Hi there, and welcome to Workology Co's inaugural newsletter.
I'm glad you could join us. It's only taken me a (cough) little while to launch, but one of the upsides to COVID19 and ISO is all the extra time to work on the business rather than just in it.
Each fortnight (aim high Alison) this newsletter will be brought to you courtesy of the Workology Co’s theme of the month. Which for April 2020 is - drum-roll please maestro- Communication.
Communication is one of 6 key ingredients of exceptional culture, as explained in Workology Co's White Paper Sequence 1, released in March 2020. Click here if you would like to download a copy of Sequence 1 - and watch out for the release of all three Sequences just in time for your Easter reading.
The newsletters will follow the same format:
- Quotes inspiring me
- Exceptional culture in action (sharing stories from the trenches)
- Tips to improve your culture AND
- Things making me laugh. Because laughter is the best medicine (at least until they find a Corona Virus vaccine).
Quotes inspiring me
The COVID-19 pandemic is both a social and financial crisis where trust will be central to corporate and political survival. People at all levels of the organisation are being asked to change the way they work, interact both professionally and socially and often how they live. To effectively deal with the impact, boards will need to adopt, and ensure management adheres to, the principles of good communication. -John Connolly FAICD
What I love about this quote, which is part of an Australian Institute of Company Directors resource COVID19: Effective internal and external crisis communications is the importance it places on two of Workology Co's key ingredients for exceptional culture - trust and communication. Nailed it AICD!
Exceptional Culture in Action
Digital Entertainment company Kayo Sports (soon to be known as Streamotion as the business shifts to a broader entertainment platform) is a great example of an Aussie business that understands the role exceptional culture plays in business success.
Their dedication to engaging all employees in crafting the company values is a master class in listening to your people. But that’s a tale for another day...
With the onset and impact of the corona virus, Streamotion continues to demonstrate exceptional culture.
This includes working hard to ensure employees don’t feel isolated whilst working from home. Here are some of the ways:
- Conducting regular Video Conferences where operational requirements are discussed, but which also allow time for fun, and space for people to share how they are feeling, if they feel comfortable doing so
- Scheduling Video Conferences that are deliberately not about deliverables. In other words, chats that would normally take place around the coffee machine or in the lunchroom – now these happen online
- Encouraging use of Whats App to keep conversations and comments going, in the same way that a conversation about a task or challenge might continue during the day when employees are physically working in an office together
- Using tools like Slack, Teams, Google Docs and Zoom to facilitate collaboration between remote workers.
Tips for your business
Thousands of Australians are now working from home (WFH) due to the pandemic.
Some of those people will not be familiar with WFH.
Here are two tips for communicating with your team during the virus:
- We all process information differently, so give all of us a chance to properly receive messages and process in the way that works best for us. Firm and clear decisions will limit confusion and uncertainty. The more specific you are in you communications the more considered and trustworthy you will come across.
- Foster trust, connectivity and culture with virtual happy hours and celebrations. It will help ease some of the tension we are all experiencing, and be a bit of fun as well. Consider virtual Pizza Parties, and arrange to have pizzas delivered to the team so everyone can bring their pizza and eat in front of the screen together.
Read Workology Co's latest blog for more tips on culture, communication and corona virus.
This made me laugh
With so many of us now working from home, last week I saw a meme about a border collie 'working from home'. I couldn't help myself, and have recreated this with our resident spoiled border.
Here is my 'colleague', Lillie, working from our home.
Here's to co-creating exceptional workplace cultures,
Ali.
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Eons ago, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I released part 1 of a 3-part series on exceptional workplace culture. Mind you, whilst it feels like eons ago, it was only 3 weeks ago.
Just to recap Sequence 1 was about why organisations need exceptional culture, and my research found there are 6 key ingredients for this.
One of the 6 key ingredients is communication.
Read more >
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