Work Life by Design

If we're still talking about getting people back to the office, we're having the wrong conversation".   I don't know about you but I'm getting frustrated with all this RTO talk!  I think those that are stuck in this vortex, are completely missing the point!  What we should be talking about, is what makes a workplace a COMMUNITY. In the work that I do, creating a workplace where people WANT to be i...

🎉🎉🎉 Welcome back for SEASON 6!!! 🎉🎉🎉   As I hit record for this episode, #138, I had a nostalgic moment as I reflected on how much the world has changed since I first started the podcast back in July 2020. We were all living in limbo, as we were very much still in the midst of adjusting to the impacts of the pandemic, in and out of lockdowns. Four years on and SOOOOO much has changed; ·     ...

Well, that's it for another season!   After kicking off season 5 back in November last year, I think it's well and truly time to switch off the mic for a while!   This season has definitely taken on a life of its own and it really snuck up on me that we've been going straight for 48 episodes, almost a whole year! I've had the pleasure of engaging some incredibly intelligent, wise, and generous gue...

The art of focus in our modern worlds has become just that. An art.   With books like Johan Hari's Stolen Focus and past guest Dr Kristy Goodwin's, Dear Digital we need to talk, the constant disruption, distraction mulit-tasking and task switching that we are all succumbing to is impacting our ability to truly focus.   Add to this all the pressures and competing demands of daily life and we are qu...

One of the biggest misconceptions about "a new office" is that it is simply that .  A new place for us to conduct our business from.  A design and construction project. This could not be further from the truth.  "A new office" is a whole of business opportunity and at its core it is actually a "cultural transformation project" . Everything about the way the new office looks, feels, operates is all...

Is the workplace really just a 'task' place?   This is one of the thought-provoking questions that today's guest poses, for us to ponder about our reality of work and the workplace.   Dr Agustin Chevez is the author of  The Pilgrim's Guide to the Workplace . It was after reading a book on the diversity of Iguana's in the Galapagos Islands, that Gus set off on a pilgrimage from Melbourne to Sydney,...

One of the reasons that I first started exploring this idea of Workplace Strategy was because I am fascinated by how businesses tick .   What makes one business a roaring success and another flounder?   And one thing that continues to fascinate me is the gap that I see emerge in almost every engagement .  And it's a gap that I feel like I automatically step into fill without a second thought. But...

With more of us embracing the opportunity to work from home, it's leaving our workplaces underutilised as occupancy levels in the workplace drop. The impacts of this vary from workplace ot workplace depending on the design style and approach ranging from limited variety in the spaces available for employees to perform their work through to a lack of energy and "buzz' that comes from bringing peopl...

The end of financial year is a great time to check in and see how we are tracking against our goals. As someone who loves to set myself up at the beginning of each year with a number of intentions and an overarching word to keep me on track, it's a great opportunity for me to check and readjust for the next 6 months.   This year my word was Flow .   And its been interesting to see how this word ha...

Establishing a strong and purposeful employee experience in your organisation can take an incredible amount of time, dedication, and invested energy.   So, if you could find all the People tools and resources that you needed packaged up in one platform, backed by science and data, how much easier would that make your life as a leader and give you the confidence to know that you were giving your or...

Imagine having the ability to curate the entire experience that your employees take when they come to your workplace.    To influence each touchpoint of their journey.    The things that they see, hear, do... the things they feel.    In episode 127, I shared how you can use an Empathy Map to consciously design the sensory experience of your people at work , a tool that can be used both to support...

No doubt throughout the course of your career, you've experienced moments where you've questioned yourself and your ability to lead not only your team through the next transition, but also leading yourself.   Stepping up into a new role, guiding your team through a new project or perhaps you've just been swallowed up by the overwhelming wave of pressure of work.   I can empathise with you at each...

Reimagining your next workplace is the perfect opportunity to take a step back and take a fresh look at your whole business.   One of the ways that I encourage leaders to do this, is by embracing "Shoshin" .   Shoshin is a Buddhist concept meaning "beginners mind" . It is about approaching a situation as if you are seeing it for the first time. When we come with curiosity, openness, eagerness, and...

In last weeks episode I spoke about wellbeing rhythms in the workplace and the need for us all to be building in moments of self-care .   I then read an article in the Harvard Business Review by author Greg McKeown, who's written two of my favourite books and are recommended reading at COMUNiTI; Essentialism & Effortless . In this article Greg says that for organisations to build top performing te...

As we cross the halfway mark of the year, this is the perfect time to look back, check in with your intentions for the year and adjust the sails ready for the second half.   One of the tweaks that I'll be making as I set myself up for the home stretch is to recalibrate my selfcare regime . As a busy mum, navigating the ebb and flow of our project load, this is usually the stuff that I forgo from m...

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...

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 re...

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 emotio...

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 di...

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...

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...

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...

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 T he 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 a...

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...

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...