A late edition to the start of the year reflections
IN
Tea - Sure, Aussies love their coffee (and I'm a fan), but let's not forget the power of a cup of tea! A good brew deserves its time in the spotlight. It must have milk and, depending on the size of your cup, half a teaspoon of sugar to hit the sweet spot. A good cup of tea isn't just a drink—it's a whole experience that can change your day at work. And that is not to be underestimated. Controversial, but tea over coffee. There, I said it.
Being friendly to the HR team—I know HR sometimes has the reputation of being the HR police and is sometimes responsible for those awful, inhuman "we are making you redundant" scripts (do not google it - it’s a dark thread).I have also seen the flip side of this story. Over the past few years, I've worked exclusively with HR practitioners in consulting and coaching projects. More personally, many fantastic HR professionals helped me manage my return to work during a rough patch when I was unwell. The poor things even had to look at my abdominal medical scans, which, let's face it, once seen, cannot be unseen!
Also, people do terrible things, and some of those people have jobs. Guess who has the pleasure of dealing with their nonsense? Yup, HR. They see, hear, and have to ask about all the terrible stuff we'd rather not know about.
If your HR folks fall into this second camp - maybe it’s time to cut them some slack. Make them a cup of tea (see above), pair it with a Digestive, say thanks, and occasionally give a sympathetic nod.
Talk less, listen, and critique more—there is already a lot of noise and nonsense in the world, which is only increasing as creating content becomes easier and easier and fact-checking becomes less and less. I reckon it's time to hit pause on the need to share every fleeting thought. Instead, embrace the art of listening and critique. Perhaps it's time to back away from hitting "share" or shouting into the social media void. Knee-jerk reactions are out, and research and critical thinking are well and truly in.
Dogs - this has nothing to do with work - but they make life better. I am sure there is research somewhere that explains how, this makes work better.
Multidisciplinary teams and reflective practice
The idea of multidisciplinary teams has existed for a long time. For too long, however, teams full of fabulous ideas and talents seem to be dominated by the loudest voice in the room, with one person dictating the direction while others (often reluctantly) follow suit. Research also shows that the most dominant voices frequently come from those who align with the prevailing cultural norm, and unsurprisingly, they usually believe they're always right. But there's a better way to harness everyone's strengths.
Enter Team Coaching. This approach brings a genuine understanding of individual skills, roles, and contributions, transforming how teams operate. Team coaching does two things: it focuses on the task (the what) and on team dynamics (the how). If you do one without the other, you might complete the task, but there are usually casualties. And, if you add a dash of Action Learning for reflective practice, you might strike gold. It's also one of my eternal frustrations that this is the work that gets cut when times are tough - which, to my mind, is counterproductive ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Portfolio or Patchwork Careers
Say goodbye to the grind of juggling a full-time job with several full-time side hustles. Work is increasingly about portfolio or patchwork careers—whatever you call them, the idea is the same. People are multi-talented and are finding ways to make a diverse career their mainstay. It's about time we celebrated our varied interests and skills, making them the norm rather than the exception. This is challenging for those organisations that love a pair of golden handcuffs (again, do not Google search - scary results).
OUT
Working on public transport
This one really grinds my gears. Let's be honest - not everyone on the tram needs to see your high-stakes spreadsheet. It's okay - you can take a breather on that 10-minute ride from Southern Cross to Flinders Street Station. Unless you're saving lives (and if you are, I hope it doesn't depend on precision, as I cannot type for crap on a moving tram!), perhaps that email can wait?
And speaking of public etiquette, when exactly did speakerphone business calls become public performance art? There are a bazillion ways to relive Sharon and Trevor's latest office drama without making a tram full of weary commuters listen to it.
It’s a complete tangent, but I am going to sneak it in—hot food on public transport. This has been a big NO for as long as I have used public transport. I am pretty sure it is against the law on the London underground.
A little consideration goes a long way in making the daily grind a little less grindy.
Brutal honesty - We've all had enough of the so-called "brutal honesty" that's just an excuse for dishing out passive-aggressive (or straight-up aggressive-aggressive) feedback. It's time to retire this approach. If your feedback must come with a warning label, it's best kept to yourself, mate. Constructive feedback should build people up, not tear them down. So, let's leave the "brutal" part behind and focus on being genuinely helpful instead.
People who offer feedback all over the place also get under my skin. If I want your feedback, I will ask for it. And I know it can be hard to ask for feedback, but if people aren’t asking you, then that sounds like a you problem.
Influencer beige—look, I'm all for easy dressing and a streamlined work wardrobe. But let's be honest: The endless parade of jeans, white T-shirts, beige jackets, and Adidas sneakers (even though I LOVE my Adidas sneakers) is starting to feel a bit like a uniform. We don't all need to look like we're about to star in a Scandi home decor ad. Let's break out of the beige bubble and embrace some variety.
Timesheets and Tracking Codes - Let's be honest, timesheets are the bane of many employees' existence. Tracking every minute of your workday feels more like a chore than a productive use of time. People never fill them in honestly or accurately, opting to record what they think they should record rather than the hours they actually worked. If they are never accurate, it begs the question - why? And don't get me started on those "secret" codes you receive after mandatory training sessions—codes you must enter to prove you completed the training. This last one gets my goat - it screams, "WE DO NOT TRUST YOU."
Recording training and reporting time in this way undermines the relationship between the organisation and its employees. It's time to rethink how we measure value and contribution at work and acknowledge that trust is a two-way street.
Scary Robot Heads on AI articles and ads
Forget those weird robotic heads that simultaneously promote and scare people about AI. Nope - not about it. Do better comms people/bots.
Cats.
Terrible procurement processes—Procurement often feels like a game where one party only has half the rules. Procurement is not that different from picking the perfect pair of sneakers: know why you need them, set a budget, research, compare, and, if necessary, seek advice. Introducing a third party who holds the rules and stops buyers and sellers from talking to each other doesn't seem like a good solution - it does seem autocratic, ironic and absurd.
What’s missing what would you add?
Comments