We Not Me – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Agile isn’t just for software teams – its principles can be effectively applied to HR and other business teams, offering a pragmatic approach to improving workflow and efficiency.

It goes beyond flexible working or nimble decision-making, representing a philosophy and set of principles for getting work done more effectively.

Nebel Crowhurst is the Chief People Officer at Reward Gateway, and has extensive experience in HR. She’s worked across a variety of industries, helping teams understand and transition to Agile.

Three reasons to listen

• For a pragmatic approach to implementing Agile principles in HR and business teams
• To discover how Agile can help teams prioritise work, reduce friction, and improve efficiency in meetings
• To explore the benefits and potential challenges of applying Agile methodologies outside of traditional software development

Episode highlights

• [00:08:46] Revisiting engagement surveys
• [00:13:40] What Agile is and is not
• [00:17:30] What Agile looks like in practice
• [00:22:08] Handling Agile scepticism (including your own)
• [00:24:55] Transitioning your team to Agile
• [00:31:53] Taking your first steps into Agile
• [00:33:17] Nebel's media recommendation
• [00:35:51] Takeaways from Dan and Pia

Links

• Connect with Nebel via LinkedIn
• Books by Natal Dank
• The Multi-Hyphen Method, by Emma Gannon
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note

International assignments in business require careful preparation, adaptability, and a focus on making a positive impact rather than just “making your mark”.

Success in foreign assignments often comes from reinforcing and amplifying existing strengths within an organisation, rather than attempting to overhaul everything.

Kevin Asher is a leader, strategist, and innovator in healthcare. He’s worked primarily in the pharmaceutical industry, including medical communications, data generation, and patient group support. He’s a self-described problem-solver, and he joins Dan and Pia to discuss his recent assignment in Italy.

Three reasons to listen

• To learn how to successfully navigate international assignments and make a positive impact
• To understand the importance of effective communication and bridging gaps between global and local teams
• For new approaches to add value quickly in new, challenging situations – even when facing language barriers or unfamiliar systems

Episode highlights

• [00:09:10] Preparing to go on an assignment
• [00:12:34] Making your mark
• [00:14:36] Improving communication in a restructured team
• [00:21:21] What Kevin would do differently
• [00:23:07] Finding the right time to make a big decision
• [00:25:15] Re-entry
• [00:28:53] Kevin's advice for starting a new assignment
• [00:30:44] Kevin's media recommendation
• [00:33:29] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Connect with Kevin via LinkedIn
• Why Motivating People Doesn't Work--and What Does, by Susan Fowler
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note

What can you bring into the workplace that can significantly strengthen team bonds, enhance individual self-expression, and contribute to a healthier work environment?

Mette Oscar Pedersen is a facilitator who’s worked with communities, companies, and other groups to bring joy and connection to their work.

In this episode, you’ll

• Learn how to increase connection and empathy in the workplace
• Understand the benefits of incorporating joy into your daily routine
• Discover ways to enhance your relationships with colleagues

Episode highlights

• [00:07:36] Breaking down the fear of moving in public
• [00:14:25] Strengthening community
• [00:19:38] Long-lasting benefits with your colleagues
• [00:21:27] Movement begins at home
• [00:22:43] Mette's book recommendation
• [00:24:38] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Connect with Mette via LinkedIn
• The Dance Cure: The surprising secret to being smarter, stronger, happier, by Dr Peter Lovatt
• Discover what Squadify can do for your team
• Leave us a voice note

Sports teams have been evaluating their effectiveness for a long time, with the singular goal of improving performance. This week, Dan and Pia are joined by former Australian rugby player Owen Finegan, to look at the way businesses and not-for-profits can use data in the same way sport has for decades.

Owen played and coached professional rugby for 16 years before moving into the non-profit world, where he now sits as CEO of the Kids' Cancer Project. He took his learnings about honest – sometimes even brutal – feedback from the rugby pitch, and has adapted it to the way he leads teams, encouraging analysis combined with honesty and constructive feedback rather than criticism.

Links

• Squadify

For civil engineering General Manager Lucy Hovanec, purpose can breathe life into teams, and in order to lead, self-knowledge is crucial.

In this discussion, Lucy shares with Dan and Pia her toolkit for working with teams across cultural divides and around the world, to help them wake up excited to come to work:

• Asking questions to make sure everyone is aligned on the task at hand
• Assessing the climate of a team and creating conditions for success
• Using the Example, Impact, Change model of delivering feedback

Links

• Psychological safety in teams – Episode 3 of We Not Me
• Squadify

Google iterates in 30-minute increments, which is part of why this massive company is able to innovate so quickly at scale. This involves making mistakes, but recovering and correcting quickly. The pace at Google is a far cry from the stereotypical image of people lying around on beanbags or playing foosball.

As Managing Director for Global Public Sector Strategy and Sales at Google, Todd Schroeder has to work across multiple teams who are serving markets at different stages along the maturity curve. This means the idea of clarity can change from a traditional sense of certainty into becoming clear that things are uncertain.

In the midst of a global pandemic, the job of leading multiple teams moved from knowing what to do, to finding out what to do.

Dan, Pia and Todd discuss the process a new Google employee (a "noogler") goes through to becoming a full-fledged Googler, and some of the challenges they face along the way.

This week, Dan and Pia are joined by Anna Britnor Guest, who has over 30 years of technology sales experience and who now works to develop and coach salespeople within the SaaS industry.

They talk about whether sales "teams" are really teams and not just groups of people, pivoting the mantra of "don't lose alone" to "don't learn alone", and maintaining a common language around the sales process.

Anna also shares three key things teams can do right now to work more effectively to meet the customers' needs, and to meet their own needs.

Links

• Alate Business Growth
• Squadify

This week, Pia and Dan discuss psychological safety with Dr Jessica Tonissen, leadership and wellbeing coach, Doctor of Psychology and Associate Director at InLightening in Melbourne.

Dr Tonissen dispels some of the myths and misunderstandings around the term, how psychological safety does not have to come at the expense of performance, and that there's a difference between safety and artificial harmony.

The conversation also touches on our ingrained fear of rejection, and how it stimulates our fight-or-flight response.

Links

• Psychological Safety Isn't the Same as Being Comfortable
• Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams, by Amy Edmondson
• Rejection Really Hurts, UCLA Psychologists Find
• The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, by Amy Edmondson
• Squadify

Empathic leadership is what's needed in a globally-distributed workforce, and replacing water-cooler moments isn't as simple as organising more mandatory Zoom calls.

This week, Dan and Pia talk remote collaboration with Sydney-based Michelle Zimany, Human Resources leader for the pharmaceutical company Sanofi. They discuss the loss of spontaneity and serendipity in the age where people only meet on Zoom, and missing those moments to have a quick chat while getting a coffee.

Michelle shares some of the events she's running and participating in within her organisation, to help people feel more connected without a feeling of enforced fun. She, Pia and Dan discuss the change in attitudes to work attire, and how rigid corporate thinking has given way to understanding and tolerance, now that so many of us are sharing our homes virtually.

Links

• Sanofi
• Squadify

Dan and Pia speak to Rob Metcalfe – a former commando now leadership consultant and team coach – about significant performance challenges, how groups of people need to work proactively together to solve them, and how important social capital can be in fostering team effectiveness.

Links

• The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization
• Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World
• Squadify