance to pick Shishir's brains on the role of AI, since Coda has its own AI solutions. 

We also talked about the evolution of work towards being distributed, and how we can make sense of that by looking back at where humankind has come from. 

Shishir's insights are powerful for leaders of modern workplaces today. 

- Nina

—
Resources:
—

• Coda>> https://coda.io

• Bing Gordon >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Gordon

• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari >> https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23692271-sapiens

• Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngorongoro_Conservation_Area#Ngorongoro_Crater

• Dory and Pulse >>  https://coda.io/@shishir/masters-of-scale-rituals/dory-and-pulse-2

• The HIPPO Effect >> https://t2informatik.de/en/smartpedia/hippo-effect/

• Coda AI >> https://coda.io/product/ai-alpha

• ChatGPT >> https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt

• Anjuli Mehrotra >> https://www.pinterest.nz/anjulimehrotra/

• Join Shishir on his book writing journey by joining the Rituals of Great Teams Brains Trust >> https://coda.io/@shishir/join-the-rituals-of-great-teams-braintrust

—

Workplace Makers is hosted and produced by Nina Fountain and team. Nina is the Founder and Workplace Strategist at The Workspace Connection. Follow the link to book a free consultation call >> https://www.theworkspaceconnection.com/information-call

—

Find more episodes here: https://theworkspaceconnection.com/podcast

—
Social media:
—

• Nina Fountain: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafountain/

• Shishir Mehrotra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shishirmehrotra/

• Coda: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codainc/

—

Apply for an Information Call here - https://theworkspaceconnection/information-call

Ex - YouTube VP Shishir Mehrotra On Team Rituals, AI And Distributed Work

Is it possible to support neurodiverse people successfully in the workplace? 

I spoke with Michelle Kershaw, independent and neurodiverse consultant and Culture Lead at Kiwibank, about what it's like to be neurodiverse and how workplaces can do better at making the workplace an attractive proposition for anyone neurodiverse, given10% of the workforce is neurodiverse. 

In my experience, managing for the 'edges' takes care of a lot of use cases for the 'mainstream' or the 'middle', and ultimately results in a much happier cohort of building occupants. So it was a great treat to delve into Michelle's perspective and learn from her insights. 

Michelle and I discussed the challenges faced by neurodiverse individuals in the workplace, including issues with noise and distractions. We talked about how flexible workspaces and quiet areas can benefit everyone, not just those who are neurodiverse. 

Michelle suggested the use of individual booths and soundproof seating areas as well as lockers.  

We discussed technology tools that could better support people, people and culture strategies and Michelle's collaboration with Remarkable Minds and CCS Corporation to create an effective way for people to communicate using image cards. 

Any organisation that supports visual learning, rather than '300 page manuals' is miles ahead in attracting and retaining these star players, who bring their own incredible superpowers. 

- Nina

—
•Resources: 
—
•Diversity Works: https://diversityworksnz.org.nz/
•Remarkable Minds: https://remarkableminds.org/
•CCS Cards: https://ccs.cards/
•Richard Branson on his dyslexia: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/richard-branson-talks-dyslexia-and-what-kids-like-him-really-need/7AJUKGXFBIROC3Z73NOWFCUUIY/ 
•World Economic Forum skills for the future
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/top-10-work-skills-of-tomorrow-how-long-it-takes-to-learn-them/
•Book: This is Dyxlexia by Kate Griggs - https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/this-is-dyslexia-9781529191844
•Book: The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald D Davis - https://www.dyslexia.com/book/the-gift-of-dyslexia/
—
Workplace Makers is hosted and produced by Nina Fountain and team. Nina is the Founder and Workplace Strategist at The Workspace Connection. To contact us, email info@theworkspaceconnection.com 
—
Find more episodes here: https://theworkspaceconnection.com/podcast
—
Social media: 
—
•Nina Fountain: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafountain/
•Michelle Kershaw: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-kershaw-a6345313/
—
Apply for an Information Call here - https://theworkspaceconnection/information-call

The Mechanics Of Designing For Neurodiversity - Michelle Kershaw

The Workplace Makers podcast is about how to build workplaces that enable growth.  We explore 'workplace making' – what it takes to turn the modern workplace into an experience that people are drawn to, wherever they work from.
 
Conversations on the podcast are wide-ranging, covering all the areas that contribute to workplace making - ways of working, workspace design, transformation, technology, human-centred design, program and project management and the future of the office.

The Workspace Connection

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