Work Life by Design

In April this year, the Managing the risk of Psychosocial Hazards at work Code of Practice 2022 came into effect.

As someone who runs a business and employs people, naturally I was interested to learn more about what this means for me and for the projects that I work on.

To help me understand the code further, I invited my colleague and friend Dr Meg Hooper to join me to discuss it.

Meg is the CEO and Principal Consultant at Carousel Consulting, the experts in organisational change and building resilient teams. So, with Meg's background in supporting many an organisation, she was the obvious choice to talk me through it.

In this episode we discuss;

• What is a psychosocial hazard in the workplace
• How is a psychosocial hazard different from psychological safety
• Who is impacted by the code?
• What do businesses need to do?

Plus, we explore a few of the hazards that we encounter in the work that we do and what organisations can do to mitigate their risk.

An interesting and highly relevant conversation that left me with a much broader understanding of the code and in many ways, how the work that we are both already doing is setting organisations up for success.

Communicationcations Kit for Small Business - Managing the Risk of Psychosocial Hazards at Work - Code of Practice

Managing the Risk of Psychosocial Hazards at Work - Code of Pratice 2022

Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022

LINKS Get your copy of Mel's new Book "The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential"

Connect with Meg; Linkedin | Carousel Consulting

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On the 1st July 2023, my business COMUNiTI celebrates its 10th year of business.

Reaching this milestone in business does not come without both its highs and lows and I could not think of a more fitting way to celebrate this milestone than accepting the offer of my friend and colleague Dr Meg Hooper to turn the tables and interview me.

Meg and I have enjoyed both a personal and professional relationship, having partnered on several projects together. She has witnessed both my growth and that of the business through some of the most challenging years.

Meg is the CEO and Principal Psychologist at Carousel Consulting, the experts in organisational change and building resilient teams.

As could only be expected of a psychologist, I felt this was more like a session on her couch then a podcast interview, but as only Meg could, she helped uncover some true reflections of what business has been like over the past 10 years and how it has shaped me, and COMUNiTI.

Plus, I even let you into my predictions for where and how I'd like to see Workplace Strategy evolve to in the future.

LINKS Get your copy of Mel's new Book "The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential"

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As we approach the mid-point of the year, I would hazard a guess that you're already feeling like the tank is near empty! And you are not alone!

Thanks to the events of recent years, COVID, lockdowns, floods, new ways of working, to name a few, what's resulted is a lack of physical and emotional connection. Which has been at the expense of our human relationships, our creativity, and our emotional intelligence.

A situation that today's guest is all too familiar with.

Deanne Boules is the Founder of Insync Workplace Solutions & a highly respected People, Safety, & Culture Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, & keynote speaker. With over 30 years of experience, she has developed a proven track record of building high-performing, inclusive, physically & psychologically safe workplaces that enable individuals to bring their authentic selves to work, feel valued, have a sense of purpose & belonging, thrive & go home safe & well each day.

Dee is passionate about supporting organisations to rehumanise their workplaces, by putting people back at the core of the business. Having started her career as a police officer with the NSW Police Force, she traversed a number of other roles, before founding Insync Workplace Solutions in 2012. A specialist WHS and HR Consulting and Training Practice, fulfilling her passion for redefining and re-humanising how human resources, workplace safety, and all things people, safety, and culture-related are practised worldwide.

During her career, Dee has experienced first-hand the devastating impact of workplace fatalities & serious injuries, attending more than most. Through these experiences, Dee started to question why people do what they do & why they make the decisions they make.

Dee and I could have easily talked about this concept for hours, as fostering community is at the core of humanising our workplaces. We discuss the benefits of taking a human-centred approach in the workplace, some of the barriers and mindset shifts to be overcome along with simple ways that organisations can take the first step.

LINKS Get your copy of Mel's new Book "The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential"

Connect with the Deanne; Linkedin | Great Game of People Conference

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In my book The Next Workplace: Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential, I share a story of a client expressing their concern, that their current workplace was having a detrimental impact on the business. It was not supporting the behaviours that the employees were told were wanted.

The organisation wanted to see collaboration; however, the environments spatial cues told a different story.

Sadly, this is not a unique conversation.

Our environments have the ability to influence our behaviour. Our environment, provides us with messages about the way we should interact, communicate, and engage, and these messages can be consciously influenced with the right approach.

Within organisations, behaviours are the actions that we can see, that when communicated effectively, reflect the values and culture of the organisation. What we consider to be important.

And there are three ways that our environment can influence these behaviours with the right messages, which I share with you in today's episode.

LINKS Get your copy of Mel's new Book "The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential"

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Email | Insta | LinkedIn | Website | Website | Whitepaper - The Road Map to Employee Experience

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As organisations are navigating this new landscape of "hybrid" work, a conversation that is happening more and more, is one that centres around "how do we work?" and "how do we want to work?", before we start talking about, "what does our office look like?".

Today's guest, Dan Mottau, did just that.

Dan was introduced to me by a mutual colleague when I was looking for thought leaders in the People & Culture space to join me for my book launch panel in Melb.

From the first conversation I had with Dan, I was completely blown away with his approach to work and workplace. This was someone who spoke my language and absolutely understood the impact of how a workplace design NEEDS to respond to the operations of the business.

So much so, that when the opportunity arose for Dan and the team at Redbubble to create a new workplace, rather than heading straight out to market and chatting with leasing agents, though took a moment to really think about "how do we want people at Redbubble to work?"

That simple question set them off on a journey that completely transformed, not only the way they work, but then also the place that would best support that way of working.

So, I've invited Dan to join me here for a conversation, to share what really is a progressive, insightful and in some ways quite a radical approach to the whole process, and one that I would welcome more organisations to consider when embarking on the opportunity of creating a new workplace. To first, really question the nature of work, the way their people work and then what they truly want from their workspace to facilitate and enable that work.

What I find fascinating about this approach, is that it was a people led approach. As Dan shares with us, the project lead was their head of DBI. This was not a project that was handed down to the facilities team, via finance, it was entrusted to the People teams to deliver, hiring in the support they needed, when they needed it.

This is an approach that I want to highlight, as taking this approach to creating your next workplace, leads your business to creating a very different outcome. An outcome that puts you people at the centre, and a focus on create a space that optimises the performance of your people, not just the performance of your building.

Dan is a senior people, organisation development, learning and communications leader, who enjoys examining the underlying motivations and patterns of thinking that elicit amplifying and diminishing behaviours within and between teams.

His approach is heavily influenced by behavioural psychology and anthropology, especially as their principles may be applied to team functioning and the cultivation and sustainment of psychological safety and high performance. With a passion for accelerating the growth of leaders, and for increasing their personal impact through the success of their people.

As you'll hear him say, he's a people geek!

So, let's jump into today's conversation!

LINKS Get your copy of Mel's new Book "The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential"

Connect with the Dan;

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If I asked you to describe your Brand, I'd wager that the first thing you tell me is what colour your logo is!

Whilst colour and our mark are important factors in defining our brand, they are only one very small component of your brand and cannot begin to communicate the complexity of your brand experience.

A company's Brand Experience is the way they want people to feel when they do business with them.

And this experience starts with understanding. Understanding your Purpose, your vision, your values. Understanding where you came from, where you are going and the impact that you want to make on the way.

Once you understand who you are, who you want to be and the guiderails that are going to keep you on course, then, you can infuse that into your space telling your unique story!

Tune into today's episode as I share the next two steps to making this a reality!

Your workplace is an opportunity to make a lasting first impression. Make it count!

LINKS Get your copy of Mel's new Book "The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential"

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If I brought you together in a room of your peers, and asked one simple question, "Who here would call themselves a Creative?", chances are you're unlikely to raise your hand.

As my guests today describe, we often mistake creativity for artistry, the ability to draw or paint. However, many of us are practicing creativity everyday, without realising it. Singing, cooking, problem solving, are all acts of creativity.

Paul Fairweather and Chris Meredith, are the Two Common Creatives.

Paul is a recovering architect, formerly the co-founder of the award-winning Architectural practice Fairweather Proberts, he is also an artist, inventor and property developer.

Chris is a former Marketing Director, he is a speaker, writer, podcaster and business coach and when he's not at work you'll find him in, on or under the ocean, usually with a camera in hand.

Together they have combined their passion and pursuit of creativity to engage businesses to embrace theirs, helping their people create, capture, and communicate great idea's, to solve business problems.

Their goal is to make creativity as common as a loaf of bread and as well understood as common language.

As someone who would raise their hand when asked if they were creative, I'm fascinated by this conversation as Paul and Chris share how they encourage people to unlock and embrace their creativity.

We explore;

• the role of creativity in our professional lives
• if you can teach creativity
• the common block or resistance to embracing creativity
• and what they have learned and observed about how our physical environment can impact on an individual's creativity

As businesses struggle to solve new problems in our fast-paced world, encouraging creativity in our organisations is a key metric of success, and Paul & Chris leave us with their thoughts on where we can all start.

LINKS Get your copy of Mel's new Book "The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential"

Connect with the Paul & Chris

Paul - https://www.paulfairweather.com/ Chris - https://www.chrismeredith.com.au/ TCC - https://www.twocommoncreatives.com/

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It's time to change the conversation!

There has been so much talk about the organisations that are struggling to get the workplace dynamic right, but very little highlighting those that are!

Launching my book The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential, was an opportunity to shine a light on the incredible work that a number of leaders and organisations are doing to explore the edges of employee experience and navigating this new frontier in a bold way.

With events held in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, I took this opportunity to start a conversation with these incredible leaders, and whilst the questions had a similar context in each location, what came from each event was a very unique flavour of conversation bring the panellists unique thoughts and perspectives into view.

What emerged from these conversations were three key themes, with a few core ides as to how we can all elevate our experience of work.

So today's episode is a wrap up of these learnings, plus a thought provoking question to get you pondering HOW this is showing up in your workplace and what your opportunity is to elevate it.

LINKS Get your copy of Mel's new Book "The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential"

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This is our FINAL episode in the 6-part series bringing you all the conversations from my book launch events in Brisbane, Melbourne & Sydney, as we celebrated the release of The Next Workplace: Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential.

Today is Part 2 of our Sydney event conversations so if you missed part 1 or any of the previous 5 conversations for that matter, be sure to pop back and tune into those as well!

Each of these events were held with the purpose of starting a conversation on all things Work, People & Place. To take the opportunity and do something very intentional in progressing the conversation of enhancing and reimagining our workplaces for a new future.

Joined by leaders navigating the new frontier of what work looks like and the role that place plays in elevating our experience of work.

Our Sydney conversation explored the topics of

• what they have realised about the importance of the workplace,
• how they have seen the evolution of curating the employee experience in the workplace and what that looks like for them,
• how our workplaces can effectively support belonging and build connection in our people,
• what flexibility at work really looks like, and
• ultimately what does a good workplace look like?!

To join me in this conversation I invited Brad Krauskopf, CEO of HUB Australia to join us, along with Sophie Hart, Co-Founder of the Serenity Collective, host of the Thriving Workplace Event, and Nicole Karagiannis, Chief People Office at Harrison.ai.

Each of our guests bring a unique perspective to this conversation, with thoughtful insights that invited me to think more deeply about some of my own idea's.

I hope this episode also inspires your thinking on what you can do to elevate the conversation in your workplace.

This is Part 2, from our Sydney conversations and our final episode in the 6 part series, so if you have missed any of the conversations from Brisbane, Melbourne & Sydney, be sure to head back and tune into those!

But to wrap up the book tour, lets get into today's episode!

LINKS Get your copy of Mel's new Book "The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential"

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The last few weeks have been quite the adventure as I've been celebrating the release of my book The Next Workplace: Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential.

Hosting events in Brisbane, Melbourne & Sydney, each of these events were held with the purpose of starting a conversation on all things Work, People & Place. Joined by leaders navigating the new frontier of what work looks like and the role that place plays in elevating our experience of work.

Each of these conversations are being shared right here on the podcast over 6 episodes.

Today is the fifth episode in that series, and the first part in our two-part series from our Sydney event conversations. Hosted by HUB Australia in their Wynyard office it was a beautiful evening with many familiar faces and few new ones as well.

Our Sydney conversation explored topics of;

✨ what they have realised about the importance of the workplace,

✨ how they have seen the evolution of curating the employee experience in the workplace and what that looks like for them,

✨ how our workplaces can effectively support belonging and build connection in our people,

✨ what flexibility at work really looks like and

✨ ultimately what does a good workplace look like?!?

To join me in this conversation I invited our venue host, Brad Kraskopf, CEO of HUB Australia to join us, along with Sophie Hart, Co-Founder of the Serenity Collective, host of the Thriving Workplace Event and Nicole Karagiannis, Chief People Officer at Harrison.ai.

Each of our guests bring a unique perspective to this conversation, with thoughtful insights that invited me to think more deeply about some of my own idea's.

I hope this episode inspires your thinking to start a conversation in your workplace to elevate our experience of work.

LINKS Get your copy of Mel's new Book "The Next Workplace; Designing Dynamic Environments that Inspire Human Potential"

Connect with Mel

Email | Insta | LinkedIn | Website | Website | Whitepaper